Father-daughter duo George and Mayan Lopez reflect on their trials and triumphs

GEORGE: I was in the makeup and hair, and I closed my eyes, and I almost couldn’t believe it. My life has been a bit of a crazy journey. I remember the first show 22 years ago, the premiere episode, and to have Mayan on this show - it’s amazing. I can’t believe it now, man. It’s hard to put into words that somebody who you were there when they were born, is the person that is acting right next to you.

GEORGE: She set her boundaries pretty fast. And therapy, to think that we have gotten here when at one time in therapy we weren’t talking at all and shut down in therapy. But my boundaries are whatever Mayan’s boundary is. I know that her mom is off-limits. And I know in here last year we said, “Come on, do it for me, the only kid you have or know you have.” And I said, “Is this real life or is this the show?” And it was like, that’s over the line. So I got it now, so I know where the lines are.

GEORGE: Mayan played Chef Louis in the Disney thing [The Little Mermaid], and we made her do it at the house once, and it was so cute. And we were like, “That’s so cute.” And then she got embarrassed, she’s like, “I’m never doing it again.” And then she only did it on stage, and I would say, “Mayan, do Chef Louis.” And she would be like, “No,” but she was great. So, to see her mature and to see her become much more confident, much more relaxed.

I mean, this world right here, if you’ve never done it before is overwhelming. Mayan had never done any episodic. I mean, she was little when she was on the stage of the first show. So the progress that she’s made, a great coach, her mom’s been great with her. And I’m amazed by that. I’m amazed by her progress in these two years.

GEORGE: I was telling her yesterday that. I mean, she was so cute when she was six, she had a long T-shirt, and she’d wake me up and she’d open my eyes. She was just so cute. And then I would say, “Mayan,” when she’s going to the door, I said, “Mayan, don’t ever grow up.” And she goes, “I have to, Daddy, that’s my job.” And then she blew me a kiss, and it’s like, wow, man, just overwhelming. It takes my breath... No one’s ever been able to take my breath away, Mayan takes my breath away.

GEORGE: I think as we go, I feel more comfortable too. The one thing about drinking, whether a person considers himself an alcoholic or not, I thought that no one could see, and everybody could see. I thought, “I’ll be all right. Nobody saw me,” or “I couldn’t remember the stuff that you did.” And I really truly believed that you could not have a good time unless you were drinking. I’ve changed my views. You can have a really good time. And I mean, I’m old enough to have known that. I think it’s time to move on from that. And in sharing the stories, I think it helps people.

MAYAN: See, I had no idea about it until I was 15. I had no concept. Even after the divorce, I found out more about where it was present in my childhood, but it was hidden from me. Then I experienced it firsthand with him as an adult when I was in college, and I’m 28 now, so my early to mid-twenties.

Some things were very personal, and I dealt with it with just me and him head-on in some situations. It’s almost like seeing a whole different version of someone that you’ve known your whole life, and you have no idea, and so you’re kind of starting to learn, which I think is with Mayan and George. Mayan had not seen George in 10 years, so she didn’t really understand the full scope of how bad it was for him until it got to the finale of the first season where they had that intervention.

In real life, I’ve had conversations with my dad like that before, and so now with the second season, Mayan’s experiences and what she felt is what I’ve gone through. Mayan thinks that sobriety is going to change her father, which I thought I was going to get, oh, my old dad back. But no, this is unrealistic expectations.

It takes so much for someone in recovery, and you don’t always realize that you have to change your perceptions of the person when someone you love is in recovery. I think that’s even with George or with Rosie and Quinten in the show. They can’t blame George anymore for the stuff that he does to them.

So with that, it’s personal, but he’s gotten so good with it, and our communication has been good to the point where if anything were to come up, we’d be able to talk about it just like George and Mayan would be able to talk about it on the show.

GEORGE: I used to go to the market and buy those little notebooks, those little spiral ones that the police used. I would write my jokes in there. And that was August 4th of 1979, the first summer that I was out of high school... It was tough because I was 18, you had to be 21 to get in [to the comedy clubs].

I was always discouraged, but I’d never written myself a note. One time, I wrote, “At times I’d know I couldn’t make it, but that I would make it and that I would be the best and that I would hit the American people like a hammer” - And I signed my signature there, June 6th, 1979. Listen, I’ve had a lot of papers come through my hands, but I’ve never lost that one. It’s pretty amazing. I think people should write notes to themselves. Jim Carrey put a check in his wallet for several million dollars, and then when he became a big movie star, he could look at it. So it’s a manifestation. As an eighteen-year-old, I didn’t come from a very encouraging place, so it’s good to see that I was encouraging myself.

MAYAN: “We survived every moment we didn’t think we were going to, So let’s keep creating more of those moments. We survived every day that we didn’t think we were going to. I know we’re going to keep having all of those good days and even better days that we couldn’t even imagine. So let’s go get them.” I think that’s what I would write.

GEORGE: That’s a really good question. I think I have. I wouldn’t say I have moved on from him, but I pretty much told him that if I could go back, I said, “Everything is going to be all right. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

I remember I was playing golf in Cabo with a guy that I’d never even met. He’s a fan of mine. Soon you were playing afterward, and we’re in there getting a drink, and he says, “I know a little bit about you.” I said, “You do?” He goes, “Yeah, I follow you,” and stuff like that. And he said to me, “It’s not your fault.” I said, “What?” He said, “It’s not your fault.” And I was like, “Wow.”

Nobody had ever told me it was not my fault, much less a dude wearing no shirt in a country club in Cabo. It was very emotional for me and him. I gave him a long hug, and I’d never seen that guy. I know who he is, we see each other. But that’s a pretty powerful thing to say to somebody the first time you meet them.

GEORGE: I have daddy issues, absolutely. I never knew him, and my grandmother was very mysterious. I remember I was doing my book, the ‘Why You Crying’ book, and I brought Armen Keteyian, the writer, to meet my grandmother. And we walk in, I haven’t even introduced Armen. So she says to me, “I don’t think the guy that’s your dad is your dad.” I’m like, “Oh. Here’s Armen.”

So my grandmother always had, I’m not sure why... Most people tell family secrets or they say, “This person was this way or that... Here’s a recipe.” She didn’t want to give up any recipes, and she didn’t want to give them any names of any family members. She didn’t tell me what her childhood was like. She didn’t tell me what her sisters were like. I don’t know. It was at that time that everybody was like that, you can’t say anything. Don’t say anything.

GEORGE: That’s a really good question. Mayan took a 23andMe, and I saw the list, there were quite a few people. There were people related to her that related to me. I personally wouldn’t. I have it in my dressing room, but I don’t think I’ll take it. It’s been quite a roller coaster by myself. I can’t imagine including other people, especially at this age. I’m cool with Mayan.

GEORGE: I would consider the high, the day that the first show had its 100th episode, I got my star on the Walk of Fame. Everything was really great then. And when we were divorced, and I was still doing the talk show, I had a pretty hard year, and I would consider between the end of ‘09 and all of ’10, and even though I was doing that show, it was a very, very difficult year. Where I was used to being alone, but now you’re alone, and you’ve destroyed your family. I was very abusive to myself. I don’t think anybody really knows, but yeah, I was tough on myself. I’m glad I made it out of there.

GEORGE: Stop dyeing it gentleman in your 60s. I would buy the Ronald McDonald, and I started to look at the pictures, and they would be faint. I said, “Is that orange? Is that burnt orange? Is that magenta in my hair?” And I stopped dying it, but I’m also very vain, so I was having a really hard time. Because you see me in the morning, I’m 42 on the first show, you see me here, I’m 62. So they’d be like, “Man, you got old.” I said, “When did you see me?” “I saw you this morning.” It’s like, “Bro, dude, people get old.” People don’t want to see me get old. They don’t want to see me get old.

Hey, I’m all right with it. I mean, it’s part of it, especially doing stand-up, this hair hits the lights, hatching like a Christmas tree with all the tinsel, so all these flares go out. I was like, “You know what? I’m just going to embrace it.” As I’ve said, “I’m never cutting it again.” So I’m going to be mas Indio by September. It looks longer today than it did yesterday. Somebody said that this was longer. They go, “I don’t know, man. Your hair’s longer today.” Yeah. And I actually enjoy the attention, I like it a lot.