1
00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:16,280
Speaker 1: Radio Radio Radio commis a myth and bullshit, a radio

2
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:22,560
Speaker 1: phonic novella Look Radio hosted by Malam Hey look at Motives.

3
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,000
Speaker 1: This podcast episode is in partnership with HBO Max and

4
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,520
Speaker 1: today we have a super exciting interview to share with

5
00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,000
Speaker 1: you all. We had the amazing opportunity to interview comedian

6
00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,840
Speaker 1: Ida Rodriguez and director of her new comedy special, Chris

7
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,360
Speaker 1: Meticado at the l A premiere of Fighting Words. We

8
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,960
Speaker 1: talked about comedy, political commentary, the creative process, and what

9
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,680
Speaker 1: it means to create space for Latin X folks in

10
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,640
Speaker 1: the comedy world. We hope you enjoyed this interview. Hello, Hello,

11
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 1: us notes, what's up, congar room. Let's give it up

12
00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:03,200
Speaker 1: for Ada Rodriguez. Wasn't that amazing? Did she kill that?

13
00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,080
Speaker 1: Or what? She killed that ship? Let's give it up

14
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:12,800
Speaker 1: one more time for Ado Rodriguez. Yes, those were some

15
00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:17,320
Speaker 1: fighting words. They left me a little black and brew,

16
00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,560
Speaker 1: but we like it a little rough, so it's fine.

17
00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,200
Speaker 1: We're into it. Thank you all for being here tonight.

18
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 1: We want to shout out HBO Max. Let's give a

19
00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:33,000
Speaker 1: round of applause, Yes for making this possible. Yeah, So

20
00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:37,280
Speaker 1: we want to introduce ourselves. I'm Viosa and my name

21
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,960
Speaker 1: is Mala. We are the host of a podcast called

22
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,080
Speaker 1: look At a Radio, a radiophonic novela. Yes, look at

23
00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,240
Speaker 1: a Radio is a radiophonic novella, which is just kind

24
00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,640
Speaker 1: of an extra fancy way of saying a podcast. Thank

25
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,040
Speaker 1: you so much for having us here. Thank you so

26
00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,360
Speaker 1: much for having us. We have been podcasting since born

27
00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,840
Speaker 1: and raised in Los Angeles, so this is such an

28
00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,200
Speaker 1: amazing opportunity for us to be able to share the

29
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,480
Speaker 1: stage with the amazing Ido Rodriguez. Yes, let's get up

30
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,799
Speaker 1: for l A. Give it up for Los Angeles, and

31
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,120
Speaker 1: so we're ready to be in conversation with the amazing

32
00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,320
Speaker 1: Ido Rodriguez and Christian. Let's welcome to the stage the

33
00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:30,480
Speaker 1: star of the show Rodriguez and director Christian Mercado. And

34
00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,160
Speaker 1: I believe y'all over here and we will be over here.

35
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:41,920
Speaker 1: Give it up for Chris, thank you. And Nadia Hagren

36
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 1: who directed the documentary, who is an award winning documentarian

37
00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,280
Speaker 1: who directed Michelle Obama's Becoming and she's Afro Latina Puerto Ricans.

38
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:57,079
Speaker 1: Give it up for her. Please, dream team. That's amazing.

39
00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,240
Speaker 1: So before we get started. We just want to shout

40
00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:06,280
Speaker 1: out one more time, HBO Max putting Latino Latina, Latin creators, stories,

41
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,680
Speaker 1: storytellers at the forefront. And we're so grateful to be

42
00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,880
Speaker 1: here under this umbrella because our stories matter and we

43
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,880
Speaker 1: are thirsting for more. So we want to thank Aida

44
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:22,160
Speaker 1: for your work. And I promised my grandmother I was

45
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,720
Speaker 1: gonna start doing that. We were like listening to all

46
00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,359
Speaker 1: the media we could find, like how do they pronounce

47
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,760
Speaker 1: her name? Every other way? Every there was I mean,

48
00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,160
Speaker 1: I've allowed people to call me Ada for so long

49
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 1: because my grandmother was alive and she was either but

50
00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,240
Speaker 1: she told me that's your name. Be proud of it

51
00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,880
Speaker 1: and let people they can say Catherine, they can say Bill,

52
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:49,520
Speaker 1: they can say either. Correct. Some of y'all think I'll

53
00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,160
Speaker 1: try to tarroll owens it and say, oh I tacked

54
00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,360
Speaker 1: minus not how do you say my name? It's I'm

55
00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,400
Speaker 1: just honoring my grandmother. And how you actually pronounced my name? Yes,

56
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,200
Speaker 1: it's not Holliver. So we want to ask that. We

57
00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,880
Speaker 1: want to ask you about your creative process first and foremost.

58
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,800
Speaker 1: I love the conversation and the bit about our grandmother's

59
00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,680
Speaker 1: and the roles our grandmothers playing our lives and I'm

60
00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,480
Speaker 1: very curious how you take your observations your family life

61
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,880
Speaker 1: and you craft them into a polished joke for an

62
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,320
Speaker 1: HBO Max special. Take us through the journey? Okay, So

63
00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 1: where does I want to say? One thing? Um, I

64
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,719
Speaker 1: know a lot of comedians who have haters in you,

65
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,719
Speaker 1: because we have haters in all of us, and that's

66
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,760
Speaker 1: just the nature of being a comic. Would look at

67
00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,240
Speaker 1: the special and say, oh, she she only did this

68
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,200
Speaker 1: so much comedy and she had a documentary. It was

69
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,240
Speaker 1: really important for me to do that because media in

70
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,960
Speaker 1: general right now are we are, our stories are lacking,

71
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,160
Speaker 1: and as big of a market as we are, our

72
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,800
Speaker 1: stories just don't happen. So I sacrifice a portion of

73
00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,000
Speaker 1: my stand up so that I could do that documentary

74
00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 1: because I really on it to show the spectrum of

75
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,839
Speaker 1: how beautiful the people of Puerto Rico and the Dominican

76
00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:11,560
Speaker 1: Republic are in our fullness because there are there are there,

77
00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,000
Speaker 1: we are. We ranged, like I said, and and you

78
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,480
Speaker 1: it's it's missing. So I was like, I want to

79
00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,960
Speaker 1: do this, and Nadia was like, I'll take the journey

80
00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,599
Speaker 1: with you. And I'm so thankful that I did that

81
00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:24,960
Speaker 1: so for fun all of y'all who was talking about

82
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,640
Speaker 1: my special about how there's this documentary tame the hater

83
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 1: in you and know that when it comes to Latin

84
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,359
Speaker 1: X people, we are invisible in a lot of ways,

85
00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: and so it was very important for me to do that.

86
00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:46,160
Speaker 1: Um that, you know, most of us who are comedians.

87
00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,440
Speaker 1: I talked to Dr Drew today because I was doing

88
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,760
Speaker 1: an interview and he said he could see the trauma

89
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,480
Speaker 1: on all of us because a lot of our humor

90
00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:59,800
Speaker 1: is rooted in trauma. Um I Chris Spinster's here, Now,

91
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,200
Speaker 1: events is here, Clayton is here, Byron is here, tone

92
00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,600
Speaker 1: is here. If I miss your name, charged it to

93
00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,160
Speaker 1: my head, not my heart. But there are people who

94
00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,240
Speaker 1: I comn I put a lot of pressure on me

95
00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,640
Speaker 1: with comedy. You would say, don't beat like all the

96
00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:19,520
Speaker 1: other comedians making thirteen cents and now go do something significant.

97
00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:25,800
Speaker 1: Tell the story those words Byron Iron sharpens Iron Clayton,

98
00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,440
Speaker 1: people would do a stand up longer than me. Really

99
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,000
Speaker 1: how to take an experience and make it a joke

100
00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,440
Speaker 1: because if not, it's just an experience, right, it's just

101
00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,599
Speaker 1: a story. I have to I have to pay tribute

102
00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,320
Speaker 1: and Ian Edwards who when someone stole my joke he

103
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,760
Speaker 1: was like, so write another one. Like he didn't even say,

104
00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,760
Speaker 1: let's go write another one. It was just the people

105
00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,640
Speaker 1: who um did stand up before me. That taught me

106
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:58,080
Speaker 1: a lot of things about stand up Vanessa, like just uh,

107
00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,919
Speaker 1: to really take the experience and make it a joke.

108
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,360
Speaker 1: And and then it was observational learning, paying attention to

109
00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:12,080
Speaker 1: my my my comrades. Shawnta isn't came Shanta will tag

110
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,960
Speaker 1: your conversation, like all the comedians laugh when I'm not

111
00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:17,880
Speaker 1: to you can be like, yo, I went to the

112
00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,240
Speaker 1: grocery store and I bought this new kind of rights

113
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:22,880
Speaker 1: and she'd be like, I had a tag for you.

114
00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,800
Speaker 1: It's like, it's just the comedians, can't we we we

115
00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,200
Speaker 1: communicating comedy. And I wouldn't be able to write a

116
00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,880
Speaker 1: joke had I not been in the presence of my

117
00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:39,400
Speaker 1: my colleagues and my peers who really take joke writing seriously.

118
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,560
Speaker 1: Thank you. Let's give it up for Eva and the

119
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:49,760
Speaker 1: creative process. Hi. That's so in your stand up you

120
00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,480
Speaker 1: talk about retiring from political commentary. So my question for

121
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,680
Speaker 1: you is as someone that's online or on the internet,

122
00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,600
Speaker 1: and also as a woman of color, do you feel

123
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,960
Speaker 1: a certain pressure to comment on everything that's happening at

124
00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,600
Speaker 1: all times? Of course we do, like a lot some

125
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,560
Speaker 1: of us do, some of us don't. Some of some

126
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 1: people jumped off the bus and say, fuck everybody you know,

127
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,800
Speaker 1: because you can't win for losing. Um, yeah, I feel

128
00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,560
Speaker 1: I got caught up in this moment where you know,

129
00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,480
Speaker 1: I I I don't know if my T y T

130
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,680
Speaker 1: family is here, but I go on the young Turks.

131
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,520
Speaker 1: They've extended their platform for me to give a voice

132
00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,160
Speaker 1: to people who you rarely see in those spaces, and

133
00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,600
Speaker 1: it becomes hurtful. Um. My first joke which I took

134
00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,920
Speaker 1: out the special was it's really hard to fight for

135
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,040
Speaker 1: people who you hate. I was like, I hate all

136
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,600
Speaker 1: you motherfucker's you know, Like, I can't win for losing.

137
00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,880
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what I say. I'm always gonna say

138
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,640
Speaker 1: something wrong because I'm always gonna say something that offends somebody.

139
00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:55,480
Speaker 1: But naturally who I am, based on how I was raised,

140
00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:57,920
Speaker 1: the people that I come from, it is my natural

141
00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,640
Speaker 1: inclination to fight for my people, fight for women, fight

142
00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:07,120
Speaker 1: for marginalized people. It's not something that I do because

143
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,200
Speaker 1: I want likes on Instagram or I'm trying to go viral.

144
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,880
Speaker 1: It's just really who I am as a person. My

145
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,600
Speaker 1: kids hate it. They're like, stop caring about other people,

146
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:21,120
Speaker 1: just care about us. These people are horrible human beings.

147
00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,160
Speaker 1: They're not worthy. I hear it all the time. It's

148
00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,440
Speaker 1: just really who I am. And I've had to learn

149
00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,400
Speaker 1: how to balance it because the reality of it is

150
00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,800
Speaker 1: that some people I'm gonna I'm gonna talk to Latinos,

151
00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,520
Speaker 1: latin x Latinae are just haters and they don't give

152
00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:38,760
Speaker 1: a funk about the cause. They're just trying to get

153
00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,840
Speaker 1: a platform. The grifters and there take capitalizing on the

154
00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,760
Speaker 1: pain of their people and instead of really really fighting

155
00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,600
Speaker 1: for justice. Because I feel like somebody says something that's

156
00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,839
Speaker 1: fucked up, I'll just be like dm ng them and say, yo,

157
00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 1: are you sure you want to say that? I'm gonna

158
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,560
Speaker 1: put you on blast on Twitter and think you unless

159
00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,280
Speaker 1: I think you're just an egregious person and you are

160
00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,120
Speaker 1: beyond reproach and you're one of those people that just

161
00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,400
Speaker 1: doesn't give a fuck. I'm not gonna Why am I

162
00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,560
Speaker 1: burning you down? Well, I swear to God, just the

163
00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,280
Speaker 1: four people on this stage. If you went through all

164
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,960
Speaker 1: our ship, you will find scandal and all our ship

165
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,560
Speaker 1: because every single one of us is imperfect. And a

166
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:20,920
Speaker 1: lot of these motherfucker's get online and be like oh

167
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,120
Speaker 1: because you know the marginalization and white supremacy and be

168
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,000
Speaker 1: the most rotten of people on the inside. And the

169
00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,200
Speaker 1: motherfucker's that don't know pronouns have good souls and want

170
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,320
Speaker 1: to help other people. So I just it's really hard

171
00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,480
Speaker 1: to fight. And some of y'all not clapping because y'all

172
00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,560
Speaker 1: tho social justice bitches that be allline fucking with people

173
00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:43,839
Speaker 1: and you don't really give a funk about your people.

174
00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:45,800
Speaker 1: You're just trying to get a nice purse or you're

175
00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,280
Speaker 1: trying to win, and the rest of us really give

176
00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,880
Speaker 1: a funk about people getting shot by the police and

177
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,280
Speaker 1: actually want to feed on housed people, you know what

178
00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,480
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So it's a burden, and I I this

179
00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,600
Speaker 1: was my special to say, suck it. I'm not you

180
00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:03,839
Speaker 1: don't own me. I'm gonna say what I say. I'm

181
00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,640
Speaker 1: gonna continue to learn, and the people that funk with

182
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,560
Speaker 1: me gonna funk with me, and the ones that don't

183
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,600
Speaker 1: can't eat a dick. That's how I feel like, Yes, excellent,

184
00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,840
Speaker 1: Eat a dick, Indeed, Eat a dick, Indeed. I have

185
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:30,760
Speaker 1: to say that. I have to say also, your show

186
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,960
Speaker 1: Truth Serum got me through the pandemic. Yes, I was

187
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,640
Speaker 1: tuning in and I was living for your analysis and

188
00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,480
Speaker 1: your commentary. And I think that a lot of that

189
00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,720
Speaker 1: thinking I saw evolves and end up in the special.

190
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,720
Speaker 1: So I want to thank you too for putting yourself

191
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:50,400
Speaker 1: out there and if you were, if you were watching

192
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,800
Speaker 1: Truth Serum, let's one of the thirty seven people that

193
00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:58,640
Speaker 1: watched it, give it up for Uh. We do want

194
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:03,880
Speaker 1: to ask Christian about your creative process because you have

195
00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:10,640
Speaker 1: directed work for Billie Eilish for Bad Bunny. Yeah, credits, credits,

196
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,840
Speaker 1: let's give it up. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I did

197
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:22,080
Speaker 1: work with Jay Balbin. And how did you approach this

198
00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:27,120
Speaker 1: comedy special as opposed to your more music based projects.

199
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,240
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean I think I love comedy.

200
00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,480
Speaker 1: I think comedy is just like, you know, laughter, especially

201
00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:35,560
Speaker 1: right now, is so important because we're kind of all

202
00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,960
Speaker 1: going through it, you know, and I think a comedian,

203
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,000
Speaker 1: you know, puts a lot of their soul into it,

204
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,920
Speaker 1: you know, like it's a lot of work and even

205
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,160
Speaker 1: when I was, you know, chilling with Ida while she

206
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,320
Speaker 1: was working on this, I mean, you could feel a

207
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,000
Speaker 1: lot of the work you put into it, you know,

208
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,040
Speaker 1: like you you were going through it too, you know,

209
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,320
Speaker 1: and you're going through a lot of events in your life,

210
00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,240
Speaker 1: and um, I don't know, laughter is really healing. And

211
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,480
Speaker 1: I think my creator process was really just trying to

212
00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,480
Speaker 1: like be true to your voice, because you know, you're

213
00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:06,560
Speaker 1: spending you're putting a little piece of your soul there.

214
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,720
Speaker 1: So it's like my responsibility to kind of portray that somehow,

215
00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,720
Speaker 1: you know. And so I don't know, I hope I

216
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,800
Speaker 1: did a justice. You know. I tried my best. Yes,

217
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,080
Speaker 1: let me just say Christian. Before Christian was even on board,

218
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,120
Speaker 1: he sent me a look book of my special. It

219
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:31,120
Speaker 1: was so it was so um specific, Puerto Rico, the Dominican.

220
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,320
Speaker 1: You saw how that that that thing, if you saw

221
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,000
Speaker 1: what we started with and how he made that look

222
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,280
Speaker 1: that was him. He made it look beautiful. He has

223
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,320
Speaker 1: this cinematic mind. Yeah, that was really important to me

224
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,880
Speaker 1: for sure. Like I felt like, you know, with both

225
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 1: Puerto Rican I was like, this's a rare opportunity for

226
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,160
Speaker 1: two Puerto Rican creators to like work together like that

227
00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,880
Speaker 1: doesn't happen enough, honestly, you know, so like I don't know,

228
00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,200
Speaker 1: I felt a lot of response ability in that end too,

229
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,720
Speaker 1: where I was like, I wanna put the fabric of

230
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,960
Speaker 1: our people in it somehow, I think just even you know,

231
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,080
Speaker 1: by virtue of working on it. But I love the

232
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,640
Speaker 1: way that even the flag is on there. That was

233
00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:14,959
Speaker 1: a wild That was a wild moment in my life

234
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,080
Speaker 1: to put a giant Puerto Rican flag in the back

235
00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,360
Speaker 1: of you know, and do it in an artful sort

236
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,760
Speaker 1: of way, you know, where it's not like it's just

237
00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:27,080
Speaker 1: like very like subtle touch, you know, subtle but not

238
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:33,440
Speaker 1: so subtle. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Beautiful, beautiful

239
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,280
Speaker 1: love that. So either you keep it reel in so

240
00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,440
Speaker 1: many ways all the time, and especially in this special

241
00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,640
Speaker 1: and one thing that you say that I would love

242
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,560
Speaker 1: to hear you expand on is that Latinos like to

243
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,960
Speaker 1: flex on other Latinos. So what has been the reception

244
00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:52,520
Speaker 1: in your community, from your family for this monumentous moment

245
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,960
Speaker 1: in your life you have this comedy special. Well, I

246
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,040
Speaker 1: would be a liar if I would say that I

247
00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,360
Speaker 1: didn't feel supported. Um, I do feel supported by a

248
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,440
Speaker 1: lot of um, a lot of people in this community.

249
00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,440
Speaker 1: You see you looking here and you see Lisa Vidali,

250
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,400
Speaker 1: you see Celantis, you see Rossallin Sanchez just you know

251
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:16,320
Speaker 1: my child O. Um, Gloria, they don't kill it. You

252
00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,160
Speaker 1: gotta see her the last part of her last name,

253
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 1: like you white Gloria, they don't kill it. Um you

254
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,320
Speaker 1: know um. You know Clayton Byron, Vanessa Chloe, I saw

255
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,640
Speaker 1: Zana Chante. My friends who've been my friends before I

256
00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,440
Speaker 1: did stand up are here. Lisa Grossman, who picked me

257
00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,400
Speaker 1: up off the floor of my husband cheated on me,

258
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,520
Speaker 1: like I am. I have a community and I do

259
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,280
Speaker 1: feel supported. And I'm gonna tell you right now because

260
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,000
Speaker 1: I would be remiss if and I would be a

261
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,640
Speaker 1: liar if I didn't tell you. The first community to

262
00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,040
Speaker 1: embrace me in comedy was the Black American community. It

263
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,240
Speaker 1: was one of the sites who put me on last

264
00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,760
Speaker 1: comic standy Tiffany Hattish that gave me my first special

265
00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,400
Speaker 1: Spike who's here, who put harassed me to death but

266
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:02,800
Speaker 1: put me on the stage at the improv after he

267
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 1: hates me for years call me bitch like seventy five

268
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,680
Speaker 1: times and then put me on stage but if you

269
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,680
Speaker 1: know Spike, you know, if you're a woman, you're a bit.

270
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:16,960
Speaker 1: If you're a man, you're motherfucker's And I did feel supported. Um,

271
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,600
Speaker 1: but you know what I what I want to say

272
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,720
Speaker 1: is I know that our community when and now people

273
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,720
Speaker 1: are pushing back and saying there's no such thing as Latinos,

274
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,400
Speaker 1: there's no such thing as Hispanic those those are words

275
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,400
Speaker 1: of white supremacy. Yes, all of that is true, but

276
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,920
Speaker 1: there is a truth and that there's a community that

277
00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,640
Speaker 1: belongs to this spectrum that is Latin America, regardless of

278
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:45,240
Speaker 1: where the names come from. Um, we are also Latinos,

279
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,760
Speaker 1: just like black people in America are fucking American and

280
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 1: have the right to claim America that they built. Just

281
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,800
Speaker 1: like everybody else, we don't have to always feel like

282
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,760
Speaker 1: strangers in our own home. We have a common thing,

283
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,360
Speaker 1: those of us who are the children of the of

284
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,760
Speaker 1: the indigenous people and the slaves that were colonized by Spain.

285
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,720
Speaker 1: There is something that connects us all together from that experience,

286
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,919
Speaker 1: and I take pride in that and my my, my,

287
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:19,040
Speaker 1: my objective is to unify us with respect to addressing

288
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,879
Speaker 1: the issues of erasure when it comes to blackness and

289
00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:25,639
Speaker 1: indigenous people and the Asian people of Latin America, not

290
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,600
Speaker 1: not ignoring that, but at the same time, if we

291
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,920
Speaker 1: can make The Fast inter Furious one of the biggest

292
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:37,800
Speaker 1: chains franchises to ever and not tripped on Michelle Rodriguez

293
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,040
Speaker 1: not being Afro Latina, and that we have to be

294
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,639
Speaker 1: able to hold each other accountable and be able to

295
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:49,119
Speaker 1: be true to ourselves to say we are very We

296
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,840
Speaker 1: have such buying power. We show up for everybody else,

297
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,760
Speaker 1: but we do not show up for each other. And

298
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,040
Speaker 1: it is important for me that I hold the mirror

299
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,240
Speaker 1: to ourselves, to us and to me as a comedian,

300
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,600
Speaker 1: because a lot of comedians who belong to the Latin

301
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,040
Speaker 1: X spectrum don't do that, and I'm not gonna shoot

302
00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,000
Speaker 1: on them because they don't. You can talk about your

303
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,640
Speaker 1: cupcakes and how you like to eat or food, or

304
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,080
Speaker 1: you know, your mother beating you without choko. All of

305
00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:19,119
Speaker 1: that is part of the experience, and I don't shoot

306
00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,600
Speaker 1: on that. Everybody has a right to tell their story,

307
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,080
Speaker 1: but somebody's got to tell talk about the uncomfortable stuff, right,

308
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,399
Speaker 1: somebody's got to talk about the social issues and the

309
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,200
Speaker 1: political issues. And I'm not afraid to do it. So UM.

310
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:41,879
Speaker 1: I don't know what your question was it, but my

311
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,879
Speaker 1: my point is that, you know, when it comes to

312
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,120
Speaker 1: our community, and you know, like I've seen people say, well,

313
00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,640
Speaker 1: I'm not celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month anymore. I'm still celebrating

314
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,360
Speaker 1: um in February, and I'm like, all right, good luck

315
00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:57,240
Speaker 1: with dad, and I'm Black American. People tell you get

316
00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,240
Speaker 1: to funk out our month, bitch. We we It took

317
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,200
Speaker 1: us forever to get our own mouth. Now you want

318
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,000
Speaker 1: to jump over here and appropriate our ship. It's just

319
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,680
Speaker 1: it's a complex thing and it's a nuanced conversation and

320
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,520
Speaker 1: we can't do that anymore because if somebody's feelings get

321
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,359
Speaker 1: hurt and they got thirteen followers on Twitter, now we

322
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 1: got a problem, you know. And until we have the

323
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,480
Speaker 1: conversations and we have the lemon squeeze and we cry

324
00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,880
Speaker 1: and fight and beat each other up and hurt, We're

325
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,600
Speaker 1: not gonna move forward, you know what I'm saying. And

326
00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,720
Speaker 1: if you watch black people in America, black American people,

327
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,439
Speaker 1: because black people exist, and I think they made a

328
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 1: conscious decision, a collective decision when they did Oscar so

329
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,359
Speaker 1: White there was like, funk the dumb shit We got problems,

330
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,760
Speaker 1: we got colorism, we got all these issues, but we're

331
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,240
Speaker 1: gonna make sure that we burn this bitch down. And

332
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,680
Speaker 1: Latinos are the first ones to take each other down,

333
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 1: and that has to stop. It has to stop, or

334
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,399
Speaker 1: we ain't gonna ever have ship. We just gonna be

335
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,720
Speaker 1: on the sidelines, you know, talking shit about other marginalized

336
00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,720
Speaker 1: people and being hateful and on this Let's give it

337
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:09,000
Speaker 1: up one more time for Iva. And I do have

338
00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,320
Speaker 1: to say that with your truth, with your honesty, you

339
00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,320
Speaker 1: put yourself out there like and you don't have to

340
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:20,400
Speaker 1: very very willingly, and you're taking blows and you're persevering,

341
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,399
Speaker 1: and so we thank you and we honor you, and

342
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,200
Speaker 1: let's give it up one more time. Thank you, Thank you.

343
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,280
Speaker 1: So I just want to say, um, I wanna address

344
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 1: both Ida and Christian and um, you know, HBO Max

345
00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 1: is all about really taking underrepresented stories and putting them

346
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,159
Speaker 1: at the forefront and giving them wide distribution. And so

347
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,320
Speaker 1: we're really wondering for you, both in your own work

348
00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 1: and in your own just mentality, how you feel that

349
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,160
Speaker 1: your work and the special is participating in that and

350
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:59,920
Speaker 1: and pushing those stories to the forefront. Christian, I mean

351
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,000
Speaker 1: It's always important to you know, what you put the

352
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 1: you know, in front of the lens matters as much

353
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,119
Speaker 1: as what who is working the lens to, you know

354
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 1: what I mean. Like, and I think that, um, you know,

355
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: our story isn't really told. I think, especially in the

356
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,399
Speaker 1: American canon. I think, um, people are always confused by

357
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,919
Speaker 1: what you know, a Latino is, what a Puerto Rican is,

358
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,640
Speaker 1: by you know, the whole spectrum of it. So it's

359
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: just because our story hasn't just been seen enough, you know,

360
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,159
Speaker 1: and hasn't been told enough. So I think we just

361
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: need more representation. We just need more of our stories told.

362
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,080
Speaker 1: We need to be in more of the rooms. We

363
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,200
Speaker 1: need to control our story more, you know, we need

364
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,679
Speaker 1: to be the offers of it. Um, you know, I

365
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 1: think that's a process, but that's vital. And I think

366
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 1: you know, what you see is what you understand, you know,

367
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,200
Speaker 1: Like our our culture collectively is kind of sometimes cinema,

368
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,679
Speaker 1: you know, like that's what it is. Hopefully it's a

369
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:58,119
Speaker 1: launch pad. Everybody's learning, everybody's growing. But I will say this,

370
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 1: we comedy is you know, I don't even think the

371
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 1: ceiling has been broken for black women, even though Tiffany

372
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:10,199
Speaker 1: Haddish and Wanda Psykes are so successful. The ceiling hasn't

373
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,560
Speaker 1: been broken. And one thing that we need to learn

374
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 1: how to do is to understand things from a holistic perspective.

375
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,040
Speaker 1: We don't have to compare ourselves to other marginalized people

376
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 1: to make a point. We don't have to say but

377
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,200
Speaker 1: the Black people, but that the Asian people. We can

378
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,400
Speaker 1: just say we are enough, we are worthy, we deserve

379
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 1: and all of this ship is wrong because even if

380
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 1: you see more Black American people, they still not get

381
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,200
Speaker 1: in there. Just do either. So it's just really about

382
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,679
Speaker 1: being able to say, I hope this is a launchpad.

383
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: I didn't focus on Puerto Rico and Dominican, the Dominican

384
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 1: Republic as much as I when I talked about all Latinos,

385
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 1: and then I talked about you know, social issues, relationships,

386
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,160
Speaker 1: I talked about my family, and I talked about cultural stuff.

387
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: I broke the special up into four sections. But I

388
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,680
Speaker 1: don't want this to just be about us, which is

389
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 1: why I told stories that all people could relate to,

390
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 1: not just about Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, but without without

391
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 1: being afraid to lean into being Puerto Rican and Dominican

392
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:14,159
Speaker 1: and not apologizing for that either because we do matter too, right,

393
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 1: Like I don't have to apologize for that, and I

394
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:21,639
Speaker 1: can still respect people from Bolivia and Ecuadord and Panama

395
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 1: and all the other countries from our from Latin America.

396
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,280
Speaker 1: I hope that it shows up in a way that

397
00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: will create opportunities for other people. I am one of

398
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: those people. Clayton and bron No. I did a movie

399
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven. Vanessa knows that all my

400
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,240
Speaker 1: all my comedy friends were in That movie was about

401
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:45,639
Speaker 1: forty comedians in that movie. My mantra really is, it

402
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,679
Speaker 1: ain't no fun if the homies can't have none. I

403
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: am not straight up who the funk wants to be

404
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: lonely at the top by themselves. Adam Sandler looks like

405
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 1: he's having a good time, just like Jon Favreau looks

406
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,639
Speaker 1: like he's having a good time, just like Ben Steeler

407
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,160
Speaker 1: looks like he's having a good time. Why not us?

408
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,120
Speaker 1: We gotta get that ship out of our minds. There's

409
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,399
Speaker 1: only room for one of us at the top. And

410
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,679
Speaker 1: I hope this bitch busses the door down so that

411
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,080
Speaker 1: super who's Indian is in this here can get a

412
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,359
Speaker 1: comedy special, and and a queer person and a non

413
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 1: binary person and a trans person. I don't give a work.

414
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,960
Speaker 1: I want everybody to have a voice because when everybody

415
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 1: then has a voice, then the outrage will minimize because

416
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 1: there will be people that can represent those groups that

417
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,680
Speaker 1: are being shifted on and punched down on. And that's

418
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: how you find equity in this It's not it's not

419
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,040
Speaker 1: about Twitter and complaining and getting a thousand tweets. It's

420
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: about creating a market where people have an opportunity to

421
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,800
Speaker 1: show up and have visibility and have equity. And that's

422
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,719
Speaker 1: what I'm fighting for. So I hope Fighting Words opens

423
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 1: the door and ten funnier specials come out and you

424
00:24:55,160 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 1: that's yeah, yeah, thank you. Yes. This podcast episode is

425
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: in partnership with HBO Max. You can now stream I

426
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 1: Rodriguez Fighting Words on HBO Max. Check out this amazing,

427
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 1: hilarious special. You don't want to miss it. We hope

428
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 1: you enjoyed this interview. Thanks for tuning in. Besitos Radio

429
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: Radio Radio comus a Myth and Bullshit, a radio phonic novella.

430
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,360
Speaker 1: Local radio hosted by Malamo