I just did 6 shows in 6 days!

The Best Week of My Life

Just did 6 shows in 6 days!

And I booked 66 performers too!

And I performed at 4 amazing LA Theaters: The Lyric Hyperion, The Glendale Room, UCB, and The Pack Theater!

I did 3 improv shows, 1 bit show, 1 game show, and 1 sketch show!

This was probably the biggest week I’ve ever had as a performer.

Of all the hats I wear, that’s the one I wear the easiest.

The shows were good – I mean like they were fire good!!! – but hanging out with so many of my amazing peers from across different LA communities was probably the thing I’ll remember the most.

Plus, I got to hangout with Kristen Gull all week, which was a gift.

My life has been filled with extreme highs and lows as of late, but it felt good to have an amazing week like this past one, s week that was unlike anything I’ve ever done. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

#improv #duoitagain
#theduplex #menudo #bithole #cuñadoscuñadasycarnales
#moonshotcomedy #lyrichyperion #theglendaleroom #ucb #packtheater

Shows 47-52

What Does ‘Sublime’ Mean? Find Out This Friday

Piñata Party This Friday, Match 17 at The Ledge Theatre

LA is Latin America, y’all. Ain’t no ifs and or buts about it! 

So once a month I gather my favorite Latinx comics and put up a banger of a show – The Piñata Party! (Because you know piñtas are filled with goodies?) 

Every 3rd Friday of the Month, The Latinx Comedy Pachanga gathers at The Ledge Theater for a night of comedy, poetry, and everything in between. I’ve been trying to use the word ‘Sublime’ a lot more lately, so whatever it is, it’ll definitely be ‘Sublime.’ 

What is ‘Sublime?”

of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe (thank you, Google!) 

So it’s going to be that! 

And we gotta a killer line up to! 

Featuring: 

A character bit from Andres Parada

Stand Up from Darling Izzy, Carmen Scott, Ammy Ontiveros

Poetry from Raul Herrera Jr.

A bit from Victor Bryan Olivas

A sketch reading from Marlando (Marcelina Chavira + Fernando A. Funes)

A character from Karla Espino

Music from St. Trois

Improv from Los Tamales Dulces + A Special Guest! (Los Tamales Dulces: Fernando A. Funes, Julio Urquidi, Gracie Gilb, Maia Villa, Samuel Solorio, Marcelina Chavira)

Hosted by Karla Espino + Fernando A. Funes

It’s going to be an amazing night – join us! 

#latinxcomedypachanga #theledge #latinxcomedy #bipoc #losfeliz #impro #improv #sketch #poetry #music #standup #gente #LA 

A Poem for Red Door

I love Red Door. Thank you for the masterclasses, y’all. From left to right: Ryan Marisco, me (Fernando A. Funes) and Justin Michael Terry

Here’s a Poem I Wrote In Honor of Red Door for My Poem A Day Project

Poem 44

The secret of the masters
Is that they play with great joy

If you want to be
A brooding, self loathing artisan
Whose sense of self importance
Is crucial to your work
Cool!

That’s not for me
I want to see people
Having fun

I want to see players
Moving from moment to moment
Making discoveries
Yes anding gifts
Building on top of every choice
In a way that doesn’t feel
Forced, labored, or resentful

I want to see players
Jabbing each other
Setting each other up
Trying to make the other break
Always knowing
That a foundation of
Let’s go out there and have fun
Supports everything

I want to see whimsey
Cut with vulgarity
For the sake of contrast
And to see that they can be
Balanced and complimentary
Like peanut butter
On a ham sandwich

Red Door
Weaves every choice, moment
And mistake into a great
Narrative tapestry
That feels like a built in world

They’re shows feel like a
Paperback novel you find
At a used bookstore
That you know
Has been passed around
A few times from friend to friend
That once you start reading it
You can’t stop yourself
From finishing
Until you realize it’s over
And then you’re like
What do I do next?

It’s a literal journey
A unscripted experience
That reveals the great heights
Our art form is capable
And worthy of reaching

I love these guys
Because they show me
How far I need to go
But how fun it’s going to be
To get there

44.2023

#improv #reddoor #theglendaleroom

Pic is from Red Door’s most recent show at The Glendale Room on Thursday, February 9th, 2023. Go watch their shows and take their workshops!

And special thanks to The Glendale Room for making these special moments oments possible!

How The Latinx Comedy Pachanga Taught Me to Put a Show Together

It’s a Late Friday Night

Just put the show order together for next Friday’s Latinx Heritage Show at the Ledge Theater at 8pm!

It’s been a while since I’ve curated a variety show, so I had to sit with every piece and performer to see what would be the best lineup possible.

You want to set up everyone for success. And you do that by keeping in mind how every piece is fun in its own way and how it will be affected by the previous piece and how it can possibly affect what follows next in the show.

I mean there’s more than that – putting a show together is an art form they don’t teach you in comedy schools (unless you’re on a house sketch team or you took Mike Upchurch’s old sketch level 3 class at the Pack).

But it’s funny because learning how to curate a variety show relates back to the Latinx Comedy Pachanga.

We started the Latinx Comedy Pachanga to create stage time and opportunities for Latinx comedians. In starting this project, I’ve learned a million things.

So putting a show together is just one of many skills I now possess had I not taken the risk along with Richard Aaron, my sister, and a great ensemble of America’s funniest Latinos to put up a Latinx sketch show in LA.

And you know what? There’s still more to learn. Not just about comedy, but about producing, recruiting, collaborating, leading, encouraging artists, and just a lot of stuff.

I’m really proud of the Latinx Comedy Pachanga and all the work we’ve done. I think y’all are really going to enjoy our Latinx Heritage Month show next Friday at the Ledge Theater, so please join us!

The Ledge is a new theater started by Shaun Landry to showcase diverse voices front and center, and I’m super honoured to bring our show there.

So be there!

#latinxcomedypachanga #latinxheritagemonth #theledge

I’m Hosting the Latinx Quiz Show!

Cuñados, Cuñadas, y Carnales is Live This Sunday Aug.28th at the Pack Theater

Alright, y’all, for the first time ever I’m hosting Cuñados, Cuñadas, y Carnales – the Latinx Quiz Show!

And I’ll be supported by Joe Felix as my announcer!

We got some hilarious Latinx comics and thought provoking writers:

Marcelina Chavira – the woman of a thousand faces and writer on Super Giant Robots on Netflix!

Rubén Mendive – the host and producer of La Lista podcast, a popular and vital show highlighting Latinx writers

Linzy Beltran – one of the funniest improvisers you’ll see on any side of the Mississippi, the Equator, the Atlantic, and the Pacific!

Victor Bryan Olivas –He’s a Zonie and I love him. Dude’s also hilarious so that helps!

And it’s going down live this Sunday at 10pm at the Pack Theater!

Pre-show tickets are just $5, so get them now!

#latinx #latinxcomedypachanga #sketch #improv #standup #comedy