I’m in New York with my bouffon troupe Mil Grus
performing our show at The Soho Playhouse–our
Off-Broadway debut! Also doing some standup
while I’m in town.
Minori Hinds and I like to come back biannually and co-headline in our dear lil’ hometown, Asheville, North Carolina. On this show we raised funds for the local organization Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Accion (CIMA).
CIMA connects, strengthens and organizes communities to take action for immigrants’ rights in Western North Carolina and is committed to weaving an intersectionality of protection, active resistance, education, resilience, resources, healing, critical thinking, contemplative action and transformation.
I have recently been on a quest for the roots of comedy and gotten deep into physical theater, clown, slapstick, Commedia dell’arte, and bouffon. I co-founded a bouffon troupe, MIL GRUS, in LA last year, and this summer we stormed the Hollywood Fringe Festival, taking home several awards and an invitation to the Soho Playhouse in NYC this fall.
Bouffon is part physical theater part satire. The bouffon is grotesque yet beautiful, constantly walking the line between charming the audience and scaring them, but ultimately taking the piss out of them is the main objective.
I moved back–I couldn’t stay away! There’s lots of interesting stuff in LA including immersive theater, avant garde performance art, and my deep obsession with clown, which has informed my stand up. I am more physical and more in touch with the audience. I am also willing to take bigger risks without feeling scared. Or rather, I am learning how to act on the edge of my fear, instead of shrinking away from it. Clown is deep stuff that has all kinds of lifey applications.
I toured many cities and met many folks. I got paid various amounts of money for my talents and offerings. I made my pilgrimage to Meowwolf. My car broke down on my birthday and I left it in New Mexico to finish out the tour by planes, busses, and automobiles. This tour helped me decide I need to live in a big city where all the stuff is happening.
Because comedy is based on addressing taboos, comedians often feel free to unleash their racism, misogyny, homophobia, classism, ableism, body shaming, etc., onto an audience that didn’t sign up for that. I wanted to create a hate-free room where the comedy can address taboos without being hateful or politically oppressive.
Nice Guys Comedy is MY FAVORITE COMICS doing LONG SETS of HATE-FREE material for a SMART AUDIENCE.
So interesting. Me. Read the article here
Last week I had to fly to New York for one night to perform for Gotham Comedy Live, a comedy show which is filmed for AXS TV and will air in early 2017. It is by far the most glamorous thing I have ever done.
Louis C.K. is doing small venues this year to work out his new material, and he’s using a local comic from each city to open for him. So with three hours’ notice, I found myself on stage at the Orange Peel in front of a thousand people saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Louis C. K!” 
It was surreal. He said “good job,” and he meant it. I got to hang out with him and he is nice and he’s a lot like you would think he’d be. And I got this blurry photo with him.
A friend offered me a sublet in New York and my work allowed me six weeks off because they support my art career (!) and here I am in the Big Apple. I booked some shows, had some power lunches, and I’m taking a clowning and movement intensive for actors which is a dream come true. Also went to the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference and saw Sleep No More (another dream come true). But mostly I have just been lying on the couch swiping left on Tinder.