WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1291 - Aida Rodriguez

Episode Date: December 27, 2021

Aida Rodriguez wanted her first HBO special to be more than a comedy show. She wanted to depict the parts of her past that are foundational to her comedy. So that's why she filmed a short documentary about her visits to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, as she reunited with the father she hadn't seen in 40 years. Marc and Aida talk about how she got comedy material out of a life story that included being kidnapped twice, finding herself raising her children without a home, and breaking into the business later in life. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global bestselling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life when i die here you'll never leave japan alive fx's shogun a new original series streaming february 27th exclusively on disney plus 18 plus subscription required t's and c's apply all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucking ears what's happening how's it going what the fucking ears i think someone sent me that one as if I'd never used it before.

I think I've used every one. I stopped rotating so many of them. There was a time on this show and also on my other show way back when on the radio where it was just a never ending list of possibilities. And I kind of leveled off on five or six, but always nice to hear from you. How's it going? Everybody? All right.

You get through. Did you make it through? How's your COVID? Everybody all right? You get through? Did you make it through? How's your COVID? Is it bad? I just hope you had a nice Christmas and your COVID infection wasn't too horrible. That's an honest to God Christmas greeting. That's an honest to God well-wishing because I assume that at least 50% of you got the COVID one way or the other. And it's just, I hope you're OK. I hope you're weathering the COVID storm today on the show. Ida Rodriguez. I don't know if you've seen her, but if you did, you would know her. She's a comic who did her work on the road and then was

showcased on Tiffany Haddish's Netflix comedy show. They ready. And she now has her own HBO stand up special fighting words. She also has a pretty crazy life story. It's interesting. Netflix comedy show, They Ready. And she now has her own HBO stand-up special, Fighting Words. She also has a pretty crazy life story. It's interesting, her stand-up special, there's some documentary element of her meeting her father for the first time, which is heavy, man. So, yeah, man, I feel okay. I don't know, I haven't talked to you since I did Largo.

You know, we did six songs. They all went, you know, playing with the fellas, with Brandon Schwartzel and Ned Brower and Jimmy Vivino. And it's weird. The more you play with guys, not even, like, it's not in terms of repeating the playing. Like, we're not playing every week. But you start to learn you know i'm just getting more comfortable and it's very exciting because i think almost all the songs came off without a hitch and they're not difficult songs i leave a lot of room for slop i think if you know

your limitations and you just want to have a good time and you're not putting too much pressure on yourself other than to get through the tune leave some room for the slop you know what i'm saying we did uh fleetwood max drifting and and you know jimmy showed me a riff in there that i couldn't figure out and it was so fucking easy and then uh we did the blasters tune and the only one i fucking it we did jealous guy john lennon's jealous guy which is an emotional song there was two songs in in this routine in this set list that really moved me long black veil Veil, just that story kills me. But Jealous Guy, in rehearsal, I hit it. It's a little strained, the vocals for me.

There's a high note in there that's hard for me. And I just, to my credit, as some of you know, I am cursed by fucking up a song, not being able to find the key of a Chuck Berry song when I was at music camp and just making what I thought to be a fool out of myself. Cause I, I, I just ruined the whole song. So jealous guy just couldn't, I couldn't get, I couldn't get on top of it. And we played the whole song and I just said to the audience, I'm like, fuck man. Now I got to live with that. I got to live with knowing that I struggled the entire song to hit that note and I didn't hit it once. I don't need that. I don't need to drive home with that.

So I said to the band, I said, guys, let's just do the last verse again. Let's just take it from the top of the last verse, and let me try to hit this goddamn thing. And I told the audience, I'm so happy you guys came to rehearsal. I'll let you know when we do the real show. And I did it, and I hit it, and I was able to leave without feeling, you know, without keeping it to myself. It was clear I fucked up. You can't just, you know, do that. But, you know, just between us, Jimmy and the fellas are like, we should we should play out.

And I'm like, come on, man. Does the world need that? I'm not going to be able to sell tickets as a music act. Just me and my it's just call it the three chords mark maron and their 30 covers we're at 18 now so we do one more we'll be at 24 yeah she just but they're all pretty unique covers i will say that uh i hope you had a nice christmas i hope you got fun things. Did you? Did you get fun things? Were any of you disappointed?

And did you look at your loved one and say, like, do you know me at all? What is this? I don't want this. Do you know me at all? How could you get this from me? Do you have no idea who I am? You claim to love me and this is what you get me? This is the gift you got me?

So, I don't know if I told you guys this, but young Sammy, Shmushy, Shmooly, Sammy Red, Sammy the Red, the kitten, the new guy in the house, is turning out to be kind of a dum-dum. Simple Sammy. He no longer has the dramatic nightly names it's gonna be simple sammy smushy or stupid sam he's just dumb and you know honestly buster is a somewhat of a genius part of me thinks that when i'm sleeping buster walks up right around the house but sammy's just like now I've got to watch Sam because he's dumb.

Like, I've got, he did something the other day, man. I can't even explain it. I can't, I mean, I'll try. But it was one of those moments, I'm never going to forget it. You know, he, all right, so I have a staircase that goes up to the second floor of the house now it goes along a wall on the right right so there's a banister and then up top there's like a landing and when you go left there's more of the railing the banister kind of continues on a sharp right you know over a drop, because it's at two pieces of stairs.

There's a few stairs, and then you turn, you go up another stair. So there's two pieces of stairs. So there's that gap where it just drops down to the floor below. And there's a railing there. And I was on the phone, and I was standing outside my bedroom, which is right in front of this railing, and fucking dumb shit, Sam just leaps up onto the railing which is curved and thin and he's walking along the railing and i'm like oh god oh god because the drop has got to be like 20 feet

he's gonna fucking hurt himself he's gonna break something but i didn't want to freak him out and i just had to stand there still and hope he got down quickly. And then he slipped. He slipped and he grabbed hold like they do, like the hang in there baby posters. But he's dangling over the drop. And I was just, without thinking, I just fucking grabbed him and threw him behind me. And broke his leg. No, I'm kidding.

I'm kidding. No, I just pulled him off and I threw him down. Not hard, but I was like, what the fuck? God damn it. And now I just keep thinking he's going to do it again. He just slipped right in front of me. And he almost went down. It was seconds between me having this broken cat, permanently damaged probably, maybe dying.

It's a drop, man. Jarring. I thought, well, if it goes out like that, I'm going to have to write a song about him, about seeing him in heaven again. Terrible joke. But I pulled him off. I pulled him off and he's okay. I'm just worried he's gonna do it again while I'm sleeping and I'm gonna wake up to him going now and I'm just like gonna see him laying there I can't take it but I think they register when they fuck up like that I hope wow also had

a weird dream uh another dream with uh Lynn she wasn't in it though it was me and i was in a town that had two stories the town did and like i went into this like jewelry tchotchke sort of store and i almost walked behind the counter and there was some ladies there they're like you can't go behind the counter i'm like i'm sorry i didn't know i was gonna that i i kind of it seemed like it was behind the counter but i didn't know and i sorry. I didn't know I was going to that. I kind of, it seemed like it was behind the counter, but I didn't know. And I needed to get some kind of brass tchotchkes, I think for my niece or something. And then I walked out of there and I had a choice between going upstairs to a rotisserie chicken restaurant where it seemed like a lot of like, you know, hipster people were going upstairs,

maybe some gay dudes up to the rotisserie place, but I didn't want rotisserie. So I went into the restaurant downstairs, which was sort of like an upscale kind of diner restaurant, like a New York style diner that doesn't look like a diner. It looks a little better than a diner, but it's basically a diner. And I thought, well, I can get, you know, just salmon here and just sit by myself and have some salmon. Then I take my phone out and I'm like, maybe it's time I reach out to Lynn. I think it's been long enough. I'm just going to text her. I miss you and see if she gets back to me.

And I woke up all sad and weird. Like, like, like we were just apart because we weren't talking to each other. But I was just sort of like, I think it's time. I think it, I think it's time to text Lynn.

Yeah. I miss you. It's, you know, it's time. I think it's time to text Lynn. Yeah. I miss you. It's been okay lately. It was funny at the comedy store last night. I'm so mean to Pauly sometimes. I just can't help. I always bust his balls because he's Pauly. He got upset with me, so I apologize.

But I was in the main room dressing room hanging out with Bobby Lee because he smokes in the back bathroom sometimes because he needs to. Some people need to do things and you've got to let them do it. So I'm back there with Bobby and Whitney

Cummings comes in and Esther Povitsky is around and Fahim's there. And we're just like talking, having some laughs. I mean, you know, it's just an amazing thing sometimes. Kit was there. Because like Kit doesn't know this world. And it's like, I don't live a normal life. I hang around with some of the funniest people in the world.

And they're all naturally charismatic and conversational. And they're just, you know, talented people. And it was so funny because we're all talking and we're like getting into it. And Bobby's like, are we really friends? Are we all really friends? And I'm like, dude, dude, we're a community. Yes, we're friends. You know, and I'm thinking like, like, I know, like a lot of people, if I needed to, if I needed help or, you know, I needed to reach out to somebody, I could call Bobby. I could call Whitney. I could even call Fahim. I don't know if he would know what to do with me.

I could call Esther. I called Dean. I could call a lot of people in that world, but I don't need to call them. That's the thing. We hang out at the store, have a few laughs, get caught up, and that's enough, right? But I think in your heart,

if you know if you had to call somebody because you needed help and they're on your list, I think that you can put them in the friend column. Am I right? I'm right. Does everybody have enough COVID tests? That's the funniest fucking thing, man. It's not really funny, but I have a few tests because a fan of mine came into a batch of tests. He bought more than he needed months ago. And I said, I needed some, and he sent me a bunch.

And now, like, in my mind, it's like, that's my test guy. I got a guy, but he doesn't have any more. And I don't want to run out because if I'm going to go work, I think I should know. Maybe we'll start to get them. Maybe that will be made available to us. But I just think it's funny. It's like, hey, you got a guy for tests? out because I got it if I'm gonna go work I think I should know maybe we'll start to get them maybe that would be made available to us but I just think it's funny it's like hey you got a guy for tests you got a guy got a test guy can you call your guy see if you can get me some tests you know where we can get tests on the street anybody huh I got a guy I got a test guy

that's where we're at you got got a test guy? Better get a test guy. All right, so I talked to Ida Rodriguez and her new special, Ida Rodriguez Fighting Words is now streaming on HBO Max. It's a little New York in the house. You can feel it. You can hear it. But she's been out here a long time. She's been a lot of places, but she just, she feels New York in the house. You can feel it. You can hear it. But she's been out here a long time.

She's been a lot of places. But she just, she feels New York to me. And she recorded a special in the Bronx. But I hope you're all okay. All right? Just drink a lot of fluids. All right, this is me talking to. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence.

Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category,

and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel.

To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. Ida. I think I'm going out next year, but who knows what's going to happen with the tour. You're supposed to go on tour?

Yeah, I'm supposed to go on tour. And what's going on? I haven't heard nothing. I just heard that Canada's half house now already. Yeah. That's what I heard today. So I went to Vancouver in July. Yeah.

No, it was August, I think, the first weekend of August. Yeah. I was in a part of Vancouver where 70% of the people were vaccinated. Nice. That's pretty good. Really vax-heavy place. What venue? House of Comedy.

Was it good? Yeah. I had fun. I love it up there. I feel like we're all going to have to live up there. Yeah. We better figure out which country we can go to. Yeah, I know.

It feels like, I mean, all of it exists everywhere, right? Sure. No, yeah, of course. So no matter where we go, we're going to see. But they just seem to be a little bit more concerned about their health care there than. Well, there's that. And there's also, you know, the impending fascism. That's a problem.

All upon us. Yeah. So you do. How long were you from originally? New York? Well, Miami is where I grew up. In Miami? Yeah.

I grew up in Miami, Florida. That's exciting. It's Florida. I know. My mother's there. But like I've had to grown to appreciate it. Whether I like it or not is another issue. But it's certainly interesting.

Fair. Right? Yeah, it is an interesting place. And growing up there for someone like me. And you know, it's funny because I don't like to talk about Miami negatively because Miami is the city that raised me. My mother lives there and I love. She's still there? Miami.

She won't leave. My siblings are there. They love Miami. I just felt like I didn't belong there. Yeah, terrible place to do comedy for me. Absolutely, for everybody. It's the worst. Unless.

Unless what? Unless you're running a rally. Yeah. You're running for office. Right. No, I just got the feeling after performing, I performed in Hollywood once and I performed at some Miami festival. It just seemed like it's the last thing anyone wants to do down there. Yeah.

You know, it's the thing is that it's so fragmented. It's so broken up culturally. There are cultures upon cultures. Right. Even the white people, like different cultures of white people. Got all those French Canadians and Germans down there every summer or every winter. They're there. And a lot of Russians are on the beach.

They own property on the beach. Yeah. And so people don't, they think that this is this like, this like party, like everybody is this, but this is just so, you know, that people come there and they don't want to assimilate because, so they just recreate where they're from there, which is cool because a bunch of different pods of different. Sure. You can go to another country down the street.

Yes. From Little Havana pods of different. Sure. You can go to another country down the street. Yes. From Little Havana to Little Haiti. And it can just be complicated if you want to do something that combines people. Right. And it's not music. It's tricky. Music can do it. Yes.

Always. Why do you think that music can and comedy can't? Because comedy, you got to listen to someone talk. And you got to listen to someone's point of view. And you have to process it. You know, music, you just, you know, move. Music's magic. Comedy's sort of some other thing.

But it's still people's point of view. I guess so. But, you know, it's not that taxing. It's like, I don't like this music. I don't like this song. I can dance to this song. I don't love it, but I can still dance to it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's different.

And I think that, you know comedy requires attention music doesn't really yeah you just kind of go with it it's interesting like to watch the last couple of years where you'll see kid rock yeah and all these artists who have made their political stands yeah but he was always a bore i. That guy was shitty to begin with. He was a shitty musician, and now he's just a shitty person. I like it here. You know what I mean? Like, what are we supposed to do?

Kid Rock has politics now. Oh, I'll put that under the Who Cares column. Jesus, man. And I'm relatively political. So the whole childhood was in Miami? So, no, I lived in New York. Because you seem New York. The special's shot in the Bronx, right?

Yeah. That's where my mom, my grandmother kidnapped me from, from my mom. I was living in. So you were kidnapped twice? Yeah. My mom took me from my dad and my grandmother took me from my mom. They took me a couple of times. And so, yeah, I feel very New York.

I remember being a kid and telling people that I was from New York. Yeah. And, you know, after so many years, they're like, yeah, you're not from New York anymore. But I do feel like a sense of home in New York. Yeah, you seem New York to me. Yeah. I spent a lot of years there. Comedy for me in New York is it.

I love doing stand-up. That's where you started? No, I started here. Really? And then I was like, I have to go to New York and I have to make it there and I have to-

Learn how to punch? Yes. And you know, it's just very different because I respect New York comedy. I work at the Cellar. I work at the Stand. I work at some of the other clubs.

But here, it feels like everybody is just waiting to get a shot to stardom yeah does it still i don't know now it's covid is the grand equalizer yeah that's for sure yeah yeah no one's doing nothing for a while no what a nice break that was yes no the competition's over i don't have i don't have to resent anybody no No one can do anything. Okay, I'm going to relax. Exactly. That's exactly how I felt. Yeah, I was like, maybe I don't need to do it anymore. Oh, no.

I did. I felt that. But it was funny because the next thought I had was like, maybe I'm all better. Maybe I've resolved what I needed to resolve. Yeah, we had a break. Yeah, but some people, but right when they started again within a week, I was like, fuck it. Time to go. If that guy's doing it.

I know. That's so honest. I love that you said that because I think we have to give ourselves grace and be able to say those things because it's really how we feel. And it's not even, it's not our fault. You mean we're selfish, competitive people, comics? No, but if you look at it, though, it's by design. Like this industry makes us all feel like we're all fighting for one spot. And it just. Yeah.

I don't know if I pay attention to the industry much, but I do pay attention to like, like it's starting to go away a little bit. Just the idea that like, you know, am I still relevant? Does it matter what I have to say? You know, how much of it is in my head and how much of it isn't? You know, am I, you know know am i doing enough new stuff but like you said sort of in in some of the stuff i saw you talking about in the special you know at some point it's just who you are and it's how you work shit out so you know that really becomes what it's about you know after the covet i was like do i even have another hour in me and then i just leaned into it put together a new like hour and 15 to do the New York Comedy Festival.

I don't know where it came from, but it came. So that's what I do. Yeah, that's right. You know, and I never went that long without doing it, you know, since I started. I've never gone more than two weeks, three weeks since, you know, 35 years, whatever the hell. Because, yeah, well, you have that. There's sort of this warrior spirit you get put in, gets put into you in New York, especially. I mean, that's where that comes from.

That work ethic, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Because I came up in the time where you'd run around, try and do four or five spots. Facts. I did. I remember one weekend I did 28 spots from like a Thursday to a Sunday. Yeah, yeah. And then I come back here.

Got one in the week. Yeah. And then I'm like on stage just like all right guys I know yeah yeah everybody else is like so I saw this cat on YouTube and I'm like you're jammed yeah with fucking New York energy yes yeah yeah I mean I know that work ethic and I still sort of I try to get on you know at least you know five six times a week out here if I can I just go you know but know. But I mean, I don't, not everybody does that. Now, I don't know if they're wrong.

Right. And I don't really like the people that are sort of like, yeah, it's weird, you know. I thought I had to do that. And then I took like a month or two off. I got back on stage. It was great. No problem.

Yeah, that doesn't. So last week I was on stage Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Friday I had two shows. And I was like, oh, because i'm building my new hour yeah and i was like yeah this is this feels right but then you know you go on on your phone and then you see 8 700 people uh have covid so then but and then the problem is is i don't know if you experienced this, because I toured during COVID. Yeah, I did too. People get mad at you because you leave right after the show.

You're not doing meet and greets. You're not selling merch. And some people were like- Really? Oh, yeah. And I was like, I'm not going out there. No, who the fuck are those people? I was asking, I would require vax proof or test proof at all my shows.

I'm not going to put up with that shit. Most of my fans, they're grownups. Right. So they're not pushing back on that. Yeah. But I think no one, I didn't get any real flack. I think most people understood. Sometimes I drift into the room, like when there's maybe 20 people there, just they get

lucky. Right. And they'll come say hi. Yeah. But I didn't do that. I didn't. I mean, I wasn't, I'm not trying to get sick. No. And I'm not trying to get anybody else sick either. Right. To come say hi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I didn't do that. I didn't. I mean, I wasn't, I'm not trying to get sick. No.

And I'm not trying to get anybody else sick either. Right. Because, you know, I know someone who got sick and brought it home and mom and grandma passed away. Oh, my God. And so he has to live with that. And I just, I don't want that on me either. No, man.

Now, where's that guy? He's in Alabama. Oh. Well, geez, that's a terrible story 27 years old he he survived and he also got really sick and went to the hospital really yeah he went to the hospital and then mom and grandma passed away this is early days covid yeah first wave yeah it was first wave so let's talk about the um this process of you uh coming to terms with terms with yourself and dealing with where you come from. So you were kidnapped twice.

I didn't hear the second time in the special. Because it's like mostly stand-up and then there's about a quarter of it that's documentary. And I enjoyed it. Good special. Thank you. But I didn't know your grandmother kidnapped you, too. Is that in there? No, that's in the special before that.

That's on the half hour that I did on Netflix. I did the joke about it, which was the first and last time I did that joke. Like, I worked it out up until the special, and then I never did it again. Because I never realized how painful it was for me to talk about it. I never talked about it. And, you know when you get kidnapped by family members people like brush it off like it's nothing like yeah like oh you got kidnapped by who and then when you say by a family member they're like ah like that's

nothing but it was very traumatic of course because you know they just think they don't weigh the reasons someone's got a reason for doing it. Yeah. And it ain't you. Right? Yeah. My grandmother took me from my mother. I didn't see my mother for like a year. And it was very hard for me. I wanted to be with my mom. But my mom was at the moment in a relationship with a man who was wanted for murder. And he was like on the FBI's most wanted list.

So your mom's not great at picking men. She was young. She was really young. Yeah, everyone makes that young mistake where you date the murderer. She was young and she didn't know. And then she kind of fell in love and then got swept into this whole thing. Oh, really? And then, yeah.

Pretty exciting. For her. And you know me, I was like, I want to be with my mom. I'd rather be on the run with my mom than in a stable place with my grandma. she went on the run with the guy yeah that was we were in new york and so my grandmother had two options she could call the police and then my mom would probably get arrested for being an accessory or whatever or she could stalk my mom until she saw a weakness and then got me and and hope that that was an incentive to bring my mother come home. You could end up child services too, right? Absolutely.

In another state even. Yeah. No, New York is not a good place to go to child services. So let's go back. So you were born in the Dominican Republic? I was not. I don't know why that's been put out there. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

I don't know. I'm just assuming from the, I didn't read it. Oh, no, no. Because a lot of people ask me that. Because they see the special. And they put it in a bio. I went there. I'm what those people call an anchor baby because my father was an undocumented Dominican man.

In Boston? Yeah. Then what was he doing there? He's a musician. Oh. Yeah. Musician. He was there and he wanted to build a life in Boston, met my mother.

Yeah. And then he got deported. And so we went to the Dominican Republic. So that's how that went. Your mom was just living in Boston? Yeah. My family went there from Puerto Rico. So that was the first stop, not New York, huh?

No, Connecticut was the first stop. Connecticut? Yeah. Hartford? What were they thinking? Oh, Hartford's a little rough. There's the Puerto Ricans in there. And then they left. There the Puerto Ricans in there. And then they left Connecticut.

There are Puerto Ricans everywhere. They got a good population of Puerto Ricans in Connecticut. But then they went to Boston. And then from Boston, they went to Miami. Boston. I lived in Boston for years. I don't. They, you know, for a place that's sort of supposed to be relatively blue or progressive,

they really hide their minorities pretty well. Yeah, it's a pretty interesting place. Oh, man. The sort of townies of New England are rough. Yeah, they got their own brand of racism. Oh, for sure. They get a good rap because, you know, there's so many colleges. So there's like a quarter of a million students there every year, making it seem like it's a progressive place.

But you pull them out, you're like, wow. So there's some serious rural fishing community Irish bullshit going on around here. I love that categorization of them. I was there for years, and I know a lot of pretty good guys, but it's rough, man. It's rough. It's very interesting about the american irish versus the irish irish yeah because like i spent so much so many years in boston being afraid of these tough irish dudes and they all have this disposition and this attitude not all of them but you know what i'm saying i'm generalizing you know and i'm being a little bit

stereotyping but that's what we're doing right now but i went to ireland i see the same dudes that look the same. Sweetest people in the world. I'm on guard. I'm like, oh, here it comes. They're like, hey, how you doing? I'm like, wow. Yeah.

I always get a lot of messages from people from Ireland saying, come do stand up here. You should. You've never been there? No. Yeah. It's a great country. I love that place. I'm a Jew.

I don't even know why I'm so attracted to it. I love it. I want to live there. It looks beautiful. It's so beautiful. Yeah'm a Jew. I don't even know why I'm so attracted to it. I love it. I want to live there. It looks beautiful. It's so beautiful. So do you remember the Dominican Republic? How old were you when you got deported? When he got deported, I was born.

That's when I was born. So I was there. He wasn't even there when you were born? No. And so I got sent there. I went there with my mom. Right after you got born? Yeah.

And then- She was an American citizen. Yeah. My mom was born in Puerto Rico. But we went and I came back when I was like maybe four, three or four. So what precipitated that? Why did your mom run off? Because there were a lot of issues with my father's family, with my mother.

A lot of colorism issues. Around Puerto Rican. Yeah, she's Puerto Rican. They were Dominican there was you know there was just they didn't really like my mom that much so we were sleeping outside when my father would do gigs what yeah I was and my mom was really young she was a teenager they didn't really um it was just a lot of conflict as I met my new siblings that or not new but the siblings that I met recently they said that that family was a very problematic family.

How many, I know I saw a lot of those siblings that you met when you went down there. Just what was that, a couple of years ago? That was June. In June? Yeah. So, like, are they all from different mothers? Not all of them, but there are different mothers amongst us. So there's at least three mothers.

Yes, absolutely. So the old man was, you know. Musician, attractive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. Yeah, yeah. Still to this day. I mean, I remember talking to him

and he was dating someone that was like in their 30s. You know. Uh-huh. And I didn't know anything about, like I know, look, I, you know, I grew up the way I grew up. You know what I mean? Just a middle class Jew. But I don't know anything about like I know. Look, I, you know, I grew up the way I grew up, you know what I mean? Just a middle class Jew.

But I don't I didn't realize there was so much. I don't know if you'd even call it infighting in the Latino spectrum. But there is. And I didn't know anything about until I watched your show about the Dominican Puerto Rican problem. Oh, you know what? It's been it's all the great gifts of colonization. The, you know, it exists in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Well, what is the basis of the Dominican problem with Puerto Ricans or vice versa?

Oh, it's all rooted in colorism and racism and ignorance. It's all part of the, you know, divide and conquer. But do they see... There's this air that people think about Puerto Ricans because Puerto Ricans are citizens. Yeah.

So that is coveted amongst a lot of people in Latin America because they all want to come here to the dream place where they can achieve great things because, you know, we have this exceptionalism bullshit that people think America is this place. And so they have these Latinos who aspire to that. But if you go throughout Latin America, you will find that amongst many of the countries.

And it's all rooted in, you know, foolishness. It's like who has the better food, who has the better music, who's lighter, who looks more white. That seems to be a big deal. The sort of spectrum of brownness. Yeah. It's a very it's all it's it's so interesting to watch because I've always been conscious of it. Even when I was a kid, because my siblings and I look very different. Yeah.

because my siblings and I look very different. Yeah. And it's just very interesting to explore where there are black people all over Latin America. Yeah. You get to see. When you think of Argentina, you think of these Italian-looking white people. They got their black people.

Yeah. Peru has their black. Also Asian and indigenous people. So I kind of wanted to talk about it a little bit because that is, that um you know i've been in development for a tv show for the last two years and i think that is it's just so radioactive very complicated that people don't even want to touch it because which part the the latin yeah the whole because the latin issue yeah because people have this idea when they're like how do

we attract the latino market and you said it better than most. Like when you just said the Latino spectrum, there's no market. There's a spectrum because there's a Caribbean market, a South American market, Central. And so I think that is just whenever somebody allows someone like myself, that's why I did the documentary. I wanted to shed light on some of those things. someone like myself that that's why I did the documentary. I wanted to shed light on some of those things. I think that that's when you'll be able to get a television show that people that will resonate with Latinos or Latinx,

Latina, whatever you want to call it. But I just think that the, the idea that you, everybody wants to see a show about a white person stealing a brown person's taco shop is the, the ideal. It's like,

we've, we've, we're like we're past that. Well, yeah. And I think that this sort of corporatization of Mexican entertainment. Yes, absolutely. Has really kind of is the one. Right. So there's no other model.

That's right. So, you know, you get, you know, that that whole world of because it's been dug in for a long time. So American Latinos have to deal with this. Well, I don't remember what the big network is, but Mexican entertainment. It's valid. They're the biggest group here. Sure. But even they don't want to see themselves like that.

Like if you even, because look at the shows. The ridiculous soap operas and the comedies. Yeah. And look at the shows that are on the air now. Like how many Latino shows do you know that are on the air on streamers or even like, you know, streamers? Are there any? I mean, HBO Max is creating programming for these other markets, but you don't see them anywhere. Especially when they do, when it's Hispanic Heritage Month and they put up Spaniard shows saying here.

And it's like it's so it's such a blow to the communities because we never get to see a reflection of ourselves. And for me, with the mixture. Yeah. I mean, the last person I could think of that was in comedy that was like me and has some level of success to that was more mainstream was Freddie Prince. We don't get to see ourselves. And that's why I decided to cut the stand up a little bit and use a portion of that for. Yeah. Well, I thought that was interesting, too, is that, you know, that there is no sort of indigenous representation. Yes. Like even with Mexicans, you know, there's there's a class problem with, you know, the ones that see themselves as Spanish versus the ones that see themselves as as Mexican. Yeah. No, no, absolutely. And that was one of the jokes is

like I've had to hear over and over again my whole life people telling me about their pure Castilian blood. Yeah, it's such a good joke. But I'm just sitting here like, what does that mean? And what does that matter in the big scheme of things? How has that, how's that working out for you? Yeah, right. It's just a foundational block of racist thought. Yes. And it's self-hating sometimes because if you feel that the best parts of you are that,

that you identify with your colonizer, it speaks volumes to how you feel about yourself, because the reality of it is, is the reason you have Castilian blood is because Spaniards colonized your people. Right. So for you to walk around just pointing that out, as opposed to the great indigenous people that you come from, or the great African people that you come from, or Asian people is just interesting. That is interesting. It says something about you that you come from or Asian people is just interesting. That is interesting. It says something about you that you believe in that mission. Yeah. You know, you're an oppressor.

Yeah. You do it to yourself and you do it to other people. And so, you know, for me, I really wanted to talk about it because I've gotten so much feedback. Like some people were like, Ida, you don't want to do this because you don't want to get pigeonholed in the whole Latino thing. You kind of do. But that's who I am. I cannot be other than I am.

But the funny thing is that I have gotten so many messages from white American people saying, I'm so glad you showed this because I never heard of this. It's crazy. Yeah, I never saw this. This is a very interesting thing to watch. Thank you for shedding light. And I also got white people that were like, I'm half British and half Irish. And I was ashamed of my Irish blood because they made me feel like that was less than. Yeah. So it was just very fascinating, even with Eastern Europeans.

Yeah. So people were like, I can identify with that. So I think. Oh, the mix. Yeah. You got something, a war inside you. Yes. And that's a universal thing.

I think so. You know? Well, that was, well, you know, I talk a lot about that Sterling Harjo show, The Reservation Dogs, about the American, you know, the indigenous people. It's a great show. It is. And it's a show that I think is probably, you know, I'm 57, well, what am I, 58. And I think it's the most

groundbreaking show of my lifetime because he gives representation to a group of people that none of us knew anything about. That's right. Like zero.

Yeah. And they have a different way of communicating, a different spirituality, a different timings comedically and humanly. And the reason I bring it up is because when I talked

to him recently, he's got people representing indigenous people all around North America chiming in to the writing process. Yeah. So there's something to be said about that. I imagine if that process could work there, that there's something about Latino people that like you could probably find a collective point of view. Yeah. As sort of a theme. Yeah. And then deal with whatever differences they have within.

Well, you know, the thing like the show that I'm writing and the shows that I've been writing are shows that are aspirational. People that are here that are, you know, second generation, they want to see themselves as progressive and upwardly mobile. They want to identify with success. as progressive and upwardly mobile. They want to identify with success. Yeah, yeah. Because the trauma of being constantly reminded of all the horrible things that have happened to our people is just, nobody wants to watch that,

especially people whose parents work their asses off so that they can go to college, get an education, get a job, and move up class-wise. They don't want to see that. They want to see themselves in lifestyles and they want to see shows about themselves like Insecure,

like different shows. And sure, there's there's specificity to some of them where you can get an insight to these people, but they don't want to see themselves as victims anymore. And honestly, anytime you do a show where the white man is is the devil you automatically are the victim right and so we don't want to see ourselves as victims we want to see television shows about the great things and and the things that make us sure instead of the devil just make him difficult and awful all the time and it's just uh you know reality is reality we know history but it's time to evolve and show people in a light where that's why in the Dominican Republic, I refuse to show children begging for money.

When you see a lot of footage of the DR, it's always little kids running, asking for money. And who is anyone to judge that given the streets of Los Angeles now? Yes. Or anywhere else in this country? Yes. So when you left the first time, when you were four, that was just your mother saying, you know, fuck this? Yeah, she took me to Miami. I went to Miami with my bigger family, my grandmother. The Puerto Ricans.

The Puerto Ricans. And they raised us, my mom and me. My grandmother finished raising her daughter. I know. I like all the talk in the special about grandmothers and in terms of how the matriarchy of Latino families kind of works. It's like most of the conversation, it's funny, in your act, and it seems like in your life, the men of different degrees of badness come and go. But you know what's funny is that those have just been the villains in my life,

but not the way I feel about men in general. But you know, I was saying that I made this observation and it's nothing groundbreaking, but I watch young babies. Like I'll go to nurseries. I have a niece and I watch the behaviors. And then I go to the old folks home

and I watch the behaviors. And it's kind to the old folks home and I watch the behavior. And it's kind of like the same. Like people are not worried. It's somewhere in the middle where we get fucked up. Right. Because when people get older, you go like where my grandmother was or my great grandfather was. There was no black people. And they all playing cards.

You know, they all making having sex. I didn't know they were having sex like that. You know, and then you look at the children and it's the same, but somewhere in the middle we get caught up with all this bullshit. And so grandmothers, I've traveled all over the world. I've gone to Asia. I went to Israel. Just for comedy

or before? For comedy and to travel. I went to Israel to learn. I wanted to learn about the conflict for myself. I didn't want Palestinian conflict? Yeah, Palestinian and Israeli conflict. And I went to Palestine. learn i wanted to learn about the conflict from from myself i didn't want palestinian conflict yeah palestinian and israeli conflict and i went to palestine i went to israel and grandmothers everywhere you go like everybody loves their grandmother i love bubby i love that term you know in america that um and i was just like that's one thing that everybody treasures is

their grandmother yeah so how do we find do we find something that brings us together? Yeah, exactly. Grandma. Yeah. And I think that's true. And I think what you're saying is also interesting about even me. I mean, I don't know how old you are, but I'm 58. And a lot of shit that used to be important is going away.

Yeah. I'm in my 40s and I feel the same way, but I also raised two children that are adults now. I have no kids. So I, I don't have that perspective. Yeah. So for me,

I feel like I'm 75, you know, raising children years. Yeah. Raising kids, especially in this time has been very stressful, but yeah, I've never been,

thanks to my grandmother. I've never really valued some of the things. I learned so much from her because I thought she was my mother until I got a little older. How old? I think it was about 11 or 12. So your mother split? No, my mom was there, but. I've heard this kind of thing before a couple of times.

But I call my grandmother mommy. But would you think your mother was your sister? Yeah, I knew she was my mother, but it just felt like my grandmother mommy. But what did you think? Your mother was your sister? Yeah. Not. I knew she was my mother, but it was it just felt like my grandmother was the matriarch of the whole thing. And the other thing I like about Latino culture in general or just, you know, the way culture used to be is that, you know, you got the old people in the house. Yes. You know, like now it just seems like once they get to a point where they're a problem,

they get them out of the house. Yeah. And put them in a kennel. Yeah, they do. That was. And, you know, it's really my grandmother died at home. She died of cancer. She died.

Did you have the hospital bed in the house and the whole thing? Yeah. Everything was there. And she just passed away at home. I wasn't there. I was in California. How old was she? She was 70. I think she was like 77. That's not that old for her. No. I wasn't there I was in California how old was she? she

70 I think she was like 77 that's not that old for her no but the cancer just was really yeah terrible but she I was on my way to the improv

to do a spot when I got the call that my grandmother passed away yeah and yeah she was at home and you did this spot? I didn't

oh good I couldn't oh good yeah because like that's some that's a fucked up comic thing where you're like oh my god I still gotta do it yeah I couldn't. Oh, good. I couldn't. Oh, good. Yeah. Because that's a fucked up comic thing where you're like, oh my God, I still got to do it. Yeah, I couldn't. There was no way.

I was going to make the audience miserable. Yeah, yeah. I'll do that anyways. But every once in a while. We all do. Sorry, you're going to have to pay this time. You're going to have to pay for my problems. But, well, I'm sorry that that happened.

How long ago was that? That was in 2013. It feels like yesterday. So when did you leave Miami? So you're in Miami. You grew up. And did you have any direct siblings? Yeah.

I have my siblings that I grew up with, my mother's children. I have two brothers and a sister. That's my. Not from your dad. My quad. No. Later. Yeah.

We don't do that, though. We don't say half brother, half sister. No, no. Right. Yeah, no later yeah we we don't do that though we don't say half brother half sister no no right yeah yeah we're all very close we talk every day um and we're very very close i left home were you the oldest i am i'm the oldest of all of them yeah i had an older brother that died uh my mom's my mom's son yeah but i um actually, you know, I left Miami and I went to Tallahassee to school. To this- Florida State. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I left-

Oof, Tallahassee. Yeah. Southern Georgia. Yes. And I left there and I moved to San Diego because my ex got drafted by the San Diego Chargers. Where'd you meet the football player? I met him at school. I met him at-. I met him at...

Oh, so in Florida State. Yeah, so I used to go to dual enrollment when I was there. When I was in high school, I would go up. And yeah, we had these programs that we would go. And I met him and he became my boyfriend. We moved to San Diego. He became my husband. He's the father of my two children.

They look good, those kids. Thank you. They're great human beings. They seem like it. That's what I'm most proud of. They look good, those kids. Thank you. They're great human beings. They seem like it. That's what I'm most proud of. Like, you know, people are in this city a lot of, oh, you know, my daughter's working with Sorkin and my kid. My children are amazing human beings. And they're pretty, they're doing pretty well in life in terms of what they want to do.

But they're just really good people. How's their relationship with the ex and their relationship with both of you? Good? They're on the mend. Okay. And I, I mean, I forgave him a while ago oh yeah yeah i had to my grandmother always used to tell me forgiveness is for you yeah and also for the kids i guess right yeah i never i never really was uh into bashing him or i just kept going i was like i don't have time for that and you're gonna have

to deal with him your whole life yeah with because kids, right? Right. Yeah, he's not going anywhere. And, you know, for me, it's like I outgrew him in terms of- Was he a big ball player? No, he wasn't. He never got his shot like he should have. He was a very good player. Yeah. You know, unfortunately, his own issues kind of got in the way.

And also, you know, football is so political and so much it's also brutal yeah beats you up so you're in san diego when do you start doing when do you like what what drives you to comedy well i left san diego when i left him i went back home to miami what was this this was in 1990 uh when did i leave there 99 i. I went back to what were you doing out? You were just being a mother or you had a job. I was I never quit my job. I worked at Bank of America as a teller. Oh, yeah. And I also in San Diego. Yeah. Yeah. And I was modeling. I had an agent here. I'll come back and forth. I never I quit. I never stopped working. I saved my money. I just stopped to have my babies. Yeah. And then I just kept going because I was like, I don't I don't trust this.

Anybody. Yeah. I don't trust anybody. I don't trust football. And I was like, right. You know, one day you'll see someone be big, a big star. And the next day you'll see them, you know, on TV. They're doing a story about how they're homeless. So I was like, I can't trust this. That's where you went right to that. And I had trauma from that. From the kidnapping? Yeah, from all of it. I went from poverty and drugs

and all of the stuff that I grew up around. So I went back to Miami. And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to California. I can't, I'm going to, he followed me back to Miami from San Diego. So it was a healthy relationship. So I just left.

He hates California, so I moved to LA, and I just started anew. So he stayed in Miami? He stayed in Miami for a while, and then he moved to Tampa, and then he moved to Georgia and Texas. He's been moving around all over the place, and I just came out here. So where was, okay, so when you left the Dominican Republic and you're with your mother, so your mother was in and out of trouble. Is that the deal?

Where was the poverty and drugs? Not her. I lived with my whole family. So I lived with my mother. Someone's going to have poverty and drugs. Yeah, we were poor. But there were uncles that were on drugs. My uncle who raised me was on drugs. Yeah.

So I was around a lot of stuff that I probably should not have seen as a kid. Sure. So you decided to come back to California without a real plan or what was the plan? Well, I wrote this script and it made it to like the Sundance Writers Lab final cut. Who was your mentor over there? It was Kenneth. I think his name was Kenneth. Yeah. And so I came back.

I moved out here. Yeah. And it didn't make it. But I was, you know, you go a couple of rounds. Oh, so you submit it and then they decide whether you're going to be in the program? Right. You go through a few rounds. Got it.

And so I made it up until like the final round and then I didn't make it. But it just, it was the thing that pushed me to move here. And it was about your family? No, it was about the world of football that I had. Because I journal. And so I was looking through my journals. And I was like, this is a story right here. And I wrote it.

About being married to the game? Yeah, it was something like that. And then I came out. And I just never left. I stayed and I figured it out. There was ups and downs. But I was like, I want to be here. I want to pursue this career.

In writing initially. Writing and acting. I came. I'm tall. So I was like, they don't write roles. I don't see myself in the breakdown. So I was like, I'm going to write myself this role. Right.

And then I just started. I got signed to an agency when i first moved here and i started going out and booking stuff as an actor and then anything good um i would good but not uh popular you know like i did some indie films i did some projects and then uh comedy came around a few years after that. So you just got, and how old were you when you started doing comedy? 30. Yeah. Yeah.

And it just came around. What do you mean it just came around? So I, so the, Chris Spencer was like. I see him all the time. So we did this. We have a friend who is. I love Chris. I love him too.

He's the reason I do stand up. Nice guy. So he told me that I was a stand up. We were, we had him too. He's the reason I do stand-up. Nice guy. Well, he told me that I was a stand-up. We were... We had a friend... He gave you the curse. Yeah, he was like...

We were doing this brunch and we were roasting our friend and my friend was like, I have these professional comedians that are going to roast me so I need somebody who's going to roast me with some compassion.

Yeah. And so when I did the roast, he said to me, he said, oh, you're a stand-up. Chris said that. Yeah. And I've known... I roast, he said to me, he said, oh, you're a stand up. Chris said that. Yeah. And I've known I knew Chris before. He was like, oh, you're you're naturally a stand up. He said, try these open mics out. Tell me how you feel. Yeah. And so I went to the Westwood Brewing Company. I started. Was that Neil Brennan's room? No. At that time, it was Adam Hunter's.

I remember that guy. Sure. And then I just never stopped. Adam Hunter was in, he started in New York, that guy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, blonde guy. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's where you started, Westwood. Westwood Brewing.

And I never stopped. It's so funny. By that time, there's a whole world of those mics that I didn't know about because I came up earlier. So you just kept going and you started, what were some of the first breaks? Because I know you ended up on one of the big reality shows, but you were just working stuff out? Yeah, I was working stuff out.

I actually booked Kevin Hart's One Mic Stand, which was a stand-up show I did horribly. I learned a very valuable lesson. Someone told me Jay Leno said it's never too late, but it can, you know, like if someone told me Jay Leno said, it's never, it's never too late, but it's never too late, but it can be too soon. And I,

it was, I was, it was too soon. Thank, thankfully it didn't air. Oh really? Yeah. You got lucky.

Cause it has so many sets and there was like issues with the, the network. So mine didn't air. What was it like five minutes? Yeah. It was five minutes of pure terror. Really? So it wasn't the material it was your disposition yeah i wasn't ready for a tv taping i hadn't been too nervous

yeah i wasn't in the game long enough like i was uncomfortable with what i had on i was you know i didn't know um i still hadn't fully learned how to construct the set i was just thinking yeah figuring out those five minutes, man. Those are hard. Five minutes is so hard because. It's the worst because you got language too. Yeah.

You know, and you got to figure out how you got to take everything out of context. Yes. Line it up. Yeah, man. It was a tough set.

And so, I think what really worked for me was I did some USO tours and I got to go on the road. With who? I went to, Tess Drake was the woman who was doing these tours and I got to go on the road. With who? I went to, Tess Drake was the woman who was doing these tours and I went to Japan, I went

to Korea and I did like, the first tour was like a two week tour and it was just back to back shows. What were you doing, 10, 15? Yeah, I was doing 10. Who were the other comics? So April Macy was on the show, Christina Positsky. Oh yeah. So it was Christina. She's great. April. Nice people. And whoacy was on the show christina positsky oh yeah so it was christina she's great

april nice people and uh who else was on the shows a comedian out of chicago named kelly howard it was a bunch of different women i've done i did it a few years and it was all women tour yeah oh how'd that go over good well for the military yeah you know yes they're they're laughing and then trying to hit on you after so it's a combo but it was a good exercise for me i also hosted a room in la for two years and i think and then i hosted a room in san diego for two years and i think that so i knew in san diego we did uh the house of comedy which was where they had a room. And then there was this promoter who would create these venues. I did one in La Jolla. But it was just, it really helped me because I was just.

Hosting's good because you get to go back up. Yeah. And you get to work out new material every week. Yeah. And I think that really helped me. Yeah. So when did you kind of start working? So I started working. I was hosting this room called Cinespace in Hollywood.

And Russell Peters came. I remember Cinespace. I know that venue, right? Yeah, it's a beautiful venue. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Russell Peters saw me and he said, hey, where you been? I think you're funny. He was like, you want to do some dates?

And he took me out on some dates with him. Wow, big dates. Yeah. He was doing clubs because he to do some dates? And he took me out on some dates with him. Wow, big dates. Yeah. He was doing clubs because he was getting ready for a special, but it was really helpful. Yeah. Because it was a really big audience. And they're packed in and it's a real audience. It is.

So now you can finally know whether or not your jokes work. That's right. That's right. And it's so funny because I remember him telling me, oh, you a rookie he was like he's like i'll listen to your set he said you are so preoccupied with the laugh that you forgot to uh to pay attention to the fact that they were listening to you and he's like and a lot of people wish they could get an audience to be that quiet and listen while you take them on the ride he's like but one day you will understand what I'm talking about. So you're just, you're just, we're thinking about getting the laugh.

Yes. I was so, I remember that. Yeah. I was, I was a novice. Yeah. But I like, it is important. And there are some people that do that all throughout their life. Yeah.

You know, don't quite figure out their own time zone, you know, how to take the time. Because I had never heard like people telling me like, you know yeah how to take the time because they and i had never heard like people telling me like you should get a laugh within the first eight seconds you're on those people laugh every 30 seconds yeah i can't do that that's not i can't think that way but then the weird thing is though like if you like as time goes on if you really put a clock to it you probably are yeah maybe maybe yeah you know like you can't think of it that way, but eventually you learn your own rhythm, and you're probably getting plenty of laughs. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Yeah. But yeah, it always annoyed me. Or not realizing that if you tell a bigger story, it's not that you're not telling jokes. There's the jokes in it. You know, these people that get hung up on jokes. Yeah, I'm a storyteller.

Yeah, but that just means you've got jokes in the story a storyteller yeah but you know that's just means you got jokes in the story yeah absolutely it's just the way you think so when do you start so you start working professionally with russell yeah i started working with russell and then um i booked uh last comic standing so wait now how's your family feel about this how's your mother feel about it my mom's not into comedy for me She thinks that's a masculine thing to do. Oh, really? She didn't really understand it either. She would tell my brother, who does she think she is, J-Lo?

And my brother was like, no, she's a comedian. Oh, she just didn't get it. Yeah. To her, everything was about, am I aspiring to be famous? And not that comedy is like an actual craft that some people love and not the easiest way to get famous. No, probably the hardest. Yeah, for sure. Um, but yeah, so I started doing it though. I was like, I love it. I like it. It was very, uh, cathartic for me. And at the time I never thought it would be anything real when I first started

doing it. Cause I had a job and I was working my way out of homelessness because I ended up homeless. Where? Here? Here. Really? Yeah. And then I started. When was that? That was right before I started doing stand up. There was some marital issues that happened, financial issues that ended up falling hard on me and I ended up losing everything. And then I had to, you know, I was living in a Best Western and going to these motels with my kids. And then I ended up moving into one of my friends had just bought a condo. And she was like, take that room and get yourself together and then go do what you need to do. It's going to take you a little bit to get back on your feet. You don't just go from being homeless and back into. And it me a couple of years but i got i got myself

together wow and then um i was working um at a financial firm and i was working full time and i was just doing comedy like on the side yeah you know just and then it started making money for me too and then it started making more money than the and also gave you a voice right yeah to work some of this stuff out absolutely and you had the kids all to yourself all to myself and you know i was having a conversation with my daughter just yesterday and we were talking about like what she's like why do you because i i feel like i owe her something both of them like and they're like you don't owe us anything you took very good care of us that you know my it was like life is beautiful like my kids

didn't know what was happening because i was so shielding them from all the drama yeah but i always tell her i just feel like you deserve so much because we went through so much and she was like i feel like i had a great life and she was like best western was fun i know she's like i love hotels now because of that and you know you know, it's just all... You got a pool. Yeah, the way you see it. Yeah, when you're a kid, yeah. So you got through all that. So now, Last Comic Standing,

is that the one you did? I did Last Comic Standing. What season? 14, I think it was. 13 or 14. And you were already making money as a comic by that time? Yeah, but I wasn't headlining like I wanted to. I only had like a few headliner spots and I was still opening for, I opened for Russell. I opened for Corey Holcomb.

I opened for Faison Love. I was opening for different people. Yeah. In big rooms, like doing 1520s? Yeah. That kind of thing to their hour? Yeah. And then.

But no features? Were you middling anywhere? Yeah, I was middling. Oh, you were, yeah. I was middling. And so I wanted to, you know, I have to move. Like, I can't just stay in one spot. So I was like, I want a headline.

Yeah. And, you know, I was told, like, by different people not to do Last Comic Standing. People who I respect. Yeah. They said, that's a reality show. But then I was like, I'm a Puerto Rican Dominican woman in stand up like the demand for me. No, you guys are not asking me to open for you. It's very easy for you to tell me I need this exposure. So I made a plan that I was really going to make it to the top 10. That was my goal.

And I was like, so I can go out and headline. Yeah. And that worked. Absolutely. And when did you find out that you were Dominican? Oh, I found out that I was Dominican when I was younger. Like, I wasn't. I just talked about it in the set because I had never talked about it. But it was, I didn't grow up believing I was Dominican. It happened maybe like in my teens. Oh, right, right. Where I had already been.

But you just, you had not seen your father. No. That was the big reveal. Right. I didn't see my father. And I also did not. Is your mom still around? Yeah.

She's in Miami. You get along with her? Yeah. I love my mom. My mom is a hot mess, but she's my favorite person on the planet. I adore my, I worship my mother. It's really bad. I go to therapy every week to work this out because.

Just because you like your mother. I go to therapy because I love my mother. Well, because I've had, you know, even therapists are like, some of the therapists are like, you don't have to be, you know, the things you've gone through. And I'm like, I know my mother's story. Yeah, yeah, sure. So when did you, like I read somewhere, because I worked with Paul Mooney in Sacramento too, at the Punchline.

Oh, did you? Yeah. I featured for him, I don't remember how long ago it was. I just know that he was traveling with some dude who had one of his kids. Oh, yeah? Yeah. And there was this sort of like, why don't you take the kid to the mall? I'm like, I'm not the fucking babysitter.

Yeah. He would ask me to go sell t-shirts for him. Yeah. Or he had his wife. And I don't know if she... She has some form of dementia. And he was like, make sure don't know if she she has some form of dementia. And he was like, make sure you know how he used to talk. He's like, yo, make sure this bitch don't go nowhere because she will she will take off.

And I was like, there's always some. Yeah, the wife wasn't there, but there was some guy he used to travel with. It was like, what the fuck is happening? Yeah, I would go to Wal-Mart and buy T-shirts for him. And then he would just sign white T-shirts and sell them for twenty dollars. buy t-shirts for him and then he would just sign white t-shirts and sell them for twenty dollars and i was like what but uh did you uh work with him a lot no i worked with him a few times it wasn't a lot but you you found inspiration with uh with mooney i mean if i'm honest i love paul mooney paul mooney was very kind to me but i i felt this bitterness from him that i felt consumed him and i always you know people have said to me like you remind me of Paul Mooney sometimes oh really so I went through this

period where I was like I want to be able to tell what I want to say but I don't want to feel bitter and angry like I want to about your uh about anything I just didn't want to take that on stage because, and yet, I have my angry moments. I'm a human being. Yeah. But I just didn't want to. But that was his point of view. That was the direct engine of what he was doing. But like what I've said before on this show, though, when I middled for him, I realized exactly what it is that he does.

Is that, you know, you go to Sacramento, that's a mostly white people situation. And I, and what I always said, what I realized working with him is that if you don't think you're racist, he'll find it in you. Yes. And do you see people get up and walk out after two hours? Yeah. Eventually they're like, you know what, you know, when's this guy going to shut up? So that was the miracle of it is that you could sit there like you could, and you just watch people's like, I don't got to take any more of this shit. Yeah, absolutely. I would. I was always in awe of that.

And I thought, wow, like he's not afraid to tell these people. And there was a predominantly white audience. And I was like, yo, these white people love to get beat up. Like they come here and they take it and they take it. And it was just funny. Well, think chapelle kind of resurrected him and i i believe i worked with him before that like it was you know he's just still paul mooney you know and uh you know there's this idea that he never got his due i don't know i don't know you know what i mean he's a difficult man but uh but you know a lot of dudes because of his kind of revolutionary spirit got a

lot of courage from him yeah well you know he's a hero in the black community because he was a voice that said express things that a lot of people would never be able to say in very plain language yeah you know he didn't you know he wasn't trying to to be diplomatic no or or he wasn't trying to be anything other than what he was and i actually loved paul mooney he was very good to me and um i i do still respect him for all the stuff that he did that got you know that some of us will never do because he had an opportunity to really say and i think um it was just interesting to watch it was really an interesting dynamic oh yeah he had there no no one was like that guy no he was you know but it was just interesting to watch because i was like even still he was very

loving towards me like off stage he would you know he was just like i want you to always be yourself i think you're funny but in in you know in the middle of it it would be like you you know you're a pretty little you know make sure that you know you always be true and i was just like okay but it was it was just it was just i'm glad that i experienced it because from paul mooney to um russell peters there's a world in between that you know and so i i got to experience this comedic spectrum in terms of the people that i worked with that that made me feel okay and finding my own place on the spectrum instead of trying to be somebody I wasn't. Yeah, you definitely succeeded at that. It's funny.

I remember, I wonder what happened. Paul had a set of twins that used to do comedy. Yeah, the Rooney twins. Daryl and... What happened to those guys? They're still, you know, they're humorous is what they call themselves, but they're out. They do financial workshops. Oh, corporate stuff? Yeah, they've been doing a lot of different things. And one wrote a book

like they. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're still they're still out there. I remember when I was a dormant at the comedy store, I think Paul Mooney had a juice bar like years ago. He used to drive around. Mitzi had this old beat up Cadillac that had the comedy store logo on it. He used to drive that around is it's weird weird history weird history so like i one thing i was wondering before i talked to you was like why did you did you ever think about the one person show approach yeah i've actually i did one i did a one i did a one woman show in 2007 and um it's based on that script that i wrote. The football one? Yeah. And I played three different gold diggers. Oh, yeah?

How'd that go? And my mom. It was good. It was good. It needed more work. Because of stand-up, I had like two weeks that I did a two-week run, and then I had to go back to work because I needed to make money instead of spend it. But that's one of the things that i want to do in the new year i've talked to a

director oscott who did a lot of he directed a lot of um yeah because it seemed like it felt to me that like in listening to you talk now and also uh you know in the documentary part of the special that that you're dealing with you know ideas and feelings and experiences that, you know, you're kind of, you know, rendering down to, you know, the stand up. But they, you know, there is some part of me that thinks they could be served differently if you had less, if you didn't feel like you had to get the laugh. Yeah, absolutely. No, the actor in me, definitely. You know, those are the pieces that you use to show people that you are an actor, a writer, and a performer. But also, it is very cathartic for me because I do work out my stuff on stage.

Yeah. And, you know, I have to get permission from my family when I talk about certain things. That ain't bad then. Like what? You know. Legal things? Well, you know, you can get sued. So, like, just, you know, even with my kids, like, when I know, legal things. Well, you know, you can get you can get sued. So like just, you know, even my kids, like when I make jokes about them.

Oh, yeah. I clear it with them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like my son went to Campbell Hall and I'm doing jokes at the improv and his teachers and the audience and he goes back to school the next day. He's like, Omar.

Yeah. Your mom said. Yeah. Yeah. You got it. Got to give them the heads up. I've been doing stuff about my dad and my parents my whole life. And it's not easy stuff. No.

But they always get a kick out of it. My dad loves it when I bust his balls. It's fun. Sometimes they do. My mom stood up and bowed at one of my shows because she was like, you're welcome. This funny is because of me and i'm like but you know i i think uh i i don't know there's something about it i love comedy since i was a little kid i used to watch johnny carson and i was like i want to do that like everybody's having fun there yeah yeah yeah seems like it yeah and then you get into

comedy and you realize like some of these people aren't having fun no it's all the rules but at the i did uh i would watch richard prior like i would sneak because my uncle was would listen to richard prior yeah and then i was like i want to do that that's it that's the thing so are you still are you did you like at the end of the thing the special like i mean it's kind of wild that you, did you, like at the end of the thing, the special, like, I mean, it's kind of wild that you kept that. You had those cameras going when you first see your father after what? 35 years.

How long? How many years? I would say 40. Wow. Yeah. But you had that camera going and he could feel is weird, right? It was strange,

you know, and that was the actual first time that I saw him. Yeah. I could feel that, but I wanted to have it. I wanted to, I wanted that to be mine from forever to have that moment out yeah and um and then I decided to share it because I was like for several reasons what was happening with comedy I was like I want people to

understand how we mind our jokes some of us right for me that was my process yeah you see this experience and it ends up in the stand up this is this is a process for me um but i also wanted to other people who have a missing parent to see and say i'll be all right you know like i just wanted people to to and from my perspective because you see these shows and they they meet the father and then and they're like happily ever after and i just wanted to be real normalized with that real sure yeah and also like you know to get some uh i don't know if it's closure but it seems like a lot of people in those situations even with breakups or whatever they blame themselves until the you have that moment where you're like i had nothing to do with this absolutely and for me it was like there was this moment went right before um when i first saw him in my head and i felt in my heart like oh this worthiness

stuff that i deal with is directly connected to this and i felt it in that moment the abandonment stuff yes yeah i was like oh like this is and that's why i was looking so weird because i was in my head about my own process expectations right yeah realizing that well you know that shit's behind me he can't show up in any way for me no right now and you know and people were like some people were like he was crying you sat there you were not emotional at all and i was like i cried the whole you know 40 years yeah like he can cry now like you, you know, I've been crying. He's crying because he fucked up. Exactly. And I didn't want to excuse him from that. I think it was important.

I didn't want to exploit him. I didn't want to disparage him or shit on him. But I did want him to be accountable in that moment. Because, you know, a lot of things did happen. And had he been present, maybe some of those things would not have happened. And I don't know. But I just felt that he should feel accountable in that moment i've been i've been carrying this hurt and i wanted to share it with other people so that other people that were going through that i can say i'm gonna be okay yeah and i'm sure it worked yeah and are you still in

touch with him yeah he texted me yesterday and you know it was odd for him because he thought we were just gonna jump in and i just been taking my time because i don't know him like i know who you are but i don't know you right and so for me it's just oh you mean after that he thought like okay we're good yeah like no i mean i don't even know you like that like i'm getting to know you right right and how's that going uh You know, it's. You don't have to like him. I know. That's what my therapist said.

But, you know, I don't dislike him. I just feel like there are some issues with responsibility and accountability after meeting my siblings and knowing, you know, you know, I've met them and I'm like. So he was a decent father to them? No, I'm sitting there thinking like, I don't know who had it worse. Like seeing him around the corner and knowing he ain't shit. And you wondering about him. And so, you know, I just, I was sitting there thinking like. Well, at least they knew. Like, I bet you when you were coming up and you were sort of like, you know, you probably idealized.

Yes, absolutely. You can't idealize it if he's around the corner. Yeah, no, that's the truth. And that's what I did. And so that was me coming down and saying, get on the ground and let's just assess this for what it really is. And let's just proceed with that information instead of trying to create this ideal.

Like my father now, he calls me princess. Like I've seen people do that. And I'm like, this is weird. Yeah, you're a grown person yeah i don't know him and i don't know him yeah yeah well that's good that it's evolving and that that you know that's a positive thing and i'll tell you sometimes he'll send me a text and i don't respond and sometimes i do and i gotta be in the mood and sometimes i'll talk to him and sometimes i won't i I'm still figuring out how how

I'm going to engage this, because at this point, there's two adults that are, you know, and at best we can be friends and we can still be whatever we're going to be for the rest of our lives. But I'm still not going to, you know, foster this fake. Right. Do you feel like you got all the information you needed about what happened? I didn't get all of the information because, of course, you get each side of the story. But what I did get was evidence and the results of his being where he was and looking into his children there and their lives. And I was able to make an assessment on my own about who he's probably been to these people and that was enough for me to know and also being a grown person who's seen men behave certain ways yeah in your own life yeah i mean when you sit there and you see these these sisters the different

mothers and you and you hear the different experiences yeah you know you you if you want to you want to pretend you don't see it because you want this man to be magic. You can. But for me, I was like, oh, OK, I'm picking up on what you're putting down. Thanks for the signals and people dropping off hints for me. Good, good. And how about have you gotten much? What's the reaction been to the bridging the Dominican Puerto Rican gap? It's been good because a lot of people were saying those are antiquated ways

and those are things that people were doing back in the day. And now there's so many people who are mixed because there's so many Dominicans in Puerto Rico and so many Puerto Ricans

in the Dominican Republic. It's been positive because it opened up a conversation. Oh, good. You know, not just with us, but with other Latinos that are like,

yeah, why are we doing that? Yeah. Great. Well, I wish you luck. Thank you. Great work. It's nice talking to you. Nice talking to you, too.

This is what I wanted to do. Oh, good. I'm glad we did it. There you go, people. Her special, Ida Rodriguez, Fighting Words, is streaming on HBO Max. If you want to check on the tour dates, as far as I know, I'm doing them all. I haven't heard differently. I think we might have to add a night in Vancouver because they're going half capacity.

But all the other ones, so far, so good, starting at the end of January. And we might be adding some so go to WTFpod.com slash tour to see if I'm coming to your neighborhood please be careful this week it's a quiet but crazy week actually just stay home

alright don't spread it around just relax you don't have to but you know watch some movies you have any left you have to, but you know, watch some movies. You have any left you have to see? All right, here's some guitar that sounds like the guitar I play.音量を調整します Thank you. BOOMER LIVES Boomer lives Monkey

Lafonda Cat angels everywhere! need with Uber Eats? Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats, but iced tea and ice cream? Yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats, get almost, almost anything. Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know, we've produced a special bonus podcast episode

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