Alonzo brings the funny
Cristela Alonzo brings her comedy to Fort Lauderdale
“Cristela” star heads to the Improv.
The new ABC series “Cristela,” the first TV comedy to have a Latina as its creator and star, has been roundly praised by critics for tackling issues facing working women and Hispanics with smart humor and uncommon sophistication. The Atlantic magazine calls the show, about a single woman fighting stereotypes in the workplace and those of her old-school mother, “the model for what modern sitcoms should be.”
Which means, of course, that first-season ratings for “Cristela” were woeful. With ABC’s decision about a Season 2 pending, its engaging star, 36-year-old Mexican-American Cristela Alonzo, is back out on the stand-up comedy circuit, including a series of shows this weekend at the Fort Lauderdale Improv. She talks here about “Cristela” and her late mother, who inspired the conservative character on the show.
One audience for “Cristela” is young people dealing with the social and cultural expectations of the previous generation. That’s not just a Latino thing.
“Absolutely. Times change when we are presented with new information. Therefore, ideas and beliefs sometimes have to change with them. I’ve learned that the most important thing for me is to ask, ‘Why?’ a lot. When people tell me that I should be married and have kids by now, I ask, ‘Why?’ Then usually, they don’t know what to say.”
Your mother begged you not to go off to college to study theater, and she stopped talking to you for a while. You are now a TV star who will be performing at one of the top comedy clubs in the country on Mother’s Day. What is your most enduring memory of her?
“We were very poor growing up. My mom used to cook food for us on a space heater she would face up. That was her stove. That image always sticks with me because I learned an important lesson with that. The lesson being that no matter how bad your circumstances are, you can find a way to overcome them.”
Cristela Alonzo performs 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Fort Lauderdale Improv, 5700 Seminole Way, Hollywood. Tickets: $20. Info: 954-981-5653, FTL.Improv.com.