2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval

Hosted by Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center 9-11 June 2022 in Denver, CO.

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) announced the 2022 LTC Comedy Carnaval, June 9-11, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. The convening is hosted by Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center. …because the past two years have been so rough that we gotta ducking laugh 🦆

Download the live program here. Applications to attend Comedy Carnaval have closed.

Comedy Carnaval Agenda

Thursday 9 June

Opening Ceremonies
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

It’s been three years since we’ve been in the same room together! Join us for remarks from LTC Producer Jacqueline Flores, Comedy Carnaval Champion Amelia Acosta Powell, and Su Teatro Artistic Director Tony Garcia. They will set intentions for the weekend and lead an ice breaker activity to help everyone get to know each other before kicking off the weekend!

Escobar's Hippo by Franky D. Gonzalez
3 p.m. - 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

A Colombian town along the Magdalena River plunges into chaos after a flatulent, destructive, easily offended, and sexually adventurous hippo comes to town and wreaks havoc. The crisis worsens when people begin transforming into hippos themselves causing, not only chaos, but the beginnings of a revolution where humans are put to death by these new Hipposapiens. As this shifting of civilization unfolds, three friends try to figure out how to deal with the transforming population and solve the connection between the hippos and a notorious drug lord.

Friday 10 June

Exhaustion: Dancin' Trees In The Ravine, a psychedelic comedia by W. Fran Astorga
10 a.m. - 12 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

Three friends escape into the Santa Cruz mountains in search of a place to swim and BBQ. They packed for the beach without realizing they had a treacherous hike down a ravine. Once at a waterhole, the consumption of some shrooms sets the stage for a heartfelt adventure between friends too tired to know how to rest.

Latine Comedy in Conversation
1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

Amelia Acosta Powell will host a conversation with Evelina Hernandez, Herbert Siguenza, Adrienne Dawes, and Donelle Prado about the intersection of Latinidad and comedy performance. Learn how these Latine artists approach comedic storytelling, how comedic Latinx stories are valued (or not) by artists, producers and audiences, what is unique and important about Latine storytelling in the genre of comedy and about live comedic performance within the realm of Latine storytelling, how comedic forms heal Latinx communities, where Latinx comedy theatre comes from, and where it may be going.

Stand up & Solo Performance Evening at Raices Brewery

Join us for an evening of laughter hosted by local Denver comedian, Donelle Prado!

Are You There? by Cristina Fernandez
Cristina Fernandez is a performer, writer, and translator originally from Puerto Rico and currently living in Los Angeles. Are You There? is a stand-up comedy show that mixes video from the 2020 Los Angeles lockdown with live performance. The show pokes at modernity, motherhood, and existentialism. Are You There? shows us how far we’ve come and how much we’re still seeking.

Stand-Up Comedy by Jess Martínez
She’s single, bilingual, and ready to mingle…well, she’s single. Jess Martínez is a Chicago-based stand-up comedian who enjoys making audiences laugh as she genuinely tries to make sense of the world around her. She is the associate producer of Las Locas Comedy and assistant producer at the Moth StorySLAM Chicago.

What Are You? by Milta Ortiz
In the ten-minute solo piece What Are You?, a young muxer finds herself in 1990s Oakland hip-hop culture. People assume she’s mixed: Black and Latina. She begins to question what it means to be 100 percent Salvadoreña. Is the drum beat an ancestral call? But Mamí grew up in El Salvador and has different ideas.

A Little Bit of Gay: A Standup Piece by a Homo by R. Réal Vargas Alanis
Dive into the queer world with R. Réal Vargas Alanis. Leave censorship and code-switching behind, tap into your inner chola, and go on a journey to a barrio in Central California. Get a glimpse of the life of a homo navigating sugar daddies, queer hookup culture, and religion. Careful though—you might catch “the gay” after experiencing this piece… we can’t blame you though. Gay is cool. A Little Bit of Gay is slated to open during Pride Month. It would be homophobic of you not to support. Warning: This stand-up piece is not for the prudes—you will hear about the time they went to urgent care because they damaged their throat glock glockn’ on turkey necks.

HOLY KITTY KAT by Katie Ventura
HOLY KITTY KAT is an emotional dramedy following a first-gen Chicana YouTuber coming to grips with Catholicism and generational curses of her Mexican lineage while being queer. Told in vignettes, we follow her as a teen and young adult trying to define who she is inside/out.

Saturday 11 June

Short Form Comedy
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

Marimacha by Darrel Alejandro Holnes
(video screening)

La Carpa De La Frontera by CARPA San Diego
La Carpa De La Frontera is a site-specific, tent-like vaudeville touring show which can be taken into communities that are in most need of healing from the current pandemic situation. These performances address issues such as immigration, race, gender, human rights, accessibility, and culture in comedic form, using the concept of the old carpa style used in Mexico during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. This unique touring troupe of performing artists focuses on social change creating a show dealing with social and political issues through a comical platform that anyone can enjoy.

The Invocation of Selena by Tus Tías
The Invocation of Selena (TIOS) is a sketch comedy and cabaret-style show that explores how cultural icon Selena Quintanilla Pérez continues to inspire and motivate Latine people, particularly women and the LGBTQIA community. Through character monologues, drag, choreographed dance numbers, audience participation, moments of song, and more, TIOS celebrates cultural duality while examining when, why, and how we call on Santa Selena in our everyday lives. At the top of the show, Selena is literally invoked and, in this case, she is a larger-than-life drag queen who guides the cast on this journey to help them find their way in a society that desires to put them in a box. The show also uses biographical information about the artist as well as the 1997 Gregory Nava film Selena as source material to create characters and scenes that tease out our diaspora as Mexicans, Americans, Mexican Americans, pochos, Latines, queers… “and it’s exhausting!”

La Egoista by Erlina Ortiz
2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

La Egoista explores the story of Josefina, a rising stand-up comic who takes nothing seriously, and her conservative sister Betsaida, who is suddenly diagnosed with a chronic illness. This surreal one-act follows Josefina through her comedic sets as they unfold in conjunction with the deterioration of her sister's health. La Egoista uses comedy, puppets, magic, and memory to explore the cost of caregiving, the different ways we process grief, and how to find the balance between selfless and selfish. La Egoista was commissioned and developed at Live & In Color.

Closing Ceremonies and Honoring Diane Rodriguez
4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC - 6) / 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world’s performing-arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email tv@howlround.com or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal. View the video archive of past events.