AIDA RODRIGUEZ FIGHTING WORDS FULL
Below, you can read an excerpt from the transcript or listen to the full episode. On Vulture’s Good One podcast, Rodriguez discusses her new special, what she learned from Paul Mooney, and why it’s important to talk about difficult subjects onstage. Her audience is a safe space but not a comfortable one, not even for herself because, to her, that is the only way forward as a community, as a country, as a village. On the other hand, you have Aida Rodriguez, a stand-up whose debut hour-long special Fighting Words premiered on HBO Max this year (Vulture named it one of the top ten comedy specials of the year) and who believes progress is hard-earned, coming only through difficult conversations. And in their defense, they compare themselves to the people who have used a microphone to actually say something, something that helps foster social change. If you hurt people, it’s not collateral damage, but the point - it’s proof of how far the freedom can extend. Who cares about the ends it’s just means. Over the last five years, the cynics have hijacked comedy’s freedom of speech, asserting that comedians can say anything because comedians can say anything. Her stand-up special “Fighting Words” is airing on HBO Max.Photo-Illustration: Vulture Photo: Earl Gibson III/Shutterstock The things I thought I couldn’t survive became the bits that made me who I am as a comedian.Īida Rodriguez is a comedian, actress and producer. I have been able to turn the story of my life into comedy.
So many great things have happened since then, despite the sexism, racism and ageism I’ve endured in the business. It was my therapeutic hobby, and as a bonus I got to watch some of the best comedians and learn.Įventually, I got a call to audition for the NBC reality competition “Last Comic Standing.” When I made it to the finals, in 2014, I had to decide between comedy and my full-time day job. I never thought it would lead to anything real. When I finally got the courage to do stand-up, it felt so familiar, like I was appearing in my favorite romantic comedy, but the love interest was a microphone. Then a comedian named Chris Spencer pulled me to the side and lovingly said, “You are a comic.” He gave me the name of a local open mic night and said, “Go!” While delivering them, I was so caught up in my fear while I was onstage, I didn’t notice how the jokes were landing. I wrote down some funny thoughts, with no idea I was formulating bits.
AIDA RODRIGUEZ FIGHTING WORDS PROFESSIONAL
She was so sure I was funny she asked me to perform at her birthday roast with actual, professional comedians. She gave me this incredible gift: She laughed at everything I said. Just when I needed it, I made a new friend. We even slept in my Expedition, until it got repossessed. We went from living in a plush condo to staying at Best Westerns and friends’ homes. The company I was working for didn’t honor my contract, and it caused me to lose everything, my home, my car and my hope. Just when I thought I had it all together, everything came crashing down. I did odd jobs to pay the bills and made a point of being present in my children’s lives. A friend helped me secure a place to stay. in 2000 with my kids, determined to be an entertainer. They would have preferred I study the Bible and maybe perfect my Puerto Rican cooking. All the stuff that I was into - comedy, hip-hop and martial arts - was not for me. My uncle introduced me to Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, Run DMC and Richard Pryor. Much better than the Christian hymns my family listened to while breaking every commandment standing in their way of a good time. To counter the weight of it, I would sneak into my Uncle Davie’s room and listen to what he was listening to. The daily struggle for survival and being aware of it is something I shouldn’t have known about at such a young age. Growing up poor came with violence, hunger, instability and the list goes on. My young uncles were running amok, and we all lived under the same roof. I had a young mom, so my grandmother pretty much raised me. Where I’m from, that means a tough one.īy the time I was 6, I had been kidnapped twice - once by my mother, who took me from my father in the Dominican Republic, and then by my grandmother, who snatched me from New York to get me away from my mother’s boyfriend and took me to Miami.
The road to having my own one-hour special on HBO Max was a bumpy one, a rider. Anyone who makes their living making people laugh will tell you: The line between comedy and tragedy is razor thin. Don’t expect to laugh at my origin story just because I’m a comedian.
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