In early March, Mike Oquendo and four fellow Latino comics did something he says is out of the ordinary: they put on a show in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Better known as Mikey O of the Mikey O Comedy Show—or, for the March outing, Mikey O’s Comedy Cantina—Oquendo joined local stand-ups Gwen La Roka, Vince Acevedo, Abi Sanchez, and Joey Villagomez at the southeast-side Jovial Club, at 96th and Commercial. The show sold out. According to Oquendo, people in the crowd were thrilled at the attention paid to their slice of the city.
According to Oquendo, there was a time not so long ago—as recently as the late 90s—when Latino comedy wasn’t a thing in Chicago. Or it was, but barely. Comedians like Alex Ortiz and Patty Vasquez had blazed a trail, but everyone else had to catch up. There were a handful of comics he worked with back then, Oquendo says. “We weren’t good. We were half-assed comics. No one was terrible because they’re terrible, they were just so fresh.”
Even if he doesn’t think a night of comedy has anything to do with “uplifting” a neighborhood, it’s a start—and six Latino comedians get a willing audience to perform to. Oquendo quotes Kevin Spacey’s character on House of Cards: “Generosity is its own form of power.”
With Joey Villagomez, Jaime De Leon, Melissa Duprey, Abi Sanchez, Mo Na, and Ken Garr. Thu 4/4, 7:30 PM, Kopa Kavana, 3010 W. 26th, 773-527-0700, mikeyocomedy.com, $20-$25.
