San Francisco, Mi Amor!
The 80’s: Queer Comedy, Taquerias, The Castro, The Mission, Mullets & Shoulder Pads So Wide You Could Fly!
I first saw Monica perform as one half of the ‘Only Latin Female Comedy Duo in the Universe’Â alongside Marga Gomez. It was 1985 at Fanny’s in the Castro, where I lived with my girlfriend in a ‘railroad flat’ back before Aids was really a thing. Well it was a thing, but we didnt know about it yet. It was a happy time. We were young and excited about being OUT lesbians living in San Francisco…so, we go to see these lesbian chicks perform. And we are totally cracking up! Monica is the real deal. Marga and Monica together are hilarious.
Monica and me at Amelia’s “Flipbook” party in 1986
Next came the Culture Clash, an all Latino comedy troupe produced by the amazing René Yanez, who is producing her current show. I loved that group! they were edgy and brilliant and way ahead of their time.
So yeah, I think Monica is the bomb. We’ve become lifelong friends. She is funny and smart. She still cracks me up. I asked Monica a few questions about her upcoming retrospective show ‘San Francisco, Mi Amor’ coming to the GalerÃa De La Raza in November 20 & 21.
What is the show all about? First of all, bring everybody you know to my show even your tia Cuca, especially if she’s single. My hip happening homo show is about a comedic and dramatic look back at my first gay comedy career days in my beloved San Francisco 1982-1986. I share my experiences about being a film student at San Francisco State, Gay Comedy Nights at the Valencia Rose Cabaret, lusting for women making my burritos at Taqueria La Cumbre, performing comedy during the AIDS crisis, waitressing at Pier 39, birthing the comedy troupe Culture Clash, meeting and auditioning for Edward James Olmos on 24th Street, grooming my mullet and mucho mucho mas! I’m very excited to be reuniting with producers René Yanez and GalerÃa De La Raza because both were integral to my career in San Francisco in the 80s.
Will you show us your Chi Chis? Yeah, sure, why not. Let me pick them off the floor first.
What have you been doing in LA for 30 years? Looking for my tupperware lids. Have you seen them? I’ve been cranking out solo shows, plays, screenplays, short stories, stand-up comedy, poems, essays, blogs featuring the Latina/o LGBTQ experience. National and international scholars have critically engaged my work in academic journals, books, dissertations and conference panels. I will be teaching at Cal State Long Beach in Spring 2016 and I have taught at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, Loyola Marymount University, Claremont College, Pomona College, California State University Los Angeles and American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I was awarded a prestigious Postdoctoral Rockefeller Fellowship from the Chicano Studies Institute at UC Santa Barbara. I am a highly anthologized writer look for my three new publications: Mujeres de Maiz Zine Madre, Mother Spring 2015; Out Latina Lesbians, Sinister Wisdom Journal Summer 2015; and Jota Anthology by Korima Press 2016. I was nominated for GO Magazine’s 100 Women We Love 2015; selected one of the 41 LGBTQ Latina/o 2014 Role Models by Honor41.org; nominated 2014 LGBT Pride Month Local Heros, KCET; and selected as Latinas of Influence 2013 by HispanicLifestyle.com. In 2012 I was honored by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for 3 decades of groundbreaking Chicana lesbian performance. Besides this new show, San Francisco, Mi Amor!, I continue to tour with my solo show, Queer Latina Love & Revolution and I want to produce my new play, I Kissed Chavela Vargas. Any producers out there? Call me. www.monicapalacios.com.
San Francisco, Mi Amor!
The 80’s: Queer Comedy, Taquerias, The Castro, The Mission, Mullets & Shoulder Pads So Wide You Could Fly!
Written & Performed by Monica Palacios
Nov 20 & 21
Galeria De La Raza
2857 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94110
415-826-8009
www.galeriadelaraza.org
