Vanessa Gonzalez is a comedian to watch…
The Latina improviser/sketch comedy writer/comedian has been named to Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch list.
Gonzalez and her fellow honorees will be feted at Just for Laughs Montreal. They’ll attend a special cocktail reception and panel discussion on July 29 before performing at a showcase on July 30.
Gonzalez participated in Chelsea Handler’s Vaccinated and Horny Tour.
It was late 2020 and Gonzalez was riding out the pandemic, wondering when — or even if — her next gig was going to materialize. Then Handler slid into her DMs. Recalls the Laredo, Texas, native: “I was like: Is this for real? And then I felt bad because I didn’t follow her. That was like, ‘Oh, this is awkward — she’s going to see me follow her right now.’”
Cut to August and Gonzalez found herself the opening act for Handler’s tour.
Originally booked for one show, Gonzalez has since appeared in “most of the tour,” including its May 5 stop at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. as part of the Netflix Is a Joke festival.
For Gonzalez, who, following graduation from Texas State University, spent six years as a preschool teacher in Austin — experience providing ample fodder for her stand-up routine, from bits about “muffins for moms day” to the “$10 an hour” paycheck — zig-zagging the country with Handler has been “really surreal.”
“Chelsea’s been so amazing and generous and she’s always encouraging me. She’ll sit and watch my set every night,” says Gonzalez. “When I get off stage she’s there high-fiving me and telling me how great I did.I’ve never felt so supported. It’s been overwhelming — her generosity, her love. She wants me to succeed. Usually with comics, there’s a weirdness. They’re threatened, there’s always a competition. And this is the first time where I actually feel lifted up by a comedian. And it’s so cool.”
With a recent guest spot on HBO Max’s freshman sitcom The Garcias to her credit, Gonzalez, based in Austin, is now setting her sights on landing an “hourlong comedy special.”
“It’s on my bucket list, it’s on my vision board,” she says. “I have the material for it. So, I’m ready, for whomever wants it.”
The series will premiere globally on the streamer on November 28.