Conversations with Maria De La Ghetto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria De La Ghetto.

Hi Maria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been making people laugh since I was a kid. I’ve always had a big personality and I loved entertaining. The wit and humor came from being teased for always being the fat kid. I had to learn how to clap back at a young age. Since I had been making jokes all my life, eventually people (including my dad) kept telling me I should become a comedian.

It was 2004, I was about 20, and I was living with my family in the Imperial Valley, I heard about an open mic at a local bar. I asked if I could go in just to perform and they allowed it. Tony from Papa Chulo Productions was the one who put on the open mic at that bar so he started letting me open for his other comedy shows. Eventually, I kind of just fell off moved out from my parent’s house to San Diego and didn’t do comedy for a few years. Then I picked up comedy again in the San Diego and North County open mic scene. I made some good connections and decided to try my hand at the LA comedy scene. I moved back to LA on my own, did a few shows but then fell off again. Apparently, you need a 9-5 job to survive in LA. Fast forward to April 2019 where a friend of mine was working in the comedy scene both on and off the stage. She was at the comedy clubs regularly and I would go with her all the time. I was at the comedy clubs just as much as comedians and met a lot of really cool people.

Most of the time, people assumed I was a comedian just because of my personality and humor. So in November of that year, I quit my 9-5 and jumped back into the scene, this time with the resolve that it was all or nothing. Four months later, we went into quarantine. I had nothing but time so I hit the online mics with just as much fervor and determination. Even though 2020 was a calamity, I am still grateful. I was blessed with the time and resources to pour my heart and soul into not just my career but my passion. For a long time, I thought doing comedy wasn’t good enough. I wanted to “make a difference” in the world. But thankfully, many people supported me and reminded me how important laughter is. I also have had the privilege of people who either look like me or related to me, tell me how happy they were to see themselves represented onstage.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think any comedian, or artist/entertainer anywhere, can say it’s ever a smooth road. Aside from internal struggles of feeling like you’re not making the right choices because you aren’t trying to be a doctor or lawyer (especially if you’re Latinx/Asian), the entertainment industry is just a tough industry to break into and to stay in. Not only is the industry fatphobic, it’s still not as diverse as we’d like it to be. It wasn’t that long ago that a girl who looked like me could only hope to play a string of “Mexican” roles like housekeeper, chola, or street vendor. OR the chubby Asian comic relief who gives the occasional fortune cookie of wisdom. Basically, whatever sort of stereotype that I might be able to pull off. I definitely see the diversity starting to spread but we still have a long way to go. That’s just speaking on ethnicity. Being a woman on its own in the comedy business, ethnic or not, is a struggle.

For some reason, male comedians have this idea that women “aren’t as funny.” Then there is also the sexual harassment you have to worry about. When I first got into the comedy scene, anytime I was “new meat” at a comedy club, guys would swarm. Headliners would think they were some sort of rock star that’d I’d just throw myself at. Thankfully, I’m assertive and have no problem saying what I need to say. But not everyone is like me and there are too many horror stories. So any femmes out there, if you see me at the club and feel uncomfortable in any situation, do not hesitate to come hang out with me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a working comedian so my main gig is stand-up comedy. I’ve done some acting, even came out in a music video, which was cool. Mostly, I’m a funny person who wants to not only make people laugh but have them able to see themselves in my comedy. I talk about my truths. I turned my pain into comedy because that’s how it started. Being a fat kid, my humor and wit was a type of security blanket and still is! If I’m somewhere I don’t know anyone, the first thing I’m probably going to do is make a joke. There are so many comedians in the industry so there is definitely a lot of pressure to stand out. It probably helps being a fat half Mexican and half Filipina that people assume is Samoan. Either way, I have always stood out from the crowd just doing my own thing and not worried about what people would think. Even when I tried not to, I didn’t know how to stop being myself. And because of that, I am most proud of the fact that I’ve come this far on my own terms without compromise to who I am and what I believe. I don’t know anyone else like me so I think I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think luck is finding a 20 dollar bill on the floor. But in the bigger picture of life, what might be considered lucky is probably more of intention and manifestation. I know those words have been thrown around a lot lately by all the new age hippies running around LA with a crystal in one hand and incense in the other. (No shade to them, I have many a crystals and incense, but you know, I get it.) Anyway, there’s power in your thoughts and words. If you constantly think about something, you will subconsciously take steps toward that goal. I worked at a cosmetic shop several years back and after a while, I really wanted to have the freedom to travel. I would think about it all the time and try to come up with ways that would allow this to happen. Eventually, a customer of mine became a friend, I casually mentioned looking for a part-time job, which then led to him hiring me part-time. After about a year, I was working for him full time and was able to work remotely. I spent the next year traveling up and down the coast, from Seattle to the bay, to San Diego and back to LA. I think this can seem like ‘luck’ because you don’t notice the little things you do to achieve the bigger goal. I know this process has helped and will continue to help me in my life and career.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://linktr.ee/MariaDeLaGhetto
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mariadelaghetto
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mariadelaghetto
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mariadelaghetto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz30zbB87rOi9tFMRVfW-Nw