Your Chicago Guide’s tickets for two to Gina Brillon’s performance courtesy of The Den Theatre.
When looking to have some laughs with some of the best stand up comedy around, look no further than The Den Theatre in Wicker Park. The Den hosts a fantastic lineup of comedians from around the country in an intimate space with excellent seating options and table service. Your Chicago Guide was recently invited to attend the performance by the incomparable Gina Brillon. Belly laughs were guaranteed.
Gina Brillon was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. The Puerto Rican actress, comedian, writer (and new mom!) has been a standup comic since she was 17 years old. Her 1-hour special Gina Brillon: The Floor is Lava won a Gracie Award and is available on Amazon Prime Video, along with her first special, Pacifically Speaking. Her 1/2 hour special Easily Offended was one of the top shows from the Entre Nos franchise on HBO Latino, and streams on all HBO Digital Platforms. She’s made appearances on HBO Max’s HA Festival: The Art of Comedy, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, E!’s Chelsea Lately, The View, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel Live. You have seen her on Kevin Can Wait on CBS and The Conners on ABC. In 2012, she became the first (and only) Latina winner of NBC’s Stand up for Diversity Showcase. The following year, she was a “New Face” at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival. Gina is a singer, published writer, and poet. Her pieces have appeared in the New York Post and Daily News, among others. In 2019, she was featured on Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias’ “Beyond the Fluffy Tour” – hitting 46 cities around the US. Currently, Gina and co-host Katherine G. Mendoza dole out advice on their podcast Mess In Progress: The Homegirls Guide to Self-Help.
“I’m unpacking my personal stuff,” she said. “We’re all afraid to admit maybe I wasn’t my best self. Or maybe this wasn’t the path to my best self. People can expect to be challenged.” Despite the more complex and introspective material, Brillon still loves being lighthearted and silly — that will never change. Gina found her calling at 14, when she fell in awe with George Carlin and Brett Butler. The former was the first Latino comic she’d seen, and with Butler it was seeing an empowered woman on stage being sarcastic and owning her opinions, without a thought to whose feelings were hurt.
“Carlin became my favorite comic and I’m nothing like him, and I have no desire to emulate him,” Brillon said. “I like that there is only one Carlin or Richard Pryor, in terms of persona and point of view. I’m looking for the first Gina Brillon.”
By 17, she was working the crowds and spent the next portion of her career performing in clubs around the country. In 2014, a spot she did on comedian Gabriel Iglesias’ Comedy Central show “Stand-Up Revolution” plopped her into the big time. While editing the show, Iglesias, whom she hadn’t yet met, sent out a tweet telling people to follow her because she was so funny. She woke up to a mass of new fans. He then invited her on tour and produced her 2014 debut special, “Pacifically Speaking.”
When it comes to her comedy superpower, she knows it might sound cliche, but it’s how much she loves the artistry of stand-up and the growth you can witness. She again points to Carlin and the way he matured throughout his career, moving from being a suit and tie comedian to the long-haired rebel who made social commentary his thing. “The beauty of it is you can create your own path,” Brillon said. “When you love something so much, you can fall into a flow state very easily.”
The Den Theatre is located at 1331 North Milwaukee Avenue, in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. For most current lineup of performers, visit The Den Theatre website.
Photos by Gourmet Rambler.
