When Joey Medina was inspired to try stand-up comedy, he was living in his car and donating plasma for money. He got up at Laff’s Comedy Caffe with no intention of becoming a comedian. At the time he just wanted to have funny friends.
“I didn’t think I was good enough to be a comedian,” he said. “I thought that took a special kind of talent like an athlete.”
Five open mics later, he said, “I remember telling myself, ’I can start my whole life all over again.’ I didn’t have anything. I could do whatever I wanted. And I made the decision that night to become a comedian.”
Thirty years later, he’s performed comedy multiple times all over Europe and Asia, with the USO and on his own. He’s made 50 appearances in TV shows, and he co-starred in the Paramount Pictures movie “The Original Latin Kings of Comedy” with Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez, George Lopez and Alex Reymundo.
Recalling his earliest forays into comedy, Medina said, “I remember I borrowed ($12.50) to watch Paul Rodriguez perform at the TCC, and I just remember telling myself, ‘One day I’m going to open for him.’” Four years later, he opened for Rodriguez on that same stage. Getting there, Medina said, was the product of tireless touring and relentless work perfecting his jokes.
When he started, Laff’s had the only open mic in town, so as soon as he got the bug, Medina hit the road. “I was opening in places like The Comic Strip in El Paso and Laff’s in New Mexico and Colorado. One day I booked a bunch of one-nighters from Tucson all the way to Miami and back. They were all two-man shows, and even though I was emceeing, I was also doing 30 minutes.”
Medina said he was not just doing comedy but also networking with club owners and especially with other comics. “I worked my way up that way,” he said.
Within a few years, he moved to Los Angeles. “I was diving into comedy, doing everything I could. I knew I would get better if I moved.” A former professional boxer, Medina likened the move to finding better sparring partners. “You need to spar with different people so you can learn and practice different skills.
“When you’re an athlete or any kind of artist, you need to believe in yourself more than other people believe in you. I’ve seen comics who are really great early on and comics who’ve been doing 10 years and they’re not that good yet. I tell ‘em, ‘Never give up.’”
Los Angeles offered Medina much more than a chance to spar with better comedians. As the heart of the movie business, it connected him to his first love: filmmaking.
Recognized early as a gifted writer in his Bronx grammar school, Medina made his first film in the seventh grade on a Super 8 film camera. It was a remake of “King Kong” with a cast of family members. He later studied TV production at the Center for Media Arts in New York City, and was hired in 2003 to produce a segment for “Extreme Gong” on the Game Show Network
In 2004, Medina wrote, produced and directed his first feature film, “El Matador.” Produced for $15,000 on 16 mm film, it won three awards at the Los Angeles Chicano Film Festival. Maverick Entertainment picked it up for distribution.
Medina has since written, produced, directed, hosted and/or created props, sets and makeup for, and/or starred in, dozens of television shows and short films, including comedy, drama and horror stories, on sets and in front of live audiences. One of his more recent short films, “Beautiful Violence,” has won more than 150 awards at film festivals around the world.
Asked how he’s seen the comedy scene change over the years, Medina said, “There are a lot more comedians, and I think it’s because stand-up comedy is so much more accessible. People started watching stand-up comedy on YouTube internationally. Now there is stand-up all over the world.”
He observed that the result has been much wider diversity of both comics and subject matter. “Having anything different is always a plus because you can talk about something that other people can’t talk about.” At the same time, although he says he hasn’t encountered the issue, he pointed out, “Too many people now, unfortunately, are just offended by everything. I tell people, ‘If you’re in an audience of a hundred people and everyone else is laughing and you’re not, the comedian is not the problem.’
“A good comedian is talking about our lives and our experiences.
The more experiences you have, you learn to write better. You learn how to take a premise that’s difficult to talk about, and you make it work.”
Joey Medina, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15, Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard, laffstucson.com, $15, $20 preferred seating,
More comedy this week
Catalina Craft Pizza,15930 N. Oracle Road, Suite 178, 8 p.m., Saturday, April 14, free with a donation of nonperishable food or clothing, “Comedy in Catalina,” Phoenix comic Geof Piccarreta headlines, lineup includes producer Allana Lopez, Anthony Jenkins, Autumn Horvat, Morgan Kuehn and Ana Montanez, and Kenny Shade, host
Chuckleheads, 41 Brewery Avenue, Bisbee, chuckleheadsaz.com, 8 p.m. Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 16, $20, Rob Maebe
Corbett Brewery, 309 E. Seventh Street, 7 p.m. Friday, April 14, free, “Good Enough Comedy,” Stephanie Lyonga-Farrington headlines, Magghie O’Shea features, Amie Amelia Gabusi, Derek Celaya, Steven Black and Jesus Otamendi round out the bill, Cory Lytle and Joel Martin host, donations accepted for the Community Food Bank
Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street,
rialtotheatre.com, 6 p.m. Sunday, April 16, tickets start at $52, Brincos Dieras with Tito el Ranchero, todo en español.
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street, tucsonimprov.com, $7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam and open mic. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, Improv 201 and Improv 401, 8:30 p.m. Open Mic.; 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 13, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. “The Soapbox” with Moira Po; 9 p.m. Improv vs. Standup; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15, “Punball Wizards”; 9 p.m. “LOL and Order”
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 14, Family-Friendly Improv; 9 p.m. Unscrewed Fridays After Dark (pay what you will); 6 p.m., Saturday, April 15, Unscrewed Family Hour (all tickets $5); 7:30 p.m. Family Friendly Improv, 9 p.m. The Backyard Improv Playground (pay what you will)
