San Juan native Cristela Alonzo’s new Netflix special inspired by Valley, pandemic

A badass friend. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro didn’t mince words when introducing Cristela Alonzo as she took the stage for her new Netflix special, “Middle Classy,” referring to her using those three words and reminding that she’s from the Rio Grande Valley.

If the roars of laughter from the audience and reviews are any indication, not to mention the road she paved toward making this special and her new endeavors possible, then Alonzo may just want to adopt the moniker “badass comic.”

Alonzo’s new special premiered on Netflix on June 28, her second with the streaming service since 2017s Lower Classy. The special also features a cameo from American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

In between performances of ​​Christopher Oscar Peña’s “How to Make an American Son,” of which she has a role, Alonzo reflected on her new stand-up comedy special Friday, and on the journey that took her from the stage at PSJA High School to theaters and television screens around the world.

“You know, because it’s the second (special), you kind of know what it’s going to be like,” Alonzo said. “The first one is terrifying because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Whenever you do something for the first time, there’s always a bit of worry in that you don’t know how it happens — what the process is. With the first one, I was nervous. With this one, I was still nervous, but I was just hoping that people would watch it — that people would know that it’s out there because let’s face it, there’s just so much content now.”

Middle Classy sees Alonzo sharing stories about growing up in the Valley, her experiences as a San Juan native living in Los Angeles, and what her life was like during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m 43. I grew up a latchkey kid, so the pandemic was very familiar to me in a way,” Alonzo said. “Growing up a latchkey kid in the 80s, it really did feel like you were alone by yourself for a long time. Honestly, having grown up like that, it kind of really prepared me for a pandemic. It was kind of this thing where I didn’t really see a lot of difference. The one thing that happened was that I had a lot of time to think about who I was. That’s kind of what started everything. When you have time to think, you think.”

Diabetes and a lack of opportunities to exercise during the lockdown portion of the pandemic proved especially difficult for the comic.

“For me, I was freaking out that my diabetes was going to get out of control,” she said. “That made me think about how I found out that I was diabetic. Then I started thinking about anxiety and depression. It allowed me to think about things that I maybe would have taken longer to talk about. You try to come up with things, but sometimes you have to let the things come to you.”

Unable to tour because of the pandemic, Alonzo referred to recordings of her shows dating back to 2019. She said that the recordings helped her find her voice again when the restrictions began to lift.

“I waited until after everything lifted,” she recalled. “That’s actually why I got COVID. I was at home throughout the whole lockdown. I was the person who wore masks, did everything. When I ended up getting COVID, it was actually a day or two before going to shoot the special. That’s the thing that worries you — you’re doing as much as you can to protect yourself, but that doesn’t mean that others are.”

With her new special finally out, Alonzo said that she has returned to her roots. For the first time in roughly 20 years, she is back on the theater stage.

“I was a theater kid in high school. The reason I’m doing a play right now — it’s the first play I’ve done in like 20 years or so — and I’m doing it because at the end of the day I’m always that theater kid,” Alonzo said. “Stand-up was a way for me to do what I love because there were no roles. There’s not a lot of roles for Latinas in theater. I knew that if I was going to give myself a chance, I was going to have to write my way into it. I was going to have to create it.”

Alonzo’s high school drama teacher, Ofelia Gonzalez-Peña, can attest to this.

She recalled Alonzo’s love from the stage and her infectious personality, and described her as the same person she was when she was in high school.

“She always had a smile on her face,” an emotional Gonzalez-Peña recalled. “I know she went through a really hard time, but she’s getting what she really worked hard for. She really deserves all of this. I’ve seen her growth, and as an educator — to see your students blossom and just shine in whatever they’re doing, and for her to be doing it nationally and internationally, it’s like a proud parent moment. I’m very proud of her.”