Comedian's podcast seeks to "move" Latinos forward and make them "LOL"
ASTORIA, Queens (WABC) -- If anything can quickly unite New Yorkers with Hispanic and Latin American roots, it's comedy.
Social media videos and podcasts are helping bring comedy from New York's streets and neighborhoods to the world.
Eyewitness News reporter Sonia Rincon spoke with comedian and podcast host Rachel "La Loca" Strauss whose mixed heritage has played a big role as she makes audiences "LOL."
Strauss has been doing sketch comedy for years, and now her podcast 'Latinos Out Loud,' is playing for an audience she calls "L-O-L-eros."
The theme is: "Moving Latinos forward while making them laugh."
"Comedy is medicine, and I love providing that to people," Strauss said. "Yo soy la curandera de comedia, you know, and I just love to put smiles on people's faces."
Being raised in Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay to be exact, gave her lots of material. She says she has fun with her upbringing and heritage.
"My mom is from the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, representando," Strauss said. "And then my dad is as Brooklyn Jewish as they come, you know, with a heritage somewhere down the line, Eastern European, Russian."
Being a "Jewminican," as she calls herself, fits right into the city's increasingly mixed and multilingual take on distinctly New York comedy, which is constantly trending on social media.
"And I think New York is sort of a microcosm of the country and that this is where we're headed. So, embrace us," she said.
Eyewitness News got a peek behind the scenes of her latest podcast taped in Astoria, in which she challenges comedian and influencer Chicklet to some trivia about Latin music and food.
Strauss says representation in comedy and entertainment is improving, but it's important to celebrate Hispanic heritage year-round.
"And we should be vocalizing that, shouting it out from the rafters because people want to hear, they want to hear about us," she said. "They just don't know about us yet. But we're coming. We're coming for you."
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