Gina Brillon on How Grief Pushed Her to Pursue Comedy

Gina Brillon is a Puerto Rican actress, slapstick comedian, author, and mother born and raised within the Bronx. In 2012, she grew to become the primary and solely Latina winner of NBC’s Stand Up for Range Showcase. She went on to launch comedy specials on NuvoTV, HBO, and Amazon Prime. She has appeared on “The View,” “Late Night time With Seth Meyers,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Reside,” and was the primary Latina comic to be a finalist in season 16 of “America’s Received Expertise.”

For Psychological Well being Consciousness Month, we requested Latine comedians and creators we admire how comedy has supported them in overcoming trauma and confronting life’s most vital challenges. Learn the items right here.

We do not discuss sufficient concerning the therapeutic powers of humor. The previous saying, “laughter is the perfect medication,” as cliché as it might be, really has a variety of fact to it. I discovered concerning the energy of laughter at a comparatively younger age. In Latino households, we frequently use humor to heal from traumas and hardships. It helps us get via a lot. At house, we made jokes about every part from the federal government, cheese we ate, to the broke, child video games we performed. I tremendously touched on this in my Amazon Prime particular, “The Ground is Lava.”

My childhood was good however got here with its justifiable share of struggles. Cash troubles have been actual, and I keep in mind us being on meals stamps at one level. We had our difficult occasions, however we someway all the time managed to search out alternatives to chortle about it. It was a type of, “should you do not chortle, you will cry” kind conditions. Nevertheless it wasn’t till I misplaced my grandmother that I spotted the momentary reduction a very good chortle can carry, even within the face of loss and grief.

I say this on a regular basis, however my grandmother is the complete motive why I made a decision to pursue a profession as a slapstick comedian. I used to be most likely across the age of 8 or 9 after I realized I had a present for making individuals chortle. It was additionally round that age that it actually hit me how therapeutic laughter might be. As soon as I spotted I may make somebody chortle, it grew to become a mission to make these round me chortle as a result of I liked the enjoyment I obtained out of it. My grandmother was the primary grown-up within the household who observed I used to be humorous. She would inform my mother issues like, “Your daughter is gifted. She’s going to be on TV sooner or later,” and I slowly began to consider her.

For some time, I saved the jokes for the household. I used to be this loopy, humorous child at house, however I used to be rather more reserved every time I used to be in public. As a child, I used to be self-conscious as a result of I used to be the chubby, humorous woman. So, if I did not know you want that, I would not try to make you chortle as a result of I used to be already too insecure. In reality, friends and schoolmates who knew me rising up have been stunned after I grew to become a slapstick comedian. They all the time thought I used to be humorous, however additionally they thought I used to be shy as a result of I used to be rising up. I used to be by no means the category clown. However I used to be the child who was all the time fast with a joke. If I noticed a joke someplace, I might say it shortly earlier than anybody else may say it first.

My grandma was most likely one of many hardest ladies I’ve ever met — to this present day. This was my grandma on my maternal facet. She lived with us and handed away after I was 16, however a big chunk of my childhood was spent round this girl whom I completely adored. She got here to New York from Puerto Rico and by no means actually discovered English like that, however the English she managed to study was from watching “I Love Lucy.” That is after I began understanding how a lot my grandma appreciated comedic reduction. As soon as I discovered that, I made it some extent all the time to crack her up.

My grandmother wasn’t a straightforward girl to make chortle. She was robust, and she or he was severe. She additionally hated pranks. However she liked silliness. One thing about silliness allowed her to melt and totally carry down her guard — no matter what she was going via on the time. I began to check her humorousness and offered her with the silliness I knew she loved. When my grandmother laughed, she laughed together with her total being. She exuded absolute pleasure — it introduced out one other facet of her that I appreciated at a younger age. That grew to become our largest manner of connecting — making her chortle.

However after I was round 11, my grandmother’s well being started to say no. She would get cuts and bruises randomly. She began experiencing physique aches extra usually. I knew she wasn’t the identical after I began noticing my mother needed to bathe her day by day. That was exhausting for me as a result of I grew up seeing this robust girl who by no means needed to be a burden discovering herself in such a weak place. I virtually did not know the best way to join together with her anymore. My siblings have been fast to assist in caring for her bodily, however I used to be by no means snug doing that. It was exhausting for me to witness her at her weakest.

Throughout that point, I spotted that the perfect medication I needed to supply her was laughter. On her hardest days, I made certain to make her chortle, and she or he consistently inspired me to make a profession out of it sooner or later. My grandma was my first comedy viewers and the primary one who actually believed in me, so when she handed, I instructed God that I might pursue a profession in comedy.

I knew it was coming as a result of I by no means heard the worry on this girl’s voice like that earlier than. I keep in mind considering to myself, that is it. My mother instructed me to go to mattress, however I could not. I requested if I may go to the lavatory, and as quickly as I walked in there, I opened the window, fell to my knees, and began to hope. I keep in mind the primary phrases out of my mouth have been, “God, I do know tonight you take my grandma.” I instructed God that from that second on, any time I make any individual chortle, it might be in honor of my grandmother. And if I ever do something in comedy, it should all the time be for her. The subsequent morning, she was gone.

It was a tough season for my household — significantly my mother. It took some time earlier than it felt acceptable, however I slowly began to make use of humor to assist myself and the remainder of the household get via it. Even on the funeral, as troublesome because it was, there have been little moments the place the household would joke and roast one another, and it was therapeutic. We allowed ourselves to grieve and to cry. However we additionally discovered alternatives to chortle and smile in reminiscence of my grandmother.

To this present day, each single time I step on stage, I consider my grandmother. I actually really feel her power with me each time. I can really feel her within the room watching me. I am all the time like, “Did you see that, grandma? Did you see what I simply did? Did you prefer it?”

Each milestone has been devoted to her, from my first 20-minute particular for HBO’s “Entre Nos” to after I did my first one-hour particular “Pacifically Talking,” my Amazon Prime particular “The Ground Is Lava,” to even after I was on “America’s Received Expertise.” My sister, who is admittedly massive into the religious facet of issues, all the time tells me that my grandma is all the time with me. I consider that all of us have a counsel of people who find themselves meant to take care of us on this life, and I consider we select them. I selected my grandmother, and I selected George Carlin — my favourite comic rising up. I actually consider he is a part of the souls watching over me to the purpose the place each time I stroll into Gotham Comedy Membership, I give a salute to his picture.

Not solely has comedy gotten me via each troublesome circumstance I’ve skilled on this life, from heartache to loss, nevertheless it has additionally helped me discover myself. It reworked a younger, insecure woman into probably the most assured she has ever been. It gave me the flexibility to attach with individuals, the primary one being my grandmother. Comedy has allowed me to assist others heal due to the way in which it has helped me heal in my very own methods. It’s my longest relationship on this life and my most cherished one.

Johanna Ferreira is the content material director for POPSUGAR Juntos. With greater than 10 years of expertise, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central a part of Latine tradition. Beforehand, she spent shut to a few years because the deputy editor at HipLatina, and she or he has freelanced for quite a few retailers together with Refinery29, O Journal, Attract, InStyle, and Effectively+Good. She has additionally moderated and spoken on quite a few panels on Latine identification.