Looking for a Saturday night plan? If you wanna do something new and you feel a little homesick, maybe you haven't found the Latino stand-up comedy shows in downtown Auckland! These shows are taking over the plans of many Latinos who reside in the City of Sails.
Have a night of fun and amusement feeling like home in the form of shows of stand-up comedy, drag scene, and improv encounters all made with latin talent, such as the one that China González, a stand-up comedian originally from Mexico has.
We had the fantabulous opportunity of getting to know her the best way we latinos know: Talking after a night of rumba! We got to ask her some questions to know more about this latino comedy scene at Auckland and this is what we heard:
Firstly, who is La China González?
This amazingly hilarious woman is a Mexican comedian born in Guadalajara that arrived in New Zealand 7 years ago. She has been doing stand-up since shortly before coming to Auckland, only 3 months before to be precise, and as soon as she arrived she started conquering the comedy scene with her charisma and talent. Although she knew herself on the stand-up comedy, lately in these kiwi lands she also explored and learned about Improv and Theatre, habilities that developed her skills on stand-up.
Who’s behind the scenes of the Latino comedy and improv spaces in Auckland?
China is the foundress of the “Spanglish Comedy New Zealand”, a stand-up comedy project that started 5 years ago when only she and Cori Gonzalez (another proudly Latino comedian, of Chilean roots) were the only Latinos in the group. This project has the objective of offering a space of laughter and amusement to the Latinos in Auckland that find themselves drowned in the kiwi lifestyle and want to escape to a place that resembles their home, and what is better for that than an amazing space to have a nice time while listening at jokes that we latinos will get and laugh our asses off!
This project has really diverse members already, such as previously mentioned Cori, who was born in Chile but moved to New Zealand at the age of 6, so he has very kiwi humor despite his Latino accent. There’s also has been American, Philipino, British, and even Kiwi people on these shows!
Along the way, China met Mati Avaca, an Argentinian Improv professional who contacted her to collab with his own group "Mabel Group", dedicated to Improv in spanish. They both liked each other work, so the crew of the Spanglish Comedy NZ started doing improv and the Mabel Group crew started doing stand-up comedy as well, which made both the Spanglish Project and Mabel Group started performing together specializing in their areas but learning from each other. This experience made the number of stand-up comedians who speak spanish raised!
Later, this amazing Mexican comedian also met Dani Fernandez, a theatre actor and director from Spain who saw the potential in both China's and Mati's projects and proposed to fuse them in only one, creating then Laenye Productions. Under the name of this producer, the three of them have their projects while supporting each other backstage. This macro project of Laenye Productions groups distinct projects dividing them into disciplines, such as stand-up comedy, Improv, among others.
Although each one has their separate Project, you can always find them together the first Thursday of every month at the Red Bar on Pitt Street, starting at 7:30 PM on a free open-mic stand-up comedy show in spanish, that invites experienced and inexperienced people to try their new jokes in front of an audience. This show is always directed by one of the three either China, Dani, or Mati.
Most of the shows are in spanish! But sometimes they are in English or in both languages, every show is different but for example in China's latest stand-up production Better than Tacos, she made shows both in spanish and english, every show is different so make sure to know about schedules and performances!
The Mexican dish that she miss the most!
The dish that is original from her home and she misses the most is the Azteca Soup, and the reason for this is that she hasn't found yet a place where it tastes even remotely like the original one from Mexico! However, she has learned to prepare traditional dishes with the few ingredients she found on the Latino markets and recommends the restaurant Taco Loco, where she works on Sundays. She just loves the Mexican dishes and seasoning they have!
Take a look at our Taco Loco friend's website!
What is China's favorite product of Latino Foods?
Although she hasn't had the chance to order something from our website yet, since she recently found us, China is waiting to have the time to explore all of our catalogs to buy the most she can. However, she is a complete lover of the Chamoy Sauce and the Salsa Botanera, which fortunately we have!
How can we contact China or the Improv Group?
It's really easy to contact her or the group! You can just contact her through social media where you can find her as:
On Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Don't forget to follow her up so you don't miss any news about the Latino Stand-up comedy scene of Auckland!
You can also contact directly with La Enye Productions through the following e-mail:
Or through their Facebook Fanpage:
This amazing story can only be rectified by going to one of La China's shows. She invites us this October 2nd to a Spanglish's show where they will be presenting Mati's Mabel Group and will be taking place at the Basement Theatre at 6 PM, don't miss it!
Thanks for reading!
Latino Foods Team.