10 questions. The Languages of Laughter

• Author: Jenny B. Davis
• Pages: 12-13

PHOTOS BY SCOT LERNER, KAILA DESIGNS AND COURTESY OF ELIZARDI CASTRO

The Languages

of Laughter

Former criminal defense lawyer

Elizardi Castro builds on his Puerto

Rican heritage as a bilingual comedian

DO YOU APPRECIATE the

taste of tost ones? Can you

toggle between Spa nish

and English, even in the

same sentence? Have you

ever had the chorus of “Mi

Burrito Sabanero” stuck in

your head for days? If you’ve

answered yes to a ny of these

questions—and y ou’re now

infected w ith a “tuki tuki”

earworm—you’re probably

Puerto Rica n. That means

comedian Eliza rdi Castro is

going to make you laugh—in

two language s. Castro is the

creator of Made in Puer to

Rico, a high-energ y bilingual

comedy show about island

life, culture a nd pride.

Castro has be en performing

this one-man show for more

than a year, selling out ven-

ues across the countr y, and

in March, he’s presenting it

at an o -Broadway theater

in New York City. Castro

connects wit h his audience

so e ectively in part bec ause

of his last job: He was a

criminal de fense lawyer in

Orlando, Florida. Cas tro

often incorporat ed a bit of

Spanish langua ge into his

advocacy, and he’s kept that

theme going through his

career swit ch from practic-

ing to performing.

You were born in Puerto

Rico and moved to New

York when you were 9, but

frequent vis its to the island

allowed you to mai ntain

your connection t o the

island’s language and

culture. D id you always

intend to incorp orate that

connection, a nd especially

the language dua lity, into

your comedy?

Ever since I start ed writ-

ing, it was always bili ngual.

Growing up, I felt like I had

to choose. Speak ing Spanish

was not encouraged. Bei ng

in comedy has allowed me

to freely live in bot h worlds,

and to freely commun icate

in both language s. English

is my fi rst language, but

Spanglish is real ly the

language where I feel most

comfortable—it allows

me to express myself bot h

intellectua lly and emotion-

ally. People misunderstand

Spanglish to mean m ixing

the words, but it’s really

when you begin in English

and fi nish in español or vice

versa. When I was a law yer,

if I was to use a Span ish

word in court, I k new that

every person on that jur y

who was Latino wa s mine.

They were absolutely mine.

The fact that I ca n bounce

back and forth, es pecially

with a Hispanic aud ience,

it’s really where my joy is.

Have you ever performed

in Puerto R ico, and do you

toggle bet ween languages

in those shows, too?

I’ve been in part s of shows

in Puerto Ric o, and I did

all my sets in Spang lish. It’s

controversial beca use they

always say, “You should do

it all in Spanish!” But my

point was to use the Engl ish

to make us feel like we’re

one, whether we’re in Puerto

Rico or the states . I was

pleasantly surpr ised as to

how many people under-

stood what I was say ing

when I spoke English. When

I was able to get that laugh

in English when I was in

Puerto Rico, it wa s probably

one of the best feelings I’ve

had in my career.

Have you been back

since Hurrica ne Maria?

We went about three

months after Mar ia, and I

am going back [soon]. When

I was there aft er Maria, my

family was wel l, but they

didn’t get electricit y until

nine months after. What

was stunni ng was how well

they were doing. They never

complained, they were never

down about it, they were just

resilient .

Have you ever consid-

ered using your comedy t o

explore the serious i ssues

that face the i sland, includ-

ing the myria d political

controversies s urrounding

the response and r elief

e or ts after the hurric ane?

I stay away from politics.

I also don’t talk dir ty or

ridicule people. My comedy

is cultural, it ’s observational,

it’s personal. If what’s out

there is so negative, and I

focus on that, it’s like tha t’s

all there is. I get th at that

needs to be made fu n of,

but I trust that there a re

other comedians to do th at.

There’s so much more that

can be highlighte d. When it

comes to my culture, it nee ds

to be highlighted, it nee ds to

be celebrated.

Did you grow up wanting

to be a comedian?

I had always had th at

desire to perform , but my

father had always pushed

for me to be a lawyer. I grew

up scared of my father, so

becoming a lawyer wa s a

“I STAY AWAY

FROM POLITICS.

I ALSO DON’T

TALK DIRTY

OR RIDICULE

PEOPLE.”

—ELIZARDI CASTRO

12 || ABA JOURNAL MARCH 2019

Opening Statements

10 QUESTIONS