Cristela Alonzo grew up fearing that her mom could be deported. She is not afraid to joke about ICE onstage.

Cristela Alonzo wastes no time diving into present occasions in her new Netflix comedy particular, Higher Stylish.

The South Texas native takes the stage on the Majestic Theater in Dallas, sips her water and notes that it’s “room temperature — as a result of I hate ICE,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I wished to speak concerning the ICE elephant within the room proper off the bat,” Alonzo tells Yahoo. “I shot it on June 14, which was “No Kings” Day. How can I’ve folks protesting outdoors [in the streets] and inside, I’m [telling jokes about] airline meals?”

Higher Stylish premiered Sept. 23 and is the ultimate installment of a trio of stand-up specials she’s executed with Netflix, following 2017’s Decrease Stylish and 2022’s Center Stylish. In it, the Mexican-American comic, 46, displays on her success as juxtaposed with a childhood spent in deep poverty, raised by a single mom who was undocumented for a interval.

Alonzo spent the primary seven years of her life squatting in an deserted diner in a Texas-Mexico border city along with her hardworking mother and three older siblings. For electrical energy, they ran an extension twine to the house subsequent door. Border Patrol brokers had been in every single place, immigration raids had been routine and she or he lived in concern that her mom could be taken away.

“One of many struggles I’ve at all times had was rising up in abject poverty and folks not believing me as a result of I spoke so nicely,” she says. Even she didn’t totally grasp the extent of her household’s state of affairs till she was 21.

“As youngsters, we predict that our life is what all people’s life appears to be like like,” Alonzo says. “I did not actually understand it till I left Texas and moved to L.A. I used to be at a diner with buddies, telling them a narrative about how I grew up, and certainly one of them checked out me and mentioned, ‘Wow, you had been poor. Lady, you lived in a diner.’ And let me inform you: I hadn’t considered it. To me, that diner was my residence.”

Her mother and siblings did “a unbelievable job of defending me from how poor we had been,” she says. “I simply keep in mind having a contented childhood. Even in dire straits, I did not discover it. My household was so joyous. And it is bizarre as a result of if you happen to grew up in poverty, folks have a notion that you simply’re at all times unhappy. You’re like: ‘What’s meals?’ However pleasure at all times exists, even within the worst circumstances.”

Mining her life for laughs

In Higher Stylish, Alonzo retains the laughs coming with sharp observations and private tales. She riffs on “Karens” questioning whether or not she belongs in her neighborhood, the awkwardness of nudity at a spa, lastly having “remedy cash” for her Catholic guilt and proudly not having youngsters — after serving to her sister increase three.

However she goes deeper. A theme is the American dream and the way it teaches folks to work laborious, however not essentially the best way to get pleasure from life. Alonzo ties this to her household: her mom labored tirelessly and died in 2002 with out having ever even gone to see a film.

Now that she has cash, Alonzo takes her siblings on trip — solely to find none of them know the best way to chill out. And, for her, success isn’t about flashy purchases. It’s about having the ability to put her payments on autopay.

“Whenever you develop up in survival mode and you then’re not struggling, it offers you a lot freedom that it’s truly overwhelming,” she says. “Since you dwell attempting to make ends meet. That’s your identification. When you do not have to fret about that, you’ve all this free time — like, now what?”

She’s nonetheless adjusting to having cash — even one thing as primary as getting her automotive mounted. As a toddler, a broken-down automotive may imply weeks with out transportation whereas the household scraped collectively sufficient for repairs. When she goes on a crimson carpet, she makes certain to pair one thing “low cost” with the flamboyant. Her upbringing, she says, has helped her “preserve a quite simple way of life.”

Now that she’s not continually hustling to make ends meet, Alonzo is giving herself the childhood she missed.

“I by no means discovered to swim, so I am taking swimming courses,” she says. “I by no means discovered to experience a motorbike, so I purchased one. I do not even know what to purchase. I needed to Google ‘bike necessities’ — OK, I assume I want a helmet and lights. The identical with swimming. I’m like: What the hell is a swim cap?”

She provides, “I am taking the time to truly get pleasure from myself, which is one thing that lots of us do not enable ourselves to do.”

Illustration and realness

Rising up, Alonzo watched stand-up on TV along with her household, however by no means realized it might be a occupation.

“I did not even consider it as a job,” she laughs. “I assumed that everyone I used to be seeing on TV was simply hanging out as a result of they had been having a lot enjoyable.”

She’s conscious that there nonetheless aren’t many individuals in leisure who seem like her. When requested about illustration, she doesn’t sugarcoat it.

“Ten years in the past, I used to be the primary Latina to create, star and write her personal sitcom, which is nice,” she says of her sitcom Cristela, which ran from 2014 to 2015 on ABC. “The issue with being the primary is that folks do not know what to do with you. There’s this studying curve that you are the guinea pig for.”

The expertise, which she poured all the things into, left her disheartened.

“When the present obtained canceled, folks requested, ‘When are you coming again to TV?’ she says. “Truthfully, I wished to attend some time, as a result of I wished the business to catch up extra to the place we’re, as a result of the reality is that we’d like a lot extra illustration. And I do not even essentially imply Latino. I used to be studying an article concerning the lower of feminine characters over 40 on TV, and that’s wild to me.”

It’s half of a bigger situation for her: “It’s all about youth. Changing into an grownup is attractive, however being an grownup for many years? That’s thought of boring. However it’s essential to inform these tales.”

She additionally criticizes the business’s threat aversion, stressing the significance of getting the liberty to experiment creatively with out the strain of continually defending one’s job.

So, would she do one other present? “Oh yeah, I’d do it. Solely now, a decade later, may I actually say that I’d do it. It took me 10 years to wish to do it once more,” she says.

Alonzo acknowledges that being a comic in a second the place talking freely can really feel extra loaded places her within the line of fireplace, particularly after Jimmy Kimmel’s return to air following his suspension. But, it additionally offers her the prospect so as to add her much-needed perspective to the dialog.

“I’ve by no means been scared of claiming something as a result of I imagine that if you happen to’re being sincere to who you actually are, you don’t have anything to fret about,” she says.

In her over 20 years in stand-up, although, she’s seen a shift — some comedians discovering mainstream success by leaning into rhetoric as an alternative of comedy. That’s a path she gained’t comply with.

“I refuse to promote who I’m to attempt to get clicks and likes and cash,” she says. “What I would like is to truly be precisely who I’m. And if [someone doesn’t] prefer it, then I am not for you.”

For Alonzo, comedy has at all times been about extra than simply laughs. It’s about holding up a mirror to society.

“In case you’re not prepared to face up for who you’re, then what is the level of doing all of this?” she says. “In case you’re doing a paint-by-numbers [version of this], then we’re all doing it for nothing.”

That’s precisely why Higher Stylish opens along with her joke about ICE. It’s a press release about her identification.

“I wished all people to know: That is who I’m,” she says. “In case you do not prefer it, go see one thing else.”