When comedian Gina Brillon saw that maduros, or fried sweet plantains, were being served at Noche de Risas, she seized the opportunity to humorously categorize her fellow Latinos. “We fry everything. We even fry bananas,” she said.
Brillon had the audience bursting with laughter in the packed, yet still intimate Golkin Room of Houston Hall on Monday night.
During Noche de Risas, which translates to “Night of Laughter,” Brillon touched on sensitive issues, from racial stereotypes to marital infidelity to anxieties about being overweight, all with a bit of cynicism and self-deprecation that seemed to endear her even more to the crowd.
“You guys still have, like, hopes,” the 31-year-old comedian joked, after realizing her decade-plus seniority over the student spectators.
The event was presented as part of the Latino Coalition’s Festival Latino, a week that honors the Latino culture across a diverse array of settings.
Each Festival Latino event is arranged by a combination of constituent groups from within the Latino Coalition. Grupo Quisqueyano, Penn’s Dominican Student Association, hosted this particular event in collaboration with Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc.
College junior and Grupo Quisqueyano President Maria Silfa explained that the comedy night is a good break from the other more serious cultural awareness Festival Latino events. “We try to do something a little more fun.”
However, Wharton junior and President of Sigma Lambda Upsilon Sasha Lagombra acknowledged there was also a more serious element to Noche de Risas. “We feel that comedy is a great way to break social barriers,” she said. Lagombra hoped Brillon would be able to “bring some sort of communication between different cultures to help transcend the Latino cultures along with other cultures as well.”
The theme of this year’s Festival Latino is “Dejando Huellas,” or “leaving your mark.”
“The theme this year says a lot,” College freshman Alex Rodrigues said. “I think making our mark on Penn is really important to the entire Latino community, and this week is really going to exemplify that.”
Festival Latino continues tomorrow evening with music professor Guthrie Ramsey’s presentation of his compact disc project, “The Colored Waiting Room” and culminates with a Penn World Cup soccer tournament on Sunday.
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