Episode 23 featuring Gina Brillon

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
The following is a paid program. Wr's airing of this
program constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed. Welcome to Dear America, where your voice
matters and every vote counts. Join us as we explore
the power of black and brown communities in shaping our future.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's time to make your mark and be heard.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Hello world, this is Dear America with Chanell Barnes and
I am so excited.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
I'm excited.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm full of joy, like I woke up happy this
morning because we are interviewing Gina bre Own.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
Hi, Gina.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Hello, Okay, Gina, let me let me do this the
right way. Let me give you some introduction first. If
you've never experienced the magnetic energy of today's guests, you're
in for a treat.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Gina Brione isn't just a comedian.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
She's a powerhouse, a talent, a trailblazer who's been breaking
barriers since she first stepped on stage at seventeen, from
becoming the first Latina to win NBC's Stand Up for
Diversity Showcase to being a finalist on America's God Talent.
Gina has consistently proven that authenticity and humor are unstoppable forces.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
With her new special.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Mind Your Business Now Available that I have seen and
I love, Gina continues to push boundaries while staying true
to her roots. Please join me and welcoming the incredibly
talented Gina Brione.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
That was great and you're just always intro me. I'm
just gonna bring you to several different venues.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
I love that. I actually was auditioning for that.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Just accomplished, all right, So Gina, let me jump right in.
You started performing at seventeen and you've been breaking barriers.
What was it like being the only Latina in the
room early on in your career and how did those
experiences shape your comedic voice?

Speaker 5 (02:08):
What a great question. It was challenging at first. I
think I, like a lot of women who are put
in positions like that, questioned whether or not I was
the right choice, was I the right person to be
representing people in the room. But I think what I
understood over all of that and even over that insecurity,
was if not you then who you're in the room

(02:30):
for a reason. Life sort of guided you down this path.
And so when I was the only person in the room,
I knew that whatever happened, whatever was said to me,
however harshly I was judged, I could not let it
kill my drive or my passion to push myself forward.
I literally had to be a dust your shoulders off

(02:52):
kind of person because I was like, you know what,
whatever you say to me is just going to fuel
the fire for me to get into a position to
shoot people down like that so that other people can
rise up. I need to be able to be that
vigilant for myself and for the lane that I'm creating.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
You know, I've never asked anyone this question before.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
I want to ask you this question.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Have you ever been in a room where you were
the only Latina, the only Latina woman, but no everyone
in the space treated you like you were there equal
as that ever happened. Tell me a little bit about that,
because I think we focus so often on what happens
when we're the outsider in the room, But I wonder
what happens when we're in a room where everyone is

(03:38):
one with the fact that we belong in that space.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
You know, a lot of those spaces were spaces with
either other creatives or people from different walks of Latini Dad.
So it wasn't like were they all Puerto Rican No?
Were they all knew Eurekan like myself, you know, No,
but we all had an understanding of everyone's importance in
that room. And I think when my first special came out,

(04:05):
specifically speaking available on Amazon h Shameless, I had such
a wonderful team, you know, headed by Lynette Ramirez who
she was guiding me through that first experience, and what
an amazing team of people that I felt so listened to,
I felt so respected, and it was the first time

(04:27):
I was treated like my voice mattered in a room.
And so I never forgot that experience, and I always
wanted to be like, if I'm ever in a position
to have a room like that for myself, I would
want everybody to feel that way absolutely, And I think
that's really what what I took from that was when
I get my shot at having my own room like this,

(04:47):
that's the feeling I want everybody to leave with absolutely.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
I mean, you have so many rooms.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Now, you have the room on HBO hat, you have
the room on YouTube. You're creating these spaces, are you
feeling a sense of belonging in this space or are
you experiencing any disconnect in between you and the audience
that's there for you.

Speaker 5 (05:08):
It's so funny because I think at first I was
afraid of the disconnect. I was afraid of experiencing a disconnect.
And I think what I had to learn when I
was in these rooms is, you know, they say to
step into your power. I really had to understand that,
you know, I was the reason why people were in
these rooms with me. I was the central focus, and

(05:30):
I had to be okay with that. And I think
sometimes because you know, not just women in general, but
specifically POC women, Latin women, we are trained in those
situations to quiet our voices. We are trained to you know, listen,
to be told what to do, how to be directed,
that we often don't take the lead. And what I
really had to learn through you know, lessons and missteps

(05:52):
and realizing when I wasn't heard, was that I need
to make myself heard right away, regardless of the consequences.
If the consequence is I'm never in this room again,
then so be it. If the consequence is a project
doesn't get pushed through, then, so be it. I have
to make sure that I am heard and that my
wants and my needs are respected.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yes, that's right, you speaking to me. And it's so
funny to you mentioned step into your power. I literally
put that quote on my Instagram today. And you know
the threads now. In your special to Flores Lava, you
touch on growing up Puerto Rican in the Bronx, how
do you weave your heritage into your comedy and has
the way people perceive that background evolved over time?

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Well, I literally just had this conversation with another comedian
the other night about you know, people have actually been
you know, had been telling her, let's not talk too
much about your heritage. Let's not and you know you
get that directive sometimes. But what people, I think don't
realize is that because of my background, because of my heritage,
it will inform my perspective, my point of view on life.

(06:58):
And I think that's an important thing for people to know. Like,
as a New York born Puerto Rican woman, my perspective
is going to be different than somebody who is let's say,
even a New York born man, even a New York
born Puerto Rican man. That perspective is always going to
have to be weaved in and affected by what my

(07:20):
heritage is. And I had to stop being so concerned
with what other people had to say about whether or
not I was talking about my background and how it
influenced my decisions, even within my marriage, Like, those things
are important for people to know, to know where you're
coming from, and there's a relatability to that, And I

(07:42):
don't fault someone for not being able to relate to it,
but don't try to take that away from.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
Me absolutely, because you don't relate to it absolutely.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
You said, even in your marriage, can we explore that
a little bit, say more about.

Speaker 4 (07:54):
What you mean?

Speaker 5 (07:55):
So marrying somebody from a different background, marrying somebody with
a different walk in life, Like I married a white man,
one of the most privileged groups in the world. It's
not the privileged group in the world. And having heavy
conversations about things that happen in the world, about raising
our son together and you know, raising a man in

(08:16):
this climate, and those things are always going to be
have cultural influences. Even explaining the nuances of what respect
looks like in a Latin household versus what it looked
like in a white Christian household, and those differences, it's
very different. Like, you know, I remember my mother in
law being very shocked with how many times I hugged

(08:38):
her because when I walk into my parents' house, I
hug my mother, I hug my father. When I leave
to go to the store, I hug my mother, I
hug my father. When I come back, I hug my mother,
I hug my father.

Speaker 6 (08:52):
And it was like, Gina likes hugging, and I'm like,
this is just a respect thing that I learned in
my culture growing up, and so for me, I carry
it where I go and I didn't even realize it
was such a big thing until you know, she.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Was like, she hugs a lot, right, but this is
such a good thing. I love hugging. Such a hugger, yes,
but not everyone is.

Speaker 5 (09:15):
And I respect it too, Like I ask the people that,
you know, I always tell people like you got to
tell me if you're not a hugger.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
Because I'm a hugger.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
I will instantly go for the hug unless you put
that hand out, and then I'm like, oh, not a hugger, okay,
and then I will I will shake.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
Yes, I love that.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Now, let me ask you, is it true that most
comedians are able to find a comedic streak, if you will,
based on perhaps something that they've experienced that may have
actually caused them pain, but they were able to find
comedy through that pain.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
Is that true?

Speaker 5 (09:47):
I've always looked at comedy as alchemy. We take what
happens to us in life, the good, the bad, the ugly,
and we change it, We repurpose it, whether it's to
teach a lesson, whether it's to share a story that
someone may connect to and of how I healed from something.
I think a huge part of comedy is being that

(10:09):
kind of alchemist. And quite often comedians the way they
deal with trauma is through humor. So we take the
pain that we've had in our life. It's why the
opposite of tragedy comedy. The two are related. And so
we take our stories, our tragedies, and we weave them
into these lessons. And I think that's what I love

(10:29):
the most about comedy is that if you're really paying attention,
most of the comics you're watching are teaching you something.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh yeah, like, you definitely taught me something the other day.
I think I was just telling you. I watched your
comedy on HBO and you were talking about being single,
how potentially for you, For you and also for me,
it was terrible being single.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
Like it and you were eating cheese the whole time.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
And I think what I learned from the moment was
you can be comfortable, you can be vulnerable in expressing
something that may be a bit different. We're in a
world where so many people are like, I don't you know,
be single, like self care.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
All the speeches all I get that.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
I get that, But it may also be okay for
you too long to be with someone.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
It's okay to want a relationship, just like it's okay
to not want one, not need one. I think I'm
a very want not need kind of person. I don't
need a relationship. I could survive perfectly without a relationship,
but I want one. I want to share my life
with somebody. I like having somebody to share my life with.
But if you don't want that, then that's completely understandable

(11:36):
and that's your thing, and I get it. I think
the narrative that I kept hearing when I was single
was how much I was gonna love it and how
much I was gonna you know love casual dating.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
I hated casual dating.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
I'm a very decisive person.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
We're talking about that off, Yeah, we don't want to casually.

Speaker 5 (11:51):
Do if I like you, I like you. I learned
that lesson very early on. And you know, I made
several mistakes in my singlehood that because I was single
for the first time in such a long time, I
didn't really know how to navigate that world. Yes, and
I'm so used to being in a relationship. One of
the biggest mistakes I think I made was trying to
jump into something too quickly right away, because I just you.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
Needed that time.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
I needed the time to find myself a little bit
more sure, because I think what happens with people like
you and I who love the idea of relationships is
that we can get lost in them if we're not careful.
And I don't want to get lost in a relationship.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah right, I mean, you're bringing me back to a
question I had earlier. But I was thinking about the cheese,
so we had to go here for a minute.

Speaker 5 (12:39):
Cheese is so good, but I'm very lactose.

Speaker 6 (12:42):
So it's not a good time.

Speaker 4 (12:44):
It was.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
I was punishing myself.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
It is what it is.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
But back to a tragedy meets humor or. I think
you said tragedy meets comedy. Do you mind sharing a
moment where you did feel a person no tragedy, and
how you were able to reshape.

Speaker 5 (13:03):
That so oh gosh. I remember, I'm.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
Sure there are like tons, because we're all experiencing things
rapid fire.

Speaker 4 (13:11):
But tell me about one.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
I've experienced so many crazy tragedies and then two seconds
later I've had to be on stage. It's wild. I
went through a very painful and difficult breakup coming out
of a very toxic relationship. It took probably a good
year after to realize just how toxic. I mean, it
took a therapist going you do realize you were in

(13:33):
an abusive relationship for me to go no, I wasn't. No,
I would have been aware of that. I've warned my
friends about.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
So.

Speaker 5 (13:41):
I was also at the time working on a brand
new special. I was working on another, I think an
hour special. I think this was right around the time
of my HBO special. Okay, I was like and I
was unpacking a lot on stage, and I remember I
was doing material on stage and people were laughing like
it was hard material was I was talking about this breakup.

(14:01):
I was talking about having gone through this toxic relationship.
And I remember one of the managers from the comedy
club calling my then manager and going is GINO.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Okay, we don't think.

Speaker 5 (14:14):
Something might be wrong, because like, even though people were laughing,
it was like, so she has a lot of questionable
material right now.

Speaker 4 (14:25):
You're also probably like, I don't should you be laughing
at this part of my page?

Speaker 5 (14:29):
But I like part of it is that if I
think I come from the if you don't laugh about it, you'll.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
Cry about it.

Speaker 5 (14:35):
And the laughter is so healing. And I'm not saying
don't feel your feelings, don't cry about it, but I
had done so much crying about it already. Yeah, And
I think comic's one of my favorite sort of pseudonyms
for for comedy is used by mel Brooks in the
in the movie History of the World stand up philosopher. Okay,
And I think that's so true. A stand up philosopher,

(14:57):
we literally are just philosophizing life. Yeah, just walking around
commenting on how life is. And you can't comment on
life if you're not actively living it. And I was
so in that moment and in that pain that even
if it was even if it was messy. So I
think I was unpacking so much there, but that really

(15:18):
helped me to overcome so much. Being able to have
the freedom to say it on stage right, just it
gave me so much power.

Speaker 4 (15:26):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
And it sounds like the power is in your ability
to be able to tell the story. That's the power.
And so many people shy away from telling the story.
What do you say to people that maybe wanting to
tell their story but are feeling really shy about it
or uncomfortable with sharing it with the world in their
own way, in their own way.

Speaker 5 (15:46):
I mean, I always tell people stepping out of your
comfort zone is the biggest gift you can give yourself.
A lot of times we're so very controlled, yes, by
either how people perceive us, how we perceive ourselves, how
we want to be perceived, instead of what's really in
front of us. I think self awareness is one of
the hardest lessons to learn in life because you have

(16:08):
to come face to face with the ugliest parts of
yourself and people human beings we are. We all have
ugly parts of ourselves, yes, and coming to terms with
that and being like I really wish I had an
outlet to tell this story, whether it's a book, a
piece of music, a play, stand up comedy. You holding
back is doing yourself a disservice. You can always tell

(16:29):
a story in a way. If you're afraid of hurting people,
you can always be careful with your language. You can
always change names, you can do all the things to
protect them. Then the only thing holding you back is you.
And then you have a choice to make because now
you're stifling your own voice.

Speaker 4 (16:44):
We need I think we needed to like lighte some candles.

Speaker 5 (16:46):
We need some poetry, STAPs, We need some poetry because
it is a thing so many people silence themselves out
of out of fear of who's going to get hurt
if I say X, y Z yes. And there's always
work arounds to that creatively. It's why people what I
love about music. One of the things I love about music.
We love me is and poetry is how you can

(17:09):
use language in such a creative way to paint a picture.
And however you interpret the picture I've painted is however
you interpret it. I know my story from this picture,
but however you connect to it is your story.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
And the beauty of you implementing this creative form of
expression is that people can find different ways to connect.
And I think that's the beautiful thing about humanity and
also the beautiful thing about comedy.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
Let's switch gears a little bit.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
You've said that you were often booked to fill a
quota early on, early on. How did you turn that
challenge into an opportunity and what progress, if any, do
you think Latina comedians have made since their early days.

Speaker 5 (17:51):
Well, one, the variety of voices that I hear now
coming from Latin women that are in comedy, Latina's in comedy, poetry, music,
like getting their voices heard and doing their art the
way they want to do it. The power of that
I love. I love seeing it. I love the power
that women feel. And there's something about it like yes,

(18:14):
and that we can share a space with each other
and encourage each other, and that we cannot be pit
against each other, which is the world's favorite thing to do,
is you know, divide and conquer. It's what we're experiencing now,
It's what we've always experience if we don't wake up
to it. When I was in those rooms and I
knew I was just filling a quota, I think the

(18:34):
driving force was I just want to get my foot
in the door, because when I do, I'm gonna kick
that jopeny and I'm gonna get as many people through
that door as possible. So as soon as I was
in a club and I was the only Latina on
the lineup, I would start suggesting other women. I would

(18:54):
start saying, like, oh, you know, I can't do that date,
but so and so could do that date.

Speaker 4 (18:58):
You kick the door open, and then you left it
wide open for others.

Speaker 5 (19:02):
And then I started producing my own show that was
all women. And then I started like, and I would
give other women that idea of go produce a show,
have women on stage. You know, I love it. And
it was just about planting the seed. Yes, and I
would just I started planting seeds, and that was the
most important thing to me. I said, I could concentrate

(19:22):
on the negativity of this situation. I could be angered
by it, I could feel slighted by it, or I
could plant a seed.

Speaker 4 (19:28):
Yes, that's right.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
And you know, I don't think we give enough airtime
to women who often don't leave the door open as
they're walking in. They close a shut in front of it. Yes, yeah,
how did you get there? Because, and by the way,
I've done a lot of thinking about this, I think
some women will close the door and leave it shut

(19:53):
because it was so hard for them to get there.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
And that's mildly understandable.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
But at the end of the day, the only way
we're going to be able to sh the landscape is
if more of us come along.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
So, how did you get there?

Speaker 3 (20:04):
One?

Speaker 5 (20:05):
I had to be really painfully honest with myself about
the times when I wasn't a girl's girl, the times
when I wasn't opening the door, and why I wasn't
doing that. What was I afraid of?

Speaker 3 (20:15):
If I had had that conversation with yourself, what came up?

Speaker 5 (20:19):
Oh man, A host of insecurities, a host of like, well,
you know, they've been telling women for so long, there's
only a certain amount of spots for us. That's how
they feed the narrative, that's how they feed the divide
and conquer. There's only a certain amount of spots. If
it's not you, it's going to be so and so
so if and I literally hate this is a big

(20:41):
pet peeve of mine, one of the biggest red flags
in a potential homegirl and a potential friend, colleague, whatever
is when they start saying things that pitch you against
another woman, that gets under my skin more than anything else.
And because I saw it so much and was aware

(21:02):
of the times in my life where I had done
it out of insecurities and had to be that honest
with myself. And this was a process, you know what
I mean, Like, this doesn't happen overnight. It's the game
is mental mm hm. You gotta chip away at so
many things that are ingrained in your foundation from start
as a woman existing in this world, navigating through this world.

(21:23):
And a lot of it was even noticing stuff with
some of my close friends where I would be like, ah,
how can I communicate this to someone I love and
I care about so much who I can see going
in an insecure direction.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Yes, And this is interesting, the insecure direction, because it's
a real direction that you can go in that ultimately
won't bring rewards but above all else won't transform society.

Speaker 5 (21:49):
And sometimes people think, I think what people think they're
doing when they do that is lighting a fire in you,
And it's like no, no, no, no, there's a way to
inspire and it's not through jealousy and competition. Right through
jealousy and competition, you're only going to deepen those insecurities.
And I've worked with women who shall remain nameless and
pussies who had that on full display where it was

(22:15):
very clear I didn't publicly, And I'll tell you why
not publicly, because whenever somebody has been called out publicly,
it always comes across more as an attack than someone
trying to help, you know what I mean, And that's

(22:36):
just going to deepen the wound this person has, sure,
but having conversations and guiding the conversation towards more of
a I need you to see this for yourself, not
I need to publicly embarrass you in front of everybody.
That's done enough, and it's sensationalized, and it doesn't do
anybody any good, and all it does is help you
patch yourself on the back for being what you think

(22:57):
is a vigilante, when in actuality, what you've probably done
is deepen that person's womb, force their walls to get
even higher, and now they'll just be more defensive versus
maybe pulling them aside and going I'm noticing these couple
of things that you might want to work on, and
that was what was done by some of my greatest

(23:17):
girlfriends to me when they saw me heading down a direction,
when they would be like, let me course correct, yes,
real quickly.

Speaker 4 (23:23):
And that's what good girlfriends do exactly.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
You know what I love about this conversation in between
us is you talk a lot about the agency and
self and the power and self and how that ultimately
helps you to navigate all of these dynamics, but that
it starts with self. You said earlier that you are
the person who has to make sure that you unsilence yourself,

(23:48):
and I never focused on that before, and a lot
of the interviews before we've talked about someone silencing you,
but never what it's like for you to actually be
the person who's silencing yourself. I need to shout out,
I appreciate you naming that because it's an important direction.

Speaker 5 (24:05):
It's unfortunately a narrative we see a lot, especially in entertainment,
of women silencing their voices for the sake of acceptance.
You know, I work in a very male dominated field.
I spent I spent a lot of years being one
of the guys. But I think what we don't realize
is that when you're one of the guys. You're never
one of the guys. You're never in that group. It

(24:29):
is a boys club for a reason, and that's not
to knock. I got a lot of big brothers in
this game that looked out for me and were very
good human beings. But I realized, oh I was I
was almost being tolerated those times when I thought I
was one of the guys. And then I had to
unpack why I thought I had to be one of

(24:49):
the guys. Was it for protection? Was it because of insecurity?
Was it out of opportunity, being opportunistic? What was it
for me? It was protect It took a lot of
years for me to even accept that there was strength
and femininity because.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
You talk about this, We weren't gonna talk about that,
but can we go there? How did you find your
strength and femininity.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
By having a close knit group of strong, opinionated female friends, okay,
who were not afraid to tell me when I was
being too forgiving of the patriarchy, who were not afraid
to tell me when I was one of the boys,
because it benefited me that I was silencing my opinions
on things so I didn't hurt the guy's feelings and

(25:36):
there's always a way, I think, to approach every topic,
even the most difficult of topics, with a sense of
compassion and empathy. And I think I was so blissfully
unaware of that that I just avoided certain topics with
men because it would be too hard for them.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
And I imagine that probably would even go on to
shape your comedy, because now if you're in a room
with women and men, alters narrative.

Speaker 5 (26:00):
And you find a lot of women that are part
of the boys club, and you know, whenever I get
in those conversations, it's so funny. When you become a
very self aware person, you also have an awareness of
other people. Yes, and there's times when I'm talking to people,
like we're having a very open conversation right now, and
I can tell you'd be open to a lot of
things that we could talk about.

Speaker 4 (26:18):
You see, the more you talk, the more I'm leaning in.
I got to keep the mic cooking.

Speaker 5 (26:21):
Yeah, but there's people who you automatically, I can tell
from like a sentence or a word or a vibe
they give that I go, you're not ready for this conversation.
And that's something that I think I had to learn.
Some people are not ready for the conversation right then
and there.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
This is such a good segue into your HBO's special
Easily Offended. You really dig into navigating the sensitivities of
today's world. I think at one point you said, there
are so many things that I want to say that
I can't even say anymore because if I say.

Speaker 4 (26:56):
It, who knows what group, what person in my triggering?
In what way?

Speaker 3 (27:02):
How do you approach humor when it feels like everyone
is one edge? Assuming you feel that way.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
Yeah, well, I think I did in the beginning, and
I think, like many comics, I felt this fear of
being controlled. Okay, like many creatives, I was like, I
don't want to be controlled. I don't want to be controlled.
And I thought back.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
Into it feeling that way, or did that happen over time.

Speaker 5 (27:23):
I think I initially walked into it feeling that way,
where I was like, you don't get to tell me
what I get to talk about on stage. And it
took a lot of unpacking of why that defensiveness came up,
because a lot of comedians said the same thing about
this perceived cancel culture, which, by the way, no one
actually gets canceled. You just get made to feel uncomfortable

(27:43):
for a little while, and you might lose things here
highly uncomfortable, some highly uncomfortable days, and you might lose
certain things. You might lose brand deals, you might lose this,
you might lose that, you might lose friends, you might
lose this. So but the idea of being canceled is
just this scary concept that was created. Essentially, what cancel
culture became was Comedy's HR department. We were being checked,

(28:07):
and the HR department serves who pretty much the company,
who's the company, the audience, And I.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
Can imagine it's complicated to be in a space where
you think you're getting checked on your own story. I
have so much if not all of it is yours,
your narrative.

Speaker 5 (28:25):
That's what I think a lot of people got frustrated with.
Where is if it's my narrative in my story, I
can't control if that offends you or not. But what
you can control are the obvious things that there are
some obvious There are some obvious things, but we know
there are some clearly obvious things that It's like, Yes,
comedy for a very long time was I don't want

(28:47):
to say I'm not not controlled or not regulated, but
the idea that everything was something that we should say
on stage. Now, I fully believe in a comedian's right
to say whatever they want on stage. I will always
support that, but you also have to be ready for
the consequences now. And I think that's what people were
not prepared for, having the consequences because it's not so

(29:07):
much that you can't say anything, it's just the consequences
are different now. So are you willing to put up
with those consequences and deal with those consequences? And do
you have a plan put in place because I'm gonna
say X y Z, I know the backlash?

Speaker 4 (29:21):
Yes, So am I ready? Exactly right?

Speaker 5 (29:24):
And I think my mind shifted to I've always been
a bit of a smart ass.

Speaker 7 (29:29):
Uh huh.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
So for me, when you tell me I can't do something,
my next question is, well, what can I do? So
that became the thing. Okay, I can't say that, but
what can I say? What can I allude to? How
can I handle this?

Speaker 4 (29:48):
Right?

Speaker 5 (29:48):
And I think kind of approaching it from that perspective,
you know, and some of my favorite comics, you know,
George Carlin's my absolute favorite comic where I think very
much looking at the world and going, what can I
get away with that will still make you think?

Speaker 3 (30:05):
Or have you have?

Speaker 5 (30:06):
You leaving with a potentially a new perspective on something.
And I really had to shift my consciousness And it
was again I swear women are the most influential people.
It was having these conversations with some of my homegirls,
specifically my homegirl Catherine, my homegirl Jenna, like two of
the biggest influences of my life, holding up a mirror

(30:27):
to my own bs and going, well, what's really what
do you really want to talk about?

Speaker 4 (30:32):
What's really the issue?

Speaker 7 (30:33):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (30:33):
And unearthing that Oh, it felt like like free to
call a level like expression, cause you're like, let's get
to the depths of what you.

Speaker 4 (30:44):
Want the development of solution.

Speaker 3 (30:46):
I'm a mom also, and I'm trying to teach my
old disorder, which I'm sure you go through as a
mom also, like there's a solution to everything and every
with every no, you can find a way to turn
it into a yes if you get created.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
And it sounds like that's what you've been doing.

Speaker 5 (31:02):
Yeah, I really decided. I was like, instead of feeling
very controlled by this, I can use it to fuel creativity.
And be like, what is it that I can say
that I can poke fun at the system itself? Yeah,
without you guys getting up in arms, and without everybody
I need you to score them a little, but just
enough when I said cancel, yeah, not to attempt to cancel.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
Yes, that's what it's it. That's what's it.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
In your Ted talk you spoke about suspicious kindness. How
do you use humor to both challenge and disarm, helping
to create connections, especially in this charged political climate.

Speaker 5 (31:40):
Great question, honestly, language, play.

Speaker 4 (31:44):
With language, Say more about what you mean about that.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
So one of the reasons I love George Carlin is
because he was big on language, and people often made
front of his transitions from this goofy comic to this
now political commentary or social commentary that he ended up
doing for the remainder of his career, and he went
through several changes, I think, and I think he maintained
that silliness, But it was that playfulness with language that

(32:09):
really taught people. He held a mirror up to society
in a way that was so playful that people would go,
oh wow, I never looked at it like that. Another
master of that was Patrise O'Neil. When you look at
somebody like Patrise O'Neil, who said some very hard hitting
things and some very abrasive things, it was his playfulness

(32:30):
and the curiosity with which he would approach things that
had people going, oh my god. I never looked at
it like that, absolutely, And I think with comedy that's
so essential is language is our best tool. It is
the tool that we can use to creatively show people.
And now I'm having even more fun on stage. Now

(32:51):
I get to work on the new hour, the new special,
and I get to play with what I want to
talk about now. And how can I play with this
language to have you people leaving and you don't even
know what you're leaving with. You leave, and then hours
later you go, oh, oh my god, that's what that
comedian said on stage, like it's coming up in my
life now, planting little again, planting seats.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
It sounds like it's language, a bit of language and
also a bit of tone one hundred that you're playing
within this in this process one hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (33:20):
And people don't realize the effectiveness of language and tone.
There's a great song that you know, I'm aging myself here,
but Blues Traveler. The song hook, Okay, the entire song
I don't think I notice is about how people essentially
don't even pay attention to language. The entire song he's saying,
I'm saying nothing in this song and you love it, Okay,

(33:43):
I not essentially like essentially the song is that, like,
how little we're paying attention to the words that are
like It's why music is so effective. It's like, when
I'm angry, I listen to angry music. When I want
to be sad about something, I listen to sad music.
When I want to be happy about something, I listen
to happy music. But why wouldn't I always choose to

(34:04):
listen to happy music? If I know how music affects me,
why would I actually have a sad song playlist?

Speaker 4 (34:09):
So am I I'm going to be honest. My whole
playlist is said. It's said, but I like it.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
But also I think that I can stand to get
upbeat music. I think that there's this this thought that
people are playing with, especially now given a state of
America where so much is being thrown at us, and
a lot of what's being thrown at us is making
us sad. And I think people are trying to find

(34:35):
joy within it. What's your suggestion outside of you know,
the exploration of narrative. What's your suggestion and how people
should be attempting to find that joy in this moment.

Speaker 5 (34:46):
Well, there's a couple of things I think people need
to tools that people need to navigate through the world,
especially in this climate. One is awareness of so many things.
Awareness of propaganda, awareness of divide and conquer, awareness of
the fact that sad stuff is thrown at us intentionally,
and that these stories are intentionally fed to us. There
was a video that I recently saw about, you know,
airline travel and how everybody's like, oh, there's so many

(35:09):
airplane crashes and people that work in aviation.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
Like people are saying they don't want to fly.

Speaker 5 (35:13):
Well, people that work in aviation are saying there have
been less airline crashes this year than in any other year.
They're just showing more of it on TV. So that
people and why in this climate would they not want
people flying? These are the questions you have to ask yourself.
Why would they not want people willingly leaving the States? Yes,

(35:35):
So awareness is key. Bad story and something's being fed
to you, it's intentional, and so you can choose to
take that in and internalize it and emotionalize it however
you need to, or you can go this is done
on purpose, and I'm I'm aware of the information. It's there,

(35:57):
I see it. But as an individual, I'm going to.

Speaker 4 (36:00):
Make my own assessment.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
Yep, absolutely, and choose choose your happiness. I think sometimes
we're navigated towards choosing negativity and choosing sadness because those
things make us easily manipulated. Right when you're in the
depths of your sadness or your depression or your fear,

(36:22):
you are easily led. When somebody is happy, there's a
strength and a power that comes to being happy that
you go, no, no, it's the nobody's going to take
my sunshine kind of attitude. Yes, no, I'm happy right now.
Why would you want to steal my.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
Happiness corrupt my happiness.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
For those of you just tuning in, this is Dear
America with Chanelle Barnes and I am really really thrilled
and excited to be sitting here with Gina. We're just
we're digging in, We're talking about everything.

Speaker 4 (36:48):
Gina.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
Comedy has always been a tool to speak truth to power,
and I think so many artists are using their platforms
to speak that truth. Where do you see yourself in
this this notion of speaking truth to power in this
moment in our nation.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
Well, for me, I think one of the ways is
really connecting with and talking with women and getting them
to realize just how influential and how strong and powerful
they are, and how silenced we often are. Yes, and
they don't silence people who are not influential, And that's
one of the things that I think is important for

(37:25):
people to know. They only silence people when they have impact.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
That's true.

Speaker 5 (37:30):
So if you're feeling silenced, it's only because you have
made an impact.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
Yes, you're also a published author and a motivational speaker.
In your podcast, The State of Women explores gender equity.
Why do you think personal storytelling is such a vital
tool in these discussions and how does comedy allow you
to push these boundaries?

Speaker 4 (37:51):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (37:51):
Well, I think the greatest thing about storytelling is that
I have a feeling that I'm not the only one
who's experienced this, but that other people experience the Nobody's
going to relate to this kind of feeling with their story.
Nobody knows what I've been through. Nobody knows what the struggle.
They wouldn't understand. I'm gonna seem crazy, I'm going to
see this, and then you start talking about it and

(38:13):
you have people and specifically women, going thank you because
I felt so alone in my struggle, in my story,
in my walk, and knowing that someone else has that
story just lights them up. You can transfer that power

(38:35):
to somebody else by telling the story and having them go, oh, finally, somebody,
somebody understands, somebody, They feel seen, they feel heard, they
feel understood, and what better way than also making them laugh.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
Absolutely, you've performed on many big platforms like America's Got
Talent in the Connors. How do you adjust your voice
and material for these more mainstream audiences if at all, Well,
you have.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
To understand what your role is. I think like I
knew being on America's Got Talent, for example, it wasn't
just about comedy. I was with a host of so
many talented individuals doing different things, and all I knew
was when I get my moment on that stage, I

(39:27):
have to do what I do to the best of
my ability.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
You have to own it.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
I have to own it, and I have to show
people that I'm owning it like shamelessly and fearlessly. I
had no choice but to kind of go out there,
no matter what nerves or self doubt I may have
felt or may have wanted to feel. I had to
kind of squash that and go there's a bigger purpose
here when I'm on that stage as a woman, as

(39:51):
a mother, as a Latina, as a person from the Bronx,
as a New Yorker, as a Porto Rico.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
Does I feel like a lot of weight to hold
just with every all the ways you just identified yourself.
Does that weight feel heavy or does it not feel
heavy at all?

Speaker 7 (40:06):
It can?

Speaker 5 (40:07):
It can feel heavy, and I think at moments it
did you know? There were people, first of all, shout
out to the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful crew.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
Of America's got talent, shout out.

Speaker 5 (40:18):
And when I tell you, there were so many POC
people that I was lucky to work with on that crew,
and I'm so thankful for them. I literally had people
sometimes coming up to me weeping after my sets, just
saying you have no idea how much hope you give me,
or thank you for being an example for showing people
to go for their dreams like it's beautiful, it's I

(40:40):
would rather feel the joy and elation of that than
feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.
I would rather feel like I think about you know,
when I do feel things get heavy, and when I
do feel a lot of pressure, I try to focus
on the amount of people who have thanked me, the
amount of people who have said I went for my

(41:02):
dream and I wrote my book because of the words
that you said on stage, because of watching this special
or watching this interview, or hearing you speak at this event.
Like that is really what kind of gets me through
some of the most difficult parts of this because I'm
not I'm not gonna say it's never hard. I'm not
gonna say it's never you know a weight that I feel.

(41:22):
It's just one of those things where I have to
navigate through it for the sake of the bigger purpose.

Speaker 4 (41:29):
Yeah, understood.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
I want to transition as I'm starting this new thing
called a rapid wisdom, and so it's just a quick question,
give me some quick wisdom. Best bodego order in the Bronx.

Speaker 5 (41:43):
Oh, best bodega order. Wow, that's an easy one for me.
I don't even eat like this no more, but so
the best bodega order. First of all, the classic one
is like a ham and cheese on a hero Okay, lettuce, tomato,
mayo because who really whatever when mayo or mustard depending mayo,

(42:08):
mustard depending on flavor like mayo or mustard. But my
go to, my go to honey, turkey, Swiss cheese, mustard,
a little bit of mustard, light on the mustard, lettuce, tomato, salt, pepper,
I'm telling you, salt and pepper. And then I would
get They had these drinks when I was a kid,

(42:30):
called Coca Rico, and I love Cocourria's a coconut soda
and it was so good. I would have one of those,
or I would have a quarter of water.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
Okay, yeah, I had. The green one was my favorite.

Speaker 5 (42:45):
I liked the blue one, but I don't know what
flavor blue was supposed to be, Like we don't know
what green was. Yeah, the red was clearly supposed to
be fruit punched, but the blue questionable. It did not
taste like any blue fruit that I knew of.

Speaker 4 (43:00):
I love I Love Rapid Wisdom song. Okay.

Speaker 3 (43:02):
Most surprising fan interaction, Wow, Mario Lopez Okay, recently hit
me up and said he was an as a fan
high So I never like, I always like navigate through
the world, and I'm always very surprised when people are like, oh,
I love your stuff.

Speaker 5 (43:21):
But then like to get a d M from Mario Lopez.
That's like, I absolutely love your stuff, and you know,
I would love to have you perform on a show
that I do in LA And we had a nice
back Like I had a back and forth with Mario
Lopez and like, really, that's more about my inner child
going oh yeah, oh my god, Slater, stop later, stop,

(43:42):
I'm gonna tell your girl, tell your girl.

Speaker 4 (43:46):
Oh my god.

Speaker 7 (43:50):
You metter s.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
It once again for those of you tuning in more
rapid wisdom. All right, go to karaoke song.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
Oh my god, anything by Mariah Carey. I know it
sounds crazy. I love Mariah me.

Speaker 4 (44:05):
So it does not matter. Let's go to now are
you are you singing Mariah carry or depends on.

Speaker 5 (44:15):
It depends on a song.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
Because I can't sing none of her song.

Speaker 5 (44:18):
I'll sing some of her earlier stuff. I'll be like,
all right, because she wasn't going too crazy, but like,
I'm not singing someday.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Ain't nobody.

Speaker 5 (44:26):
Ain't nobody in that note emotions, Ain't nobody a hero?

Speaker 4 (44:30):
Visions of love? I could do.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
That's good, Okay. Three comedians dead or alive. You'd want
to eat a dinner.

Speaker 5 (44:43):
With George Carlin Number one, obviously for obvious reasons. Susie
Iszard slash Eddie is Ard now known as Susie is
Hard and Gosh, Whitney Cummings. I'd be interested in and
talking to her about a few things, Miss Cummings.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
I love it, Okay, thing that surprised you most about
motherhood how.

Speaker 4 (45:09):
Much I love it?

Speaker 5 (45:10):
I was very I was very intimidated. But I love it.
It's scary, it's hard, it's exhausting, you feel judged all
the time. But I love it.

Speaker 7 (45:25):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (45:25):
God, I love it.

Speaker 4 (45:26):
It's beautiful.

Speaker 5 (45:27):
I just and I really am just dumbfounded by how
much I love being a mom because I did not
plan any of this sure, and I just kind of
just I love learning about how to navigate life as
a mom. I love connecting with other mothers. I love
helping how mothers help each other through difficult times. Right,

(45:52):
and just watching watching my son grow, like watching him
make good choices watching it.

Speaker 4 (45:57):
Like, yes, how old he's four and a half? Oh,
four and a half is fun.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
Three was a storm, And then when they turned four,
I was like, Okay, we're a bit in the queen.

Speaker 5 (46:09):
Yeah. I think when when people, you know, they talk
about you know, my nephew has a three year old
and he always says that I've got a three major.

Speaker 4 (46:16):
Yes, I think, not two years old, No, it's three.

Speaker 5 (46:20):
I think a lot of people when when they when
they say stuff like that, that is because kids at
that age are navigating through probably one of the most
difficult times of their young childhood because at three, they've
started to form opinions. They want to do things independently,
but they're too small. They still need you and they
still want you around. Yes, but they also want to

(46:40):
stay their ends and they want to do this, and
they want to do this, and it's guiding them through that.
That's the difficult part, because you're dealing with raw stubbornness.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
I've got a three year old and she is the
boss the pointing period, So I understand. Best advice another
comedian ever gave.

Speaker 4 (46:57):
You Jesus.

Speaker 5 (47:01):
Best advice. Another community, I can't prepare for this interview.
You know what's funny, it has nothing to do with comedy.
Tell us so, oh god, like this is not rapid
at all. I was Gabriel Iglaciers aka mister Fluffy Man himself,
whom I love dearly, and he did something very kind

(47:24):
for me. He did several kind things for me. That
man has one of the biggest hearts in the industry.
And I remember crying because he, you know, had done
something so kind and I said, I can never I
can never pay you back. Like at that time, I
had like no money almost and I was like, I
can never pay you back for this, and he said,
you know, the only way you can pay me back
is when you're in a position to do this for somebody,
you do it. And it was that idea of paying

(47:47):
it forward, that idea of doing what I think we're
meant to do with kindness.

Speaker 4 (47:53):
Most random job before comedy.

Speaker 5 (47:56):
I was a barista for five years. What about my coffee?

Speaker 4 (48:02):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (48:03):
And in Final Rapid Fire, before the segment, you saw
the name of the show Dear America, and you said,
Dear America. You had a thought, So I want to
go I want to bring that into the segment. If
you were to talk to America, what would you say,
Dear America women.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
Need what.

Speaker 5 (48:23):
Dear America women need to come together to create communities,
to speak openly, to support each other, to understand each other,
to guide each other, to not be divided, to not
harshly judge, to understand that we all come from different
walks of life and therefore have different stories and perspectives.

(48:43):
To understand those, and yes, some of those perspectives are skewed. Yes,
some of us do things against our own rights, do
things against our own safety, and those things you you
have to look at it and kind of go.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
How can we course correct that?

Speaker 7 (49:00):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (49:00):
Right, because one of the hardest things about self awareness
is admitting when you've done something that hurt you.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
Yeah, we're doing a handhold world. We need to stop
hurting her.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
I'll hold your hand when I say it with America, America,
you and danger girl, I'm holding I'm hold your hand
when I say this.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
The whole America's handy. Okay, So your new special Mind
your Business is out now. First off, congratulations, it's very
very proud and excited about it. Now that Mind your
Business is available to everyone to watch, what do you
hope people take away from the special.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
I really hope that they get some inspiration for whatever
it is their heart desires. I really hope that it's
people walk away feeling powerful. I think this special was
such a labor of love and there was a lot
of blood, sweat and tears in this special.

Speaker 4 (49:58):
Why in this one versus A I was challenged a
lot more with this one.

Speaker 5 (50:02):
You know, I worked on it with my homegirl, Catherine
and I worked together on it, and she was there
to ask me the difficult questions that resulted in the
material for this special. She was there to guide me
through some very new and stressful and difficult moments. I
was a new mother. The world was changing after the pandemic.

(50:25):
My views were changing. I had, you know, birthed a
little boy. So now I'm a woman raising a man
in this climate, and you know, the role that my
husband would play and that I would play, and a
lot of these questions that I had and.

Speaker 4 (50:39):
The ground was certainly shifting.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Yeah, And because I was so very challenged with this special,
I really feel like I came out of it almost
like a powerlifter, where I was like once once the
special is released, it's like a weight is lifted off
of you. And I really felt like, wow, Wow, look

(51:02):
at all that I did in this in this time. Sure,
So I hope people feel really powerful after it.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
Yeah, amazing.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
You've always pushed boundaries with your comedy, blending humor and
personal growth. How do you think mind your business continues
this trend, All, I.

Speaker 5 (51:20):
Think it definitely continues it. I think one of the
one consistent things in life is change. That's the only
constant we have in life is that things are going
to change. Nothing and no one stays the same. And
I think we all approach that with a level of fear,
anxiety or even anger. Right, so many of us would

(51:42):
just love for things to stay the same for just
a little bit longer. Yes, and we hold soul in
myself too, I.

Speaker 4 (51:48):
Was holding I don't like change. I don't like change.
It can be challenging, it's a process.

Speaker 5 (51:53):
And I think with this, with this special because I
was navigating through so much change, I learned to not accept,
but a little bit fall in love with change and
realize that who I was, God bless her, what a
wonderfully flawed individual she was and she is now. And

(52:14):
it's those lessons that I learned as the woman I
was that brought me to the woman I am now
that will lead me to the woman and I will
be in the future. And I think in this particular
special I'm pushing for people to have a better relationship
with change and to understand that as scary as it
can be, it can also be wonderful.

Speaker 4 (52:35):
Yes, Gina, how do we find you? How do we
find you? How do we stay in follow.

Speaker 5 (52:43):
You can? You can find me on Instagram at Gibrione,
on TikTok at Gina Brione. Ginabrion dot com is the website,
and you know I'm on YouTube. You can watch Mind
your Business on.

Speaker 3 (52:56):
YouTube, YouTube, Amazon, Amazon, Hbover.

Speaker 5 (53:02):
Google me. You'll find me. Yes, and yeah. Check the
website to see if I'm coming to a city near
you and if you have a place where you think
I should pop up, you know, just comment on one
of my posts or let me know if you have
a city you think I should come to.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
Well, Gina, I know for sure I want you to
come back here, absolutely, And we're in the studio right
now in New York, but I want you back here.
This has been a phenomenal conversation. This is Dear America
with Chanel Barnes. We have been having an incredible talk
with Gina Brione and we encourage you to tune in
next time to our show, Real Voices, Real Stories.

Speaker 4 (53:39):
Bye.

Speaker 7 (53:43):
This has been a Project Ready and a Freedom Studios production.
To learn more and effect change, log onto Project readynjy
dot org or listen anytime on all major podcast carriers.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
The preceeding was a paid program. Wor's airing of this
program constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
The preceding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.