Fabrizio Copano Is Using Comedy to Heal Political Wounds

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we requested Latine comedians and creators we admire how comedy has supported them in overcoming trauma and confronting life’s most important challenges. Read the pieces here.

Fabrizio Copano, a rising star on the earth of stand-up comedy, is not your typical Latine comedian. His journey, formed by his Chilean upbringing beneath a dictatorship and his subsequent disillusionment with the American Dream, fuels a singular comedic perspective that tackles severe political and cultural themes.

Copano’s youth in Chile was marked by the tail-end of political turmoil. Growing up, he witnessed firsthand the cruel repercussions of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, a interval characterised by repression, human rights abuses, and a stifling political local weather. This expertise undoubtedly contrasts the idealized picture of the US he acquired by the media.

“Chile is very Americanized in certain ways, and we look up [to] the US,” Copano says. “The culture shock was when I figured out that we are ahead of the US in so many ways because we have already lived through many of the traumas that the US is just now confronting.”

When Copano realized America is “just as messy,” it allowed him to view Americans from a extra humanistic lens. “The system isn’t as perfect as it pretends to be. I now use this idea in my stand-up, that we’re ahead of the US — we are from the future,” Copano says.

Indeed, Copano makes use of comedy to discover the disillusionment that units in when the romanticized American dream confronts America’s usually harsh realities. Copano weaves jokes about America’s obsession with individualism clashing with the collectivist values instilled in him throughout his Chilean upbringing.

Unlike many US-born Latine comics who mine humor from the shared expertise of navigating American life as a minority, Copano affords a recent perspective. He injects Chilean historical past, tradition, and political sensibilities into his routines, making a richer and extra nuanced portrayal of the Latine expertise.

“A comedian can touch a nerve of [what’s going on in] society. Through laughter, you can open yourself a little bit more to think or view things in a certain way that the comedian is proposing. You can take advantage of the chaos,” he says. “That’s why I like putting little nuggets of my point of view. I think we Latinos are the future. We’re everywhere, but at the same time, we’re always [portrayed as] the victim in a very narrow way that is not the reality.”

Copano’s achievement as the primary South American comic to land a Netflix particular is a testomony to his expertise and perseverance. But paving this path wasn’t straightforward. He confronted challenges, together with restricted areas for comedic publicity or the stress to conform to stereotypical expectations of Latino humor. However, his success has paved the way in which for future Latin American comedians, demonstrating the worldwide attraction of their distinctive views.

When Netflix approached him for his particular “Solo pienso en mi,” which was launched in 2017, he wished his comedy to resonate with viewers irrespective of the place they had been from.

“I have to make comedy travel,” Copano says. “Then doing comedy in English was another layer of a challenge — how do you connect with people who have nothing to do with you and figure out things that are universal or so personal that you bring them to your world and they can connect through their own lens?”

Copano’s US touring stand-up show “Baby Coup” tackles the regarding resurgence of fascism worldwide. He acknowledges the facility of humor to disarm audiences and makes complicated political points extra accessible. Laughter can create a way of connection, permitting him to plant essential seeds whereas maintaining the viewers engaged. He makes use of satire to expose the manipulative ways of fascist leaders and employs darkish humor to spotlight the hazards of complacency within the face of rising authoritarianism.

“Funny things are universal — misery is everywhere, so you can find the funny things in misery,” Copano says. “Through trauma and experience, you can still see the scars, but if you can find a funny way to talk about these topics and bring it back, you kind of refresh people’s memories and reflect on how absurd it is.”

Copano is trying ahead to taping his first ever hour-long particular in English within the close to future.

“It’s kind of about my first years in the US, the cultural clash, the disappointments, but also all of the things that were great,” Copano explains.

Copano’s comedy reminds us that humor generally is a highly effective device for sparking dialogue and difficult the established order. Particularly in Latine communities, humor tends to play a significant function when it comes to survival. It serves as a coping mechanism for coping with tough circumstances, a approach to bond over shared experiences, and a device for difficult authority.

Copano’s distinctive perspective not solely affords beneficial classes but additionally reveals us how to confront darkness with laughter, discover power in shared experiences, and maybe even encourage change, one joke at a time.

“I just try to give this perspective that while many Latinos are victims of wrongdoings from our own governments, we are also humans,” he says. “We have our own thoughts, we are super smart, driven, we know what we want, and we know what the US needs now and can be very useful when democracy is in danger.”

Kimmy Dole is a contributor for PS Juntos identified for her sharp insights and compelling storytelling. An leisure fanatic, Kimmy immerses herself within the glitz of the trade, delivering a charming mix of celeb interviews, insights from trade consultants, and the most recent popular culture developments. Her work affords readers a real and relatable perspective, particularly when exploring the complexities of relationships.