On Saturday, November 17, we met up with Fernando at a spot in Adam’s Morgan called Club Heaven and Hell for an Open Mic night. We went upstairs to Heaven for the show, where it was cold as ice. We may have preferred going to hell that night.
Fernando arrived sporting a scarf made by his mother, jeans, and a snazzy hat that went well with his pea coat that he never took off due to cold temps. Underneath all these layers is a funny guy who started doing open mics about 2 years ago. “I was unhappy at my job, single, a little depressed and needed to try something new. I had thought about trying it and just did it.” He does several shows a week in the DMV and runs his own show at Hannah’s Basement once a month. You can follow him on IG to find his next gig @funnymadrigal!
Fernando has worked at a media company in DC for the last 10 years but sometimes contemplates moving up to NYC to have a better chance of being discovered and also because this guy he knows called “Dad” lives there.
He played a video game on his phone until it was his time. He tried out some new jokes that night. He started his set off commenting on the DJ’s clever name “DJ Black” and how the DJ made him feel like it was 2000 again. “You can do it, put your back into it.”
Once his set was over, we rode with Fernando to Maddy’s Tap Room for some food and drink before seeing him perform another set at 11pm at Drafthouse Comedy Theater. This place was warmer, funnier and free. To perform at this show, you have to show up the night of and only the best people get a spot. Fernando was chosen. We had to walk through all the comedians that weren’t chosen to get in. That’s the comedian life.
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Written by Julia Cray
Photos by Bekah Ciliax
