71: Punching Up w/ Christian Cintron

Content Warning: Discussions of Mental Illness, Generational Trauma, Genocide, Abuse, Rape, Suicidal Ideation. Please listen with care

In Episode 71, Dan talks to comedian Christian Cintron about creating uplifting comedy, processing trauma through stand-up, and punching up instead of down.

Texts Mentioned in the Episode

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• Police Academy
• A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly
• “The Theory and Play of the Duende” by Federico García Lorca
• In the Heights
• Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

“You don’t have to lose your edge to make comedy that’s uplifting for the masses. It should be about something deeper.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Having someone understand what I’m saying is one of the most important things to me.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“I personally believe that rhetoric is stronger than grammar–and more important. I think grammar is part of gatekeeping in society.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“That’s sort of the weird rub of college, that you learn a lot of skills that don’t always serve you…I wish that college was a little more integrated.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“For me, writing is more the way a sculptor cuts away at rock.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Writing is best when it comes from a place of being healed.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“The deepest [writing] is the most universal. But sometimes that’s the most specifically you.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Do you have a relationship with yourself out in the world or do you have a relationship with the world inside yourself? I think what we don’t realize as human beings, and where there’s a lack of empathy, is that everyone has a world as complex inside them as you do.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Wouldn’t a pandemic that affects the entire planet usher in a new age for humanity?…There is a collective trauma, there is a collective eye-opening, there is a collective awareness, there is a collective enlightenment. We cannot pretend anymore.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“I’ve always been more concerned with being respected than being liked.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“I didn’t realize how angry I was until I started doing stand-up in drag.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Stand-up is shadow work.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“If you’re going to take a shot at anyone, they should be the first ones laughing.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“I think inspiration is misunderstood. Inspiration is energy from something higher than us…but the writing still needs to come from you.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Part of the need to attack other people is the hurt inside.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“I feel like world peace would be installed if the final level in Call of Duty was to process your issues.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Say it because no one else can say it.” @StandUp4YourPower

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“Some of my writing has been informed by the times that I didn’t write…I think we get so stuck on having a voice. Your voice is kind of always going to be there, but you might not always have something to say.” @StandUp4YourPower

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This episode was recorded on July 19th, 2021. Because we recorded via Zoom, there may be occasional audio hiccups. Our theme song is “4 am” by Makaih Beats. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher and follow us on Twitter @WritingRemixPod.