MIMI GONZALEZ
For Mimi Gonzalez, “Comedy gave me a way out of living as a Midwest Latina, stuck in a state of perpetual misidentification,” the legendary comedian recalls. It’s also taken her everywhere: she’s performed for U.S. troops stationed all over the world and for audiences on America’s East and West Coasts, as well as everywhere in between. She’s appeared on numerous shows including The Today Show, Ellen, and LOGO’s One Night Stand Up. And after years of head-lining comedy venues in the gay mecca of Provincetown, Massachusetts, she is now leading the “Go Girl!” weekend at The Dunes Resort in Saugatuck, Michigan, which she aims to make into a “Midwest Dinah.” Regardless of where she’s performing, one thing remains the same with audiences everywhere. “There’s nothing like getting ‘in the zone,’ where you and the audience are creating something together,” Gonzalez says. “It’s a state of grace and there’s nothing like being in that space of connection, reflection, and mutuality.” Her years spent on the road where, she says, “poetry appeared in my joke notebooks,” inspired her to earn an MFA in 2018, and she now facilitates writing workshops in the places where she performs. “I…hope to continue to create community through both the writing workshops and live events like ‘Go Girl!’ Saugatuck,” she says. She’s also looking forward to how comedy will develop as more and more queer people and women take to the stage—no longer “tokens in the clubs” but rather “part of the landscape of funny,” she says. “Here’s hoping what’s next will be the inclusion and celebration of older women’s wisdom, sexuality, and humor.”
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