Work in Progress: Cristela Alonzo

Drama Queens

iHeartPodcasts

Tv & Film

4.9 • 23.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cristela Alonzo isn’t just one of the funniest voices in comedy—she’s a storyteller whose underdog journey fuels razor-sharp stand-up on identity, class and culture. Her latest Netflix special "Cristela Alonzo: Upper Classy" blends hilarity with humanity, but in the comedy clubs, she’s proving that laughter can spark real change.

Hear firsthand about the family struggles that shaped her, the dystopian nightmare she found herself in on election night, and the unexpected way she raised $30K of life-changing support, one laugh at a time.

All proceeds from Cristela's live "Room Temperature Shows" benefit The Immigrant Defenders Law Center. Learn more about their work at https://www.immdef.org/.
Cristela's new Netflix special "Cristela Alonzo: Upper Classy" comes out September 23rd.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:04.4	Hey, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress.
0:19.0	Hello, friends. Today we are joined by a guest that I have such a comedy crush on. She is a
0:27.6	brilliant comedian and a trailblazer and a storyteller whose journey honestly reads like an
0:33.9	incredibly powerful underdog tale. Today we are joined by none other than Christella
0:41.2	Alonso. She is one of the funniest women on stage and on TV working today. Her stand-up
0:48.8	specials on Netflix deliver incredibly incisive commentary on identity, class mobility, her wild childhood.
0:57.8	And she manages to invite audiences to laugh alongside the deeply human truths of her Latina
1:06.0	culture, social awkwardness, racism, and the randomness of everyday life.
1:11.6	Her first two specials, lower-classy and middle-classy,
1:15.6	are about to be succeeded by a third,
1:17.6	and I cannot wait to talk to her about how she writes about her life and her family,
1:23.6	about how she manages to blend her incredible achievements with really committed activism and more.
1:31.8	On the subject of her activism, Christella is doing something really incredible,
1:37.2	as she has been touring around the country.
1:40.3	Like so many of us, she's watched these ice raids happening in our home city of Los Angeles
1:45.2	and inspired by her mentor and idol Dolores Huerta, she decided to take action. So she started
1:51.6	doing shows all over L.A. called the room temperature shows. Tickets are 30 bucks. She donates
1:58.1	100% of sales revenue to the immigrant defender's law center, which is a
2:03.3	nonprofit that focuses on defending immigrant communities against injustices. And so far, she's raised
2:09.4	nearly $30,000. Christella manages to be such an inspiring and powerful voice that proves that
2:16.7	laughter can drive meaningful change.
	...

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