Denver’s only bilingual comedy mic opens doors for Latino hopefuls

When Raices Brewing Co. approached Denver comedian Ricky Ramos two years ago about starting a Spanish-English open-mic night, Ramos was dubious.

“I didn’t really think it would work in a town where there’s, like, six of us right now,” Ramos said.

No joke. There were very few Latino comedians performing at comedy clubs at the time, and virtually no other opportunities to perform bilingual comedy in the city, despite Denver’s population being about 30 percent Latino according to 2022 census data.

Raices was unfazed by the challenge. That’s because the brewery, which opened in Denver’s Sun Valley in 2019, believes its beer is just the excuse to gather, often over cultural programs like salsa dancing and language exchanges, said bilingual program coordinator Paula Campos.

“Raices is a brewery, but it started as a project about roots, to bring everyone a little piece of home,” Campos said. “It works more as a cultural platform, which allows us to give space for these events to happen. The exchange of culture is the most important part.”

Comedy seemed to be an ideal addition to Raices’ lineup of programming. Raices’ owners saw a gap they could fill, and Ramos — who was making a name for himself on the circuit as a Denver local — was the person to make it a reality. In the summer of 2021, Raices Comedia was born, and as Latino comics came to Raices to tell their jokes in Spanish, English and anywhere in between, Ramos noticed their ranks were growing at a rate he didn’t previously think possible.

While comedy open-mic nights generally don’t prohibit comics from speaking Spanish, an intimidating performance is made even worse when a comedian is unsure if the audience will understand them. Ramos realized there were plenty of potential comedians in Denver who didn’t have a central place to get the laughs and instant feedback that most up-and-comers crave.

“(They told) me, ‘Hey, I never tried this because I never thought I would get a reaction; why am I going to do something if nobody’s going to understand me?’” Ramos said. “’So why even put myself through that as a comedian?’”

One of the up-and-comers is Israel Avila, who moved to Denver from Chihuahua, Mexico, seven years ago. He’s always been a fan of comedy, citing Mexican comic Franco Escamilla and American funnyman Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias as favorites, but didn’t have a place to practice his craft as he was learning and practicing English. As he started doing his sets in Spanish and eventually Spanglish and English, Avila said he saw Ramos as something of a mentor.

“I’m still learning from a lot of comics, including Ricky Ramos,” Avila said. “He opened the door for comics like me.”