Doctors say that laughter is the best medicine and they may actually be right. Laughing at things, such as standup comedy routines, can actually be a great form of stress relief. Alberto Daniel Gonzalez has taken this form of stress relief to the next level. Many of you may know him from the comedy stampede earlier in the fall semester. This comedic novice is taking the University of South Florida by storm, with his routines making fun of college life, family and society.
Many of us have fond memories of growing up and spending time with our families, although this USF student has gone above and beyond with his memories. Junior, Biomedical Sciences and Psychology major has performed multiple times for the students at USF, pulling from his experiences with his Hispanic family.
“Most of my material comes from being Hispanic and my family,” said Gonzalez, “They are a huge reservoir for material.”
Most USF students have had the great opportunity to listen to the comedic stylings of Alberto Daniel Gonzalez. He opened for Nicole Byer and Jay Pharoah during the Comic Stampede early in the semester. Gonzalez has also performed in other places like Open Mic Night at USF – put on by the Center for Student Involvement – and Felicitous Coffee House.
Gonzalez admitted that he could not put off not doing comedy anymore.“The fear of failing and trying something new was overcome,” said Gonzalez, “It was overcome by my eagerness to try to stand up.”
Gonzalez officially started his career in standup comedy this January. “I have wanted to perform stand-up since I was ten years old,” said Gonzalez. “After pushing it off for months I finally invited 75 of my friends to watch me perform for the first time.” This first performance took place at Felicitous Coffee House where Gonzalez did a 10-minute set talking about family and his pets. He chose these two topics because he knew them well enough to start his comedic career off of. He finished his first set that evening with the confidence to continue on.
“Everyone said I did great, so I haven’t stopped since,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez practices his routines once a day and tries to participate in as many events as he can. He uses these smaller shows like open mic nights to test out his newer routines to see how people react to them. He also uses his friends to test out some jokes. In rare cases, Gonzalez admits to trying out his new jokes during his larger audience shows.
Everyone gets nervous, even Gonzalez. He admits even he still gets nervous before a show. “I allow myself to get a little nervous,” said Gonzalez, “It pushes me when I am on stage, the nervous energy keeps me moving along.”
Gonzalez isn’t just doing this to take up his spare time, he plans on making his comedy a career one day.“I am still focusing my energies on my academics and my career, but I will be continuing to do stand up in hopes of making it a career."
Gonzalez does not have a YouTube Channel yet, but says he will be starting one soon, so be on the lookout. He will post his standup videos and give updates about his upcoming shows. If you have not had the chance to experience Alberto Daniel Gonzalez then I suggest finding out when and where his next performance will be, you won’t regret it.
