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Being a comedian in the Rio Grande Valley can be tough — just ask Sonia Treviño. At the moment, she’s the only active female comedian in the RGV. Other valley comedians like Cristela Alonso have since moved out of state.
Treviño made her career debut in 2010 when she was a struggling single mother.
“It was hard to get out there and do shows because I was the only caretaker. It's unfortunate because you're forced to fight harder,” said Treviño.
She’ll be one of five Texas comedians performing at TPR’s Creekside Comedy Sessions next week, along with Avery Moore, Genivive Clinton, Angelina Martin, and TPR’s Tori Pool.
Her first exposure to comedy was through her dad, who proved to be a big inspiration for her pursuit of stand-up.
“I remember when I figured out that we all praise the actor, but it’s the writers that make it happen. I told my dad that and he looked at me and said, “Very good.””
Treviño had her son in 1998 while she was in high school. Two years later, her dad passed away unexpectedly when she was eighteen.
“He made sure I knew when I was younger, that, you know, you can do whatever you want. If you want to be a mother, you can. If you want to be married, you can. But also, know that you can go into any field you want,” Treviño said.
In her comedy, Treviño discusses family, dating, and hardships she’s endured. Some frequent characters that pop up in her comedy are her mother and son.
In this skit from 2015, she talks about her mother.
“My mother drives me crazy. Does your mother drive you crazy? Oh my god, my mother drives me crazy. She’s like a second f*cking uterus. Don’t get me wrong. I love the woman, I do! She’s my mom. I love her but — Okay if you guys like women that make you feel like you’re slowly dying, then you’ll like my mother.”
When it comes to implementing family into her stories, Treviño said that her mom finds it humorous.
“She gets a kick out of it. She'll say, "You're probably gonna put this in your standup.” It’s like she wants me to. So, she's totally cool with it.”
Treviño still resides in the Rio Grande Valley, a tough place to get laughs as a female comedian due to the male-dominated industry and machismo culture. It’s also an unconventional career path for people in the RGV.
“The valley was definitely hard, you know? Cause everybody here’s like “Oh you think you’re funny. My uncle’s funnier than you” or whatever. So, they make you work for your laughs, that is for sure,” she said.
Despite her hardships, she was voted The Funniest in the RGV in 2014.
You can see Treviño and other comedians perform on August 29 at the Malú & Carlos Alvarez Theater at the TPR headquarters downtown.
After the performances, a moderated conversation will discuss the state of women in comedy, followed by an audience Q&A. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
