COMEDIAN MARTIN AMINI TALKS UPBRINGING, FASHION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LAUGHTER IN LIFE
WRITTEN BY: ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ
For Martin Amini, comedy has always played a crucial role within his life. Born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland to a Bolivian mother and Iranian father, Amini, along with his siblings, navigated the journey of being first-generation in the United States.
Growing up in a diverse neighborhood while being thirty minutes away from Washington D.C. allowed Amini to connect with those that have similar experiences and bond over New York City influences, such as hip hop and fashion.
From Biggie Smalls to Jordans, the inspirations were vast and heavily influential in Amini’s upbringing. Yet, it wasn’t until he saw comedian Dave Chappelle’s 2000 special “Killin’ Them Softly” that he developed an interest in comedy and began developing his own form of humor.
Now, with over two million followers across all of his social media platforms, Amini is becoming the Latino community’s favorite comedian. Gente Fina spoke to Amini about his start in comedy, the hardships that he faced during the pandemic and how he has incorporated comedy and fashion during “The Love World Tour.”
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
GENTE FINA: DURING THE PANDEMIC, YOU HAD A COMEDY STAND-UP SHOW IN YOUR DAD’S BACKYARD. WHY DO YOU THINK IT WAS NECESSARY AND NEEDED AT THE TIME?
AMINI: I think it was a very traumatic period for everybody. Not being able to go outside [because] a lot of things were shut down.
Right before the pandemic is when things took off for me. I was already living in LA at the time [and] I had some momentum. When I was forced to move back into my dad's house, I lost my career [and] all of my opportunities.
I had to figure out a way to keep things alive, even if it [was] performing in a backyard [at] my dad's house. It was out of survival for my career. I thought if I [could] keep doing it in a safe way where people got to enjoy some comedy and help them through that traumatic period, why not?
It ended up being a huge success and it really did keep things going until I was able to go back outside and perform in a comedy club. Then, eventually blow up on social media and then go on a world tour.
GENTE FINA: YOU'RE THE OWNER OF ROOM 808, A COMEDY CLUB BASED IN D.C. WHAT WAS THE PROCESS OF BUILDING THE CLUB LIKE?
AMINI: It was created in a time of survival and passion. It drove a lot of the energy and creation behind it. I was living in my dad's house still doing shows in [the] backyard and I needed to keep things going. I had no source of revenue.
I started teaching comedy classes at a small rented building in D.C. After having over 20 students sign up, I decided to look for a more permanent location, which ended up becoming Room 808.
It just morphed into this comedy powerhouse where now comedians from all over the country pull up and it's got this new brand where everyone knows this is like where comedy lives. It had the great recipe for a good comedy club.
GENTE FINA: COMEDY IS ONE OF THE BEST FORMS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. WHAT’S THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMING YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES TO LAUGHTER FOR AUDIENCE MEMBERS?
AMINI: It's a very fulfilling experience to be able to transcend race or socioeconomic backgrounds, representing the Latino community to the fullest and being authentic and myself. [I’m] self made, [from an] immigrant parent background, [grew] up in a family of ice cream truck drivers and now just creating my own lane.
Once [people watch a show], they like you and love you man. The love is undeniable. It's hard to put it into words. It's like when they f**k with you, they f**k with you.
I'm glad that it has an impact on homies. I love the stories because it makes me happy and makes all the hard work and the grind worth it.
GENTE FINA: HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE FASHION INTO YOUR SETS? ONE OF MY FAVORITE CLIPS IS THE FLOWER SHIRT HOMIE ON YOUR INSTAGRAM.
AMINI: That's something I would do to one of my super close friends. I try to find people that I can have that experiences [like those] with and [they can] understand where it's coming from. To the enjoyment of the crowd, we can have this funny roast moment where hopefully by the end of it, me and this guy, we have a cool personal relationship.
I always looked at [fashion] as an extension of my personality. Where we grew up, fashion was always a priority for us. From sneaker culture to name brands, it's not a new thing to me. Going from not being able to afford a lot of brands to now being able to wear whatever I want, I have a lot of pride in what I decide to wear.
Working with Gente Fina, it feels like I get to wear something my cousin made. It feels very familiar, very personal and something that I'm proud to represent. I'm not from Chicago, but I just feel like D.C. and Chicago have this cool crossover and I feel like I identify with a lot of the Chicago qualities. I've worn [Gente Fina] on some really big shows and I always felt fresh. So to me, that's all that matters.
The [Latino] community is super diverse. That's one thing people outside the culture might not understand is that there's so much diversity within the community, and we still have a long way to go bringing people together.
One of my goals is to have a comedy show where everyone feels included. Everyone gets made fun of equally and it's an overall good experience. That's always been my energy. Gente Fina got some dope gear. It's cool to represent and wear it.
GENTE FINA: YOU ARE A MASTER OF SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS, ESPECIALLY THROUGHOUT YOUR SHOWS. WHAT DO YOU THINK SPONTANEITY DOES FOR COMEDY, SPECIFICALLY WHEN YOU PLAY MATCHMAKER?
AMINI: I think being spontaneous helps with keeping the set fresh and stopping from feeling mundane and inorganic. I think if you're just kind of relying on your set list and just telling jokes straight up for 60 minutes, it's hard to keep people's attention, especially like Latinos.
I think Latinos are used to a lot of different things like noises, sounds and energy. Kudos to anyone who can keep their attention for 60 minutes. For me, it's like I got to make you laugh, cry [and] find you love. It's a whole experience.
I want you to feel like you just watched Sabado Gigante for the first time in person. A lot of that energy comes from how we grew up watching whatever our parents watched and it's in our culture.
You try to bring that energy to the comedy stage and remember that when you're telling jokes. That's been the formula [and it] has been a huge success for me. I'm not Mexican, but my biggest supporters are Mexican.
I think it's because they identify with who I am. They love my authenticity, they identify with the energy I bring to the stage, they love me roasting people and they love me finding love. I check all the boxes for emotions felt at the show and the culture just loves it.
GENTE FINA: YOU’VE HAD MANY HUGE SPECIALS AND WERE JUST ON NETFLIX IS A JOKE. WHAT DID YOU FEEL IN THE MOMENT? DID YOU HAVE IMPOSTER SYNDROME?
AMINI: I think because I've been doing [this] for over 12 years, I haven't felt imposter syndrome because I feel like after you do shows in your dad's backyard, you make people laugh and you create your own comedy club, [I realized] that this wasn't handed to me. I had to fight to get it.
I literally had to perform in a backyard to get to where I'm at. I think that helps me, but I'm also very grateful and honored to be a part of the staff. As far as some of my goals and what I want to do, I feel like I [still] have a long way to go.
I'm proud to be a part of the comedy community, but I also feel like it's my responsibility to push things forward for the culture and the community. I don't like to be put in the box. Like “here's your show and be grateful for that.” I want to be able to constantly exceed expectations and push things forward.
A lot of people are trying to do matchmaking [and] a lot of people are doing crowd work. When people see success, [that's the truest form of] imitation is the best form of flattery. I take a lot of pride in seeing people trying to figure out their own lane.
GENTE FINA: YOU’RE CURRENTLY ON “THE LOVE WORLD TOUR.” WHAT DO YOU WANT AUDIENCE MEMBERS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE SHOW?
AMINI: I just want you to come, forget about the stress at your job, forget about the tension in your relationship. Just come, relax, have a good time and let me give you a night off where you can just focus on having a good time and not the stress that the world brings.
I'm super excited to be on a world tour. I got Australia coming up next month. [For the very first time,] I'm headlining in Australia. I'm going to be in Europe in the fall. We're not just in the United States, now we're hitting all the continents.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been supporting me and looking forward to making people laugh in the future.
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ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ IS A JOURNALIST BORN AND RAISED IN AURORA, COLORADO. GROWING UP, HE WAS FASCINATED WITH HOW LATINOS CAN BE REPRESENTED IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY. WITH EXPERIENCE IN EDITORIAL, PRINT AND MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM, ALEXANDER IS ACTIVELY UPLIFTING UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES THROUGH THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR, THROUGH THE FASHION BEAT.
IG: @ALEXTALKTOOMUCH
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PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO BY: Chuy Reyes @CR_FILMS
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FOLLOW GENTE FINA ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER AT @GENTEFINACHI