Jeff Valdez On HBO Max’s “HA Comedy Festival” Specials, “Brothers Garcia” & More
The Max Original 2nd Annual HA Comedy Festival: The Art Of Comedy premiered on December 16, 2021. Featuring 6 up-and-coming Latinx stand-ups who hit the stage to share their comedy gold with a live audience at San Antonio, Texas’ iconic HA Festival, it is the follow-up to the first installment of HA Festival: The Art Of Comedy, which debuted last year on HBO Max. Hosted by an all-star lineup — including Paul Rodriguez, Emilio Rivera, and the cast of The Garcias — the program also featured video appearances by Paulina Chavez and Danny Trejo, beyond excellent stand-up sets from Ralph Barbosa, Lisa Alvarado, Dave Jay, Chingo Bling, Jessica Keenan and Steve Treviño. The special itself was executive produced by Jeff Valdez and Sol Trujillo, while also written and directed by Valdez.
The aforementioned Jeff Valdez is far more than a writer, director and producer. He himself is an actor who got his start as a stand-up comic. When we spoke via Zoom — as embedded below — on December 20, 2021, Valdez wound up sharing anecdotes related to his years on the road alongside the likes of future legends like Roseanne Barr, Eddie Griffin and Sam Kinison. He has not only been instrumental in the creation of the HA Comedy Festival and its related specials, yet also a reboot of the Brothers Garcia series, which HBO Max will reportedly air a 10-episode season of in 2022.
More on Jeff Valdez, New Cadence Productions, the HA Comedy Festival, the festival’s HBO Max programming and the upcoming Brothers Garcia reboot can be found online here, here and here.
