Bobby Gonzalez & Nitzia Chama On The New Season Of HBO Max Series “The Garcias” & More

In late 2021, I had the pleasure of covering the HBO Max Original 2nd Annual HA Comedy Festival: The Art Of Comedy, which 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 was the follow-up to the first installment of HA Festival: The Art Of Comedy, which debuted the previous 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; Treviño spoke with The Hype last year. 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 premiere on April 14, 2022 with the first 3 episodes, as followed by 2 episodes each week and its finale episode on May 12, 2022. 6 cast members from the original The Brothers Garcia series reprise their roles with this one — Ada Maris (as Sonia Garcia), Carlos Lacamara (as Ray Garcia), Alvin Alvarez (as Larry Garcia), Jeffrey Licon (as Carlos Garcia), Bobby Gonzalez (as George Garcia) and Vaneza Pitynski (as Lorena Garcia) — while the following performers are also part of the cast of this highly-anticipated reboot: Oliver Alexander as Max Garcia, Nitzia Chama as Ana Garcia, Paul Rodriguez, Jr. as Julian Ramirez, Maeve Garay as Victoria Garcia, Elsha Kim as Yunjin Huh Garcia, Ayva Severy as Andrea Huh Garcia, and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Alexa Huh Garcia.

On April 5, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bobby Gonzalez and Nitzia Chama from the cast of The Garcias via Zoom, as embedded below. More on The Garcias can be found here, here and here.

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: Bobby Gonzalez, HBO, HBO Max, Jeff Valdez, Nitzia Chama, The Brothers Garcia, The Garcias

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."