The Work Out Room

Chris Garcia joins us for Baron Vaughn’s series, The Work Out Room, where comics work out new material and build their next shows.

The rehearsal room meets the stage as comics “work out” their new material with Geva’s audiences along for the ride. The comics will be testing out new jokes and routines in the Fielding each night, and no two performances will be the same!

Chris Garcia is known for making his outrageous Cuban family the centerpiece of his act. From his bible-thumping older sister’s attempts to convert gang bangers in the park, to his seventy-year-old mother’s libidinous love of the rapper Pitbull, Chris draws you into his world through a variety of characters and recollections that are both completely absurd and sincerely heartfelt.

In his new show, Chris shares the story of his Cuban immigrant father, who went to extraordinary lengths to maintain the illusion of the American dream by staging fake family photos in model homes and mailing them to his family back in Cuba. Chris portrays the struggle to meet his father’s high expectations while also taking on the role of caregiver as his father faces Alzheimer’s disease. The narrative takes an unexpected turn as Chris attempts to make good on his father’s dying wish – to illegally smuggle his ashes back into the country from where he once fled, and hurl his incinerated remains into the sea. All without being caught by the Cuban secret police.

Based on Chris’s critically acclaimed podcast ‘Scattered,’ which Time Magazine called “one of the ten best podcasts of the year” and Phoebe Lett of the New York Times called, “masterfully entertaining and emotionally devastating… blending moments of hilarity and trauma into a gorgeous existential trek that is the embodiment of the American family story,” ‘Model Home’ is a compelling exploration of love, identity, and the lengths we go to honor our family’s legacy, even when it means returning to the heart of a painful history with your father’s ashes hidden between your public radio tote bag and melatonin gummies.

Chris Garcia is a stand-up comedian, television writer, and the host of the critically acclaimed WNYC Public Radio podcast “Scattered,” which was named “One of the Best Podcasts of the Year” by Time Magazine, The Atlantic, the CBC, Indiewire, Uproxx, and the Huffington Post.

Known for his vivid storytelling style and his refreshing take on being the first American-born son of Cuban immigrants, Chris draws you into his world through a variety of characters and recollections that are both outrageously absurd and sincerely heartfelt. You may have seen him all over Comedy Central, on The Late Late Show with James Corden, or heard him on memorable episodes of NPR’s “This American Life” and “WTF with Marc Maron.”