Melissa Villaseñor, a “Saturday Night Live” cast member and comedian, will perform in Bloomington at The Comedy Attic on Friday and Saturday night as part of her “California Girl” standup comedy tour.
The tour is named “California Girl” because the show contains bits about Villaseñor’s family and upbringing in California, she said. Villaseñor said she ends the show by singing her original song called “California”.
“I think that name is funny to me because in our minds we always picture a California girl as blonde, big boobs, beach bod, and here I come, Melissa, with all my weirdness and joy,” Villaseñor said. “I feel like I want to be the California girl people think of.”
Villaseñor first rose to fame on “America’s Got Talent” in 2011, where she was a semifinalist for her standup comedy and celebrity impressions. In 2016, Villaseñor became the first Latina to join the cast of SNL, according to her website.
“I'm very honored and proud, it means a lot,” Villaseñor said. “I just hope there's more Latinas there.”
Villaseñor voiced characters in a number of movies and television shows, including “Toy Story 4”, “Wreck It Ralph 2”, “Family Guy” and “American Dad”, according to her website. Forbes recognized Villaseñor in their 2017 “30 Under 30” list and Rolling Stone named Villaseñor as one of the “50 Funniest People Right Now” in 2017.
“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, a Netflix series hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, featured Villaseñor for an episode. Villaseñor said she felt honored to be featured on the series because she considers it a compliment when comedians she admires, such as Seinfeld, are fans of her work.
“People that I admire being fans of me really makes me feel like I'm doing something right,” Villaseñor said.
Villaseñor said she felt excited but slightly nervous to begin touring again for the first time since the pandemic.
“I’m just looking forward to a connection with people and laughing and seeing smiles again,” Villaseñor said. “I think this whole year taught us to not take things for granted. I'm fortunate and lucky that this is my job. I'm just excited to see people.”
Villaseñor said her ultimate goal is to spread joy, whether that be through song, jokes, impressions or just making herself laugh.
“I try to make myself laugh because that makes other people laugh when I'm cracking myself up with something silly. My goal is always inspiring people to learn how to be their own best friend,” Villaseñor said.
