Review: Frankie Quiñones Talks Past Flames, Acceptance and Carne Asada in New Hularious Stand-Up Special

Hulu’s latest Hularious comedy special comes to us from comedian Frankie Quiñones, who – across his 49-minute set – hits the stage to unpack love, addiction and the high-stakes politics of the family carne asada. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge connoisseur of the stand-up format, as I typically get my laughs from sketches and sitcoms. In fact, the only comedy specials I can recall watching before were by John Mulaney and Taylor Tomlinson. So Quiñones’ style is definitely something new to me.

Quiñones is perhaps best known for his signature characters, including Creeper, the lovable Cholo fitness guru, and Juanita Carmelita, the sassy tía who tells it like it is. These characters, born out of his stand-up and viral sketches, carry an authenticity that resonates with audiences – particularly those familiar with Chicano culture. In the realm of Disney, he appeared in the recent Hulu series This Fool, where he played Luis, a freshly released ex-gang member trying to adjust to the outside world.

Right from the get-go, I was afraid that this wasn’t going to be for me, when Quiñones came out on stage and started beatboxing for about a minute – the joke being, what if that was the entirety of the special? Fortunately, things got a bit better from there as Quiñones began to talk about his family and some of his exes, including some fun stories and a pretty funny impression of a strange white woman he used to date. In doing research on Quiñones, it seems this impression might be inspired by his character Juanita Carmelita.

Quiñones plays into some of the stereotypes of being a Mexican stand-up comedian, but also has a more nuanced side – particularly when he makes fun of one of his friends for said friend’s somewhat archaic views about gay people. The comedian is part of a wave of Latino comedians who are redefining what representation looks like in entertainment, and he does it with heart, humor, and hustle.

While I wouldn’t say this is the type of comedy special I would personally search out, I did get a few laughs and chuckles out of the experience. Quiñones definitely has a likeable personality, and that comes across in spades when he’s on stage – something he’s been doing for over 20 years now, as he mentions in the special. Quiñones has carved out a niche in the comedy world that feels both fresh and deeply rooted in tradition.

Frankie Quiñones: Damn That’s Crazy premieres this Friday, October 10th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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