Cisco Duran on Miami's Untapped Comedic Greatness

Why doesn't Miami have a comedy scene?

That's the scathing question posed by a Reddit post on the r/Miami community page, which has more than 200,000 followers. The post has garnered its fair share of impassioned comments, including some rather harsh indictments of Miami culture from its denizens.

"Same reason Miami doesn't have a music scene," reads one comment. "For such an international, supposedly cosmopolitan city, it's a fucking cultural desert here."

"Because the Miami crowd sucks," reads another. "They're unintelligent and heckle almost the entire show."

Miami might be ranked among America's entertainment capitals, but we're still lagging considerably behind when it comes to stand-up comedy. You don't even need to take the vox populi's word for it on Reddit, just ask a local pro like Cisco Duran. The up-and-coming comedian grew up here, and though he now performs around the U.S. and has been featured on Comedy Central, he still calls the 305 home.

"Miami has always been like that stepchild that doesn't get enough love when it comes to comedy," Duran tells New Times. "We have the potential to be a comedy mecca, but we run into problems."

One of those problems, he says, is with Miami's comedians themselves. "They are OK with just being a Miami comedian. Like, 'Hey, what's with the Palmetto, huh?' We need to be better and not focus our comedy on just the city."

That sentiment is echoed on Reddit, where one commenter observed that for Miami comedians, "the only thing that gets a response is acting like an over-the-top stereotype, insider references to literally anything Miami, or talking about how damn Latino you are."

Another problem is with Miami's comedy audiences or lack thereof. "I feel like I have a solid fan base here, but I always run into, 'Hey, let me know when your next show is,' and then they never show up," explains Duran. "I call them the flakes. It's important to support us nobodies, 'cause when we become somebodies, we won't forget who was there for us."

A decade ago, New Times reported on a potential crisis in Miami's comedy scene, with the big clubs and local independent rooms closing en masse. Unfortunately, in 2023, the lay of the land doesn't look much better. If you dig deep enough, you can find a few comedy nights hosted in random bars and restaurants around town, but only a handful of venues are dedicated exclusively to comedy, and only a couple are stops on the national stand-up circuit. One of the latter, the Comedy Inn in Palmetto Bay, isn't even open to patrons without an invitation.

An invitation-only comedy club is not a bad idea for bona fide connoisseurs who want to avoid Miami's uncouth crowds, which — as pointed out by that one Reddit commenter — don't get the jokes and will heckle through the entire show. But therein lies the greater issue.

For reasons best left to the anthropologists to discern, perhaps Miami has been too culturally immature to foster a respectable comedy scene. A paradigm shift would probably need to begin with Miami overcoming this phase of needlessly one-dimensional comedians and uncommitted audiences.

As a proud and loyal Miamian, Duran's criticism of his local peers should only be taken as tough love because he also believes Miami is fertile ground for comedic greatness, a uniquely multicultural breed of comedic greatness that's rough around the edges, like Miami itself.

"Miami isn't a sensitive city, which makes for great comedians to emerge," he says. "We have a sense of humor that the world can appreciate. Because they think it; we say it."

"There are so many different cultures here," he adds. "You learn to adjust to every culture, appreciate things, and find the funny in everything. For example, you can't tell a Dominican person they're Haitian — those are fighting words." (Duran is a second-generation Dominican, so don't try him.)

Like the rest of America, Miami has been consuming more and more virtual stand-up content since the pandemic lockdown turned us all into a captive audience for home entertainment. That includes stand-up specials by mainstream heavyweights like Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock and fictional TV shows about stand-up comedians like Hacks and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, all available on streaming services. Though perhaps it wasn't always the case, it's now safe to say that Miami knows what stand-up is and appreciates it, at least virtually. Now locals just need to get off the couch and go experience it live.

"Comedy on TV or streaming is not the same because when you're in an actual comedy venue, you feel the atmosphere change," Duran says. "Suddenly, things that are bothering you become nothing for 90 minutes. Life becomes a joke. When people laugh, it's infectious, and it makes you laugh. Streaming comedy is cool and helps us get noticed, but actually experiencing comedy live and uncut is a dream come true."

In other words, just because you can enjoy Duran's stand-up on the Max streaming platform today — look up Entre Nos: the Winners 2 — doesn't mean you should miss his live show at the Miami Improv comedy club on Wednesday, July 19. As he points out, there's a world of difference between the weak, solitary chuckles you muster while watching a screen at home by yourself and the very social, immersive experience of communal laughter, the palpable energy exchange between a comedian and the crowd they have eating out of their hand.

If only more Miamians would discover the difference, maybe one day we could also have a great comedy scene.

Cisco Duran. 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 19, at Miami Improv, 450 NW 83rd Ave., Doral; 305-441-8200; miamiimprov.com. Tickets cost $20.