Solange Castro shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Solange , thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
People think standup comedy is not as hard as it looks. When done right it looks like someone just talking and making everyone laugh. Unless you have done it yourself, you don’t realize that those five minutes of fun took years to hone.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a writer, standup comic and playwright. She is the author of the original plays, “Changes In The Mating Strategies of White People,” published by Broadway Play Publishing, and “End of Times Therapy,” which premiered at the Santa Monica Playhouse in February of 2025. I also wrote the memoir, “Salsa Chica: How I Learned To Dance Salsa And Avoid Real Life,” about my journey to learn how to dance salsa. My standup comedy album “A Journey of Self Discovery,” produced by RadLand Records, is available on Spotify. I perform and teach standup comedy at The Westside Comedy Theater and I teaches a Zoom Comedy Class. This Fall I will begin teaching “The American Art Form of Standup Comedy” at Yale University.
I have taught salsa dancing to some of the best comics in her web series “Teaching Comics to Dance Salsa,“ including Maria Bamford, Morgan Jay, and Brian Kiley andhas opened for long-time friend Maria Bamford. Other projects include, the short documentary “A California For Everyone” about the California Environmental Quality Act’s impact on the California housing crisis, and the publication of my mother’s, Rafaela Castro, novel, “Cantina Confidential,” about migrant farm workers in 1940s California. To pay bills I worked Advertising for many years making those ads that appear on websites, sorry.
I attended Berkeley High School and Yale University where I majored in English Literature. You can follow me on Instagram @solange_here or read her blog at www.searchforsanity.com.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
I feel very privileged to have had a 25 year friendship with Maria Bamford. I don’t know any other successful artist with as much artistic integrity and commitment. She taught me that as a comic I have to be my own biggest fan. The goal is to make myself laugh first.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I would say I give up about once a week. There is nothing easy about this career. What keeps me going somedays is when I look back at the work I have done and the time I put into it. Then I will have an experience that shifts my paradigm and I am so happy I never quit. But those moments are not often and you can’t count on them.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That it matters how many followers or likes you have.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
Weirdly, I often, though not always, feel most at peace in the moments before I am going to perform at a show or an open mic. All my focus is on my jokes and material and I don’t have anything left to think or worry about anything else. I also feel at peace when I am clear about my finances. I love numbers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.solangecastro.com
- Instagram: @solange_here
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solangebelcher/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@solange_castro
Image Credits
David Muller Photography
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
