Daniela Mora, a Bronx-born comedian with a massive social media following and a weekly slot at one of New York City’s renowned comedy clubs, has found an even bigger audience from her new streaming special on Tubi.
“Joke’s On Us: New Voices in Comedy” premiered on Dec. 5, giving Mora an even bigger platform than her 104,000 followers on TikTok and even more on Instagram. In her standup set, which was filmed in Los Angeles, Mora took on sugar daddies, an online troll who turned out to be a man in a wheelchair, family pressures to find a boyfriend and the duality of being Latina in a white suburban community.
Sharing personal stories seems to come naturally to Mora. One of her viral videos pointed to the difference in how men and women react to illness, based on an interaction with a male friend: “People say that women are dramatic, but have you ever seen a guy when he’s sick? Have you ever seen a grown man slightly under the weather? Because they turn into divas.” Mora digs into her friend for his helplessness — only to reveal at the end, deadpan, that he actually had kidney stones.
Mora’s identity and early life inform much of her comedy today. Her family is Venezuelan and Colombian, and she spent her early years in Soundview and attended elementary school in Throggs Neck. When the family moved to Westchester County, it was a “little bit of culture shock,” said Mora, who joked extensively about her dual identity — which she called “whitewashed” — in the Tubi special.
“We gentrified ourselves. It wasn’t happening fast enough,” she said. To her, being a suburban Hispanic family meant buying empanadas at Costco.
Early on, Mora said she had a knack for entertainment. She was always the “class clown,” with a loud and big personality that required some adjustment in the suburbs, she said.
After college, Mora landed a job running an online meme site, which turned out to be her start as a professional comedian. “The page blew up,” she said, and before long, she wanted to “be the center of the funny, instead of behind the screen.”
Getting started in the notoriously cutthroat world of New York City comedy wasn’t easy, but Mora said she threw herself in starting in fall 2021. She took classes and went to many open mic events, and now, a few years later, she said she’s established a good groove. Her social media videos are wildly popular, the Tubi special was an “amazing” experience, and she also has a weekly gig at The Stand in Union Square, where fans can see her every Tuesday night in a show called “Slap Happy.”
Although Mora’s Bronx years were relatively short, she still holds onto those early roots, which she said had a major influence on her comedy. She called her sense of humor “Bronx-based” and very much “in the culture,” while continually grappling with what her own culture really is, to hilarious results.
In establishing her identity as a comedian, “I needed to go with my personality,” said Mora. “I found my way, and it kind of complements me now.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
