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Lasting longer than most Hollywood marriages, the members of Culture Clash have been together for an astounding 23 years! The troupe of Ricardo Salinas, Richard Montoya and Herbert Siguenza weaves history, comedy, a little drama and a lot of storytelling into unforgettable performances. Ricardo Salinas shares with us how the group came to be, their purpose and their latest work, “Zorro In Hell”…

How did the guys meet?

Ricardo Salinas, Richard Montoya and Herbert Siguenza met for the first time on Cinco De Mayo 1984 in San Francisco’s Mission District. It was a one night gig that was an alternative to the Cinco De Mayo festivities. A comedy show that featured them doing stand-up comedy, impersonations and sketch-comedy. It was originally called “Comedy Fiesta” and it also included Jose Antonio Burciaga, Marga Gomez and Monica Palacios. That one night stand became a 23 year career for the original three members who later changed their name to Culture Clash.

Why the formation of Culture Clash?

It was formed out of the need to hear stories from a bi-cultural, bi-lingual urban reality from Latinos. The group members were influenced by Mel Brooks, Monty Python, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. The humor was based on race and social/political issues.

You’ve been performing together for several years. What has that experience been like?

It’s been a roller coaster ride. Our material has not changed since day one. We are still as angry, feisty, and crazy as ever. Our writing skills have gotten sharper and our acting has gotten better. We’ve been on the stage over 3,000 times, across the country and all over California. It’s like a marriage, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

You’ve been asked to write performances for different Latin cultures throughout the United States. How do you tailor your work so that it will relate to each type of audience?

We have been commissioned to write plays about certain neighborhoods, “Radio Mambo” dealt with Miami, Florida; “Bordertown” San Diego/Tijuana area, “Anthems” was about Washington, D.C., “Nuyorican Stories” about the Puerto Rican experience in New York. Pain, and a sense of lost, crosses cultural and racial barriers and that’s the kind of material we tend to focus on. Also, humor is a type of cure, a type of common ground, when we can laugh with ourselves instead of at ourselves.

Your latest project “Zorro In Hell”…How did that come about?

The folks at Zorro Inc. (yes, it’s a trademark) approached us around 10 years ago to do something with Zorro. We said, no thanks. We did not relate to Zorro, we grew up with Batman (who is a modern Zorro). But as time went on, they kept pursuing us and finally around 2 years ago, we decided to tackle this subject matter.

In all the Zorro movies, the masked one was always fighting a foreign born Governor, be him from Spain or Mexico, and who was California’s new Governor? A foreign born, Austrian named Arnold. We couldn’t resist.

We use the myth of Zorro to explore early California history. The real Zorro was Joaquin Murrieta, who we prop up in the play to illustrate what this Zorro myth is all about. Now, you must remember we do all this through comedy, satire; if we didn’t then it would be this long history lesson.

What has been the audience reaction to “Zorro In Hell”?

Audiences have really responded with enthusiasm to “Zorro in Hell”, on a good night, the reaction from the crowd feels like how it would’ve felt if you were watching the early films of Zorro, at a matinee in an old theater in Hollywood.

Where do the performance stories come from?

Almost all of our stories come from personal experience, including our own, as three Latino men, living in the United States. In some places we are the majority, but in most places we are the minority, the underdogs. That’s the type of stories we gravitate towards, those unheard voices. As I stated before, we are under the radar, because we search and explore and re-tell stories you rarely see on television, film or even on the American stage.

What can people expect from a Culture Clash experience?

Audiences usually leave our shows more informed of social and political issues that we always bring up in our performances. They will certainly laugh a lot during our show, but as with satire, they then realize that they are laughing at something, they maybe shouldn’t be laughing at. We disguise it or sugarcoat it with humor; it’s a recipe that we’ve been using to bring forth ideas that might not be show in the mainstream media. Also audiences leave with a little bounce to their step, in other words a feel good feeling.

What type of support have you received from the Latin community?

Culture Clash has a strong fan base here in Southern California, the population is so expanse. Not only do Chicanos enjoy our work, but Central and South Americans, as well as Puerto Ricans and Cubans. I guess all Latinos that have a similar outlook on politics. Our harshest critics are conservative Latinos, of any Latino nationality.

Do you have a “most memorable” performance?

I’ll never forget the time we were performing at an outdoor festival, huge, it was in Chicago. We were doing our comedy act: stand-up, impersonations and sketches. There were around 5,000 people watching us, and we came out with our Julio Iglesias bit, Herbert does a dead-on Julio. The crowd went nuts; I was Julio’s back up dancer along with Montoya. At the end of the act, we left the stage and some elderly women thought it was really Julio Iglesias and they wanted his autograph. I looked at Herbert, and of course he had to give them an autograph, signed Julio Iglesias!

Visit cultureclash.com for more information.