By Valerie Milano
Palm Springs, CA (The Hollywood Times) 11/5/25 – When I sat down with comedian and writer Mimi Gonzalez this week, it felt less like an interview and more like dropping into a conversation already in progress, the kind you have with someone who has lived many lives and is still evolving. Mimi recently opened a new creative studio space here in Palm Springs, and with Pride week in full swing, she is stepping right into the center of the action as part of the Sunset Music & Comedy Festival.
The festival kicks off Thursday night at Agua Caliente, where Mimi will join a lineup that blends comedy, community activism, and queer cultural history. And while audiences may come for the laughter, Mimi brings something deeper, a legacy of inclusion, feminist comedy, and the long arc of queer storytelling.
“It was easy to say yes,” Mimi told me. “All you have to do is ask, but really, it’s about who’s asking. Sweet Baby J and Liz Borden don’t just create shows. They create space. They make sure voices that should be heard are heard.”
Click below for our exclusive interview:
What many may not know is that Mimi and festival co-producer Liz Borden share more than creative vision, they share family roots.
Mimi has been performing stand-up for 30 years, beginning in the historic hubs of queer comedy, San Francisco’s Josie’s Cabaret & Juice Joint, the Valencia Rose scene, and the early clubs where being out on stage was still a revolutionary act. She is part of the second wave of openly queer comics, following pioneers like Kate Clinton, Karen Williams, Marga Gomez, and Lea DeLaria.
“We didn’t just tell jokes,” she said. “We were asserting our right to exist.”
Today, she sees herself alongside — and sometimes reflected through, the newer generation.
“Fortune Feimster is part of the third or fourth wave. She is thriving because earlier waves cracked the door open. Visibility is cumulative. It’s generational.”
After decades on the road, Mimi noticed something about her writing: in every comedy notebook, there were poems. So, she went back to graduate school and earned an MFA, which led to her new hybrid art form, Punchlines and Poetry.
“It’s genre-nonconforming,” she explained. “It’s stand-up that lets the soul speak too. The laughter and the softness sit next to each other.”
She now leads writing workshops that aren’t comedy workshops and aren’t poetry workshops, but something in the space between.
One thing Mimi wanted to emphasize is that Sunset Music & Comedy is more than a festival, it’s a value statement.
“This festival is DEI before DEI had a name,” she said. “Diversity, equity, inclusion, not in theory, but in the room. Look at who is on stage. Look at whose stories are centered. This is the equal playing field we’ve been fighting for.”
Mimi will perform Thursday night at Agua Caliente to kick off the Sunset Music & Comedy Festival weekend.
Additional festival shows continue Friday and Saturday at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, with a lineup including Holly Near, Vicki Shaw, Jason Stuart, Amethyst Kiah, and many more.
“I just want people to show up and feel included,” Mimi said. “Share the laughter. Share the art. Share the love.”
Follow Mimi
Website: MimiGonzalez.com
Facebook: Mimi is most active there, “It’s basically everyone’s personal website now,” she joked.
The Hollywood Times is proud to be a media partner for the Sunset Music & Comedy Festival.
See you all at Agua Caliente.
Happy Pride. 🌈✨
