Meet Erica Estrada | Animator, Comedian & Puppeteer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Estrada and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
I wanna give up all the time. Ask my therapist. Just kidding I don’t have a therapist. I mean, I should… but I gave up on that. You see what I did there? But in all seriousness, I do genuinely always have the urge to give up. It’s second nature to me. If something doesn’t work on the first try, I want to give up. I’m stubborn in that way. If an animation I’m working on doesn’t look good within the 2 days I’m working on it, I want to scrap it. If a leg on a puppet I’m making isn’t matching the other legs, I want to give up. If a joke isn’t landing when I perform it on stage for the first time, I want to scrap it. But one thing I learned is that if I give up… I will never grow and improve. It’s so hard for me not to give up but it feels so good when I push through it and the result is something I’m proud of.

Another way of looking at it…. I have a lot of praying mantises. It doesn’t matter why. It doesn’t matter how much money I have spent on them. And it especially doesn’t matter that I bought it from a kid in Burbank at night in the back of a parking lot. That’s not the point. Any time I feel like they’re about to die or aren’t getting enough light, food, exercise, etc., a part of me is like, “Ugh, I give up.” But then another part of me is like… “If I give up this living creature WILL DIE.” So am I going to let my lack of excitement and patience effect the well-being of a living creature? Something that I CHOSE to have and take care of? No. Everything, every idea, project, etc deserves your energy, patience and love. In other words… if you give up… someone or something is gonna die. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a murderer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For a long time I just considered myself an animator. However, after college I started exploring other creative avenues. Like being an interior designer. …ok, that one is false but the night is young and I can still pursue this…

About 2 years ago I decided to give stand-up a try. It’s something I always wanted to do. And then one day I was watching “The Golden Girls” for about the thousandth time. There’s an episode (season 5 episode 8 to be exact, called “Comedy of Errors”) where Dorothy gives stand-up a try after wanting to do it for years. That episode really inspired me. Not only to try stand-up at least ONCE, but to also look for a place to rent in Miami where five 50+ year old single women live. Don’t get me wrong though. Every time I drive to a gig I have mini panic attacks and say to myself, “Why am I doing this? WHY do I keep doing this to myself? You can turn the car around, order Taco Bell and watch the Golden Girls with your cats while you cry into your burrito.” But for some reason I never actually turned the car around. There’s just something about the fact that I can say I WENT on stage. Maybe it didn’t go well and not a lot of people laughed. It’s not my fault the audience were a bunch of boomers who didn’t get my Euphoria jokes. Two of the coolest moments though was performing at my old job at DreamWorks in front of all my friends and coworkers at their little comedy club called J/K Comedy Club. And performing with John Mulaney, playing Candy Crush near him while I wait to be called onto the stage.

In the summer of 2023 I decided to get into puppeteering a bit more. I did puppeteer in the past but I wanted to explore it more than just with hand puppets. It’s just fun to get a reaction without saying a joke but instead with the body language I would give the puppet. I’m currently working at Luna Luna part-time as a puppeteer for Bob Baker’s Marionette Theater and it’s honestly been one of the funnest jobs I’ve ever had. I’m just playing with toys (carefully… since most of the puppets are two times or more older than me). I’m scared of kids. They’re either like drunk seniors during bingo night at the home, or squirrels chasing each other for a nut. But seeing their reactions and interactions to these puppets is something that never gets old for me. On top of that I get a chance to see some adults turn into little kids as well. And not in a creepy way which is always good!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ok. Since I’ve lived my whole life in Los Angeles this might be hard for me… but I’ll give it a try. Here’s a list of things I would hand someone who just arrived at LAX for the first time.

– Luna Luna. I’m not recommending this just because I work there. But it’s genuinely such an interesting place. And for a lot of people a once and a lifetime chance! So many great and famous artists that influenced pop culture in many ways have pieces here… and most of them are rides…

– Bob Baker’s Marrionette Theater. Again, I’m not just recommending this because I’m puppeteering for them. You become a little kid when you see a show there and you forget that outside is a concrete jungle when you’re inside surrounding by bright red and pinks. On top of that you get free ice cream. So come on people.

– Independent bookstores. I personally love Stories and Skylight Books. Books are good for you.

– Independent skateshops (if that’s your thing). I was recently introduced to some independent skateboard shops and one that truly sticks out is Pharmacy Boardshops. But I know there are plenty of other good spots!

– The Elysian. Any show there. Honestly they never seem to disappoint.

– The Ruby Fruit. I consider this the Cheers for many queer women and queer folks in general. It’s such a welcoming place and run by queer women. I’ve never felt safer at a bar. The events they hold there never disappoint. Their BATHROOM??? You’re transported into another dimension in that bathroom. It’s like you’re in a spa while you’re on the toilet scrolling on Hinge, Her or whatever dating app kids have these days, forgetting that there are probably a line of people outside waiting for you to get out of the restroom. And they also have the best french toast. Or as I like to call it… “lesbian french toast.”

After I’d give this random person at LAX this list of things to do in LA, I would say, “There’s probably more I can write down but I really need to get back into my car before they start honking and give me a ticket.”

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and friends have always been a great support group. This last 2 years though, I have made many new and great friends. Am I annoyed by some of them? All the time. I’m a Pisces. …I don’t know if that’s a Pisces thing. I just thought it was a very LA thing to blame my actions on my astrology sign.

But yes, I’ve made a lot of creative friends and they are so inspiring! It really motivates me to work on my own art and myself as a person. We push each other but to a healthy degree.

There are 2 well-known comedians I do want to shoutout and that’s Maria Bamford and Mae Martin. Maria Bamford’s focus on their mental health journey is so inspiring and made me feel less isolated. Especially her new book “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere.” It made me realize that everyone’s mental health journey is different and progress is never linear and that made me feel less alone. Mae Martin helped me realize that gender and sexuality is such an expansive spectrum. And it’s totally ok to continue to figure it out as you go no matter where you are in life! It’s not an overnight thing. But it’s also a beautiful thing. And I’m becoming closer to being proud of who I am as a human and not just proud of my eyebrows (anyone who knows me knows that I love my eyebrows and take care of them extensively. Like in Voltaire’s “Candide,” I like to cultivate my garden…. my garden being my eyebrows.

I’d also like to give a very extra special shoutout to a man who goes by the name Ben Reicher… because that is legally his name. Having this guy in my life for almost 10 years has forever changed me not only as an artist but as a person. He is my biggest cheerleader. He is one of the very few people who knows me to a T. I honestly don’t know how he has dealt with me for so long. Honestly, that deserves an award in itself. Ben is one of the most caring, sweetest, insightful, smart, creative, hardworking person I know. And he does ALL this while being bald. I don’t know what that has to do with this, but I thought it was very important to bring that detail up. Not only did he beat cancer, but he manages his own studio (Valor Cat Studios) to create films and have a HUGE following. The man never stops. Literally. I have to use crowbar to separate him from his computer. He also is a loving father to our dog, 2 cats, 2 tarantulas and praying mantis (even though the praying mantis is literally mine but for this article I’ll say he is a co-parent). And on TOP of that, he makes the best raviolis. I love this man.

Website: eristra.com

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