Julianna Loera-Wiggins’ journey in standup comedy has been a bit more academically motivated than most.

A Ph.D. candidate in the University of Michigan’s Department of American Culture program of Latino/a Studies, Loera-Wiggins decided to write her dissertation about the Latina stand-up comedy scene in Chicago, where she moved to take stand-up comedy classes.

“I figured you can't really write about comedy without doing it,” said Loera-Wiggins. “I like the idea of being sort of unruly, because you’re brought up with these sorts of cultural expectations, especially as a woman, and comedy sort of breaks those a little bit, or you can lean into that.”

While Loera-Wiggins hopes her time in Chicago as a scholar could one day lead to publishing a book about her research, she has worked to create additional opportunities for representation in stand-up in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area during the completion of her Ph.D.

After returning to the area from Chicago, the Ypsilanti resident inherited Femme Feedback, a monthly comedy open mic in Ann Arbor that offers feedback for aspiring female, trans, and nonbinary comics.

While Femme Feedback has elements of a typical open mic where comedians can try out four to five minutes of new and old material, it also provides a teaching element courtesy of a headlining veteran comedian who gives feedback via written comments to less experienced joke tellers.

“It's one of the few places where we can talk directly to the femme and trans experience, where if we were to do this material elsewhere, we would get no reaction, or we're often kind of met with unfortunate circumstances,” Loera-Wiggins said. “So, this is definitely a safe place for people to do that. My goal as the producer is for femme and trans comedians to know how to advocate for themselves and their own needs.”

Loera-Wiggins will showcase what Femme Feedback is all about during a special showcase hosted during this week’s Tree Town Comedy Festival at 7:15 pm on Thursday, March 5, at 212 South Fourth Avenue in Ann Arbor.

Produced and hosted by Loera-Wiggins, The Femme Showcase will feature eight female comedians from across the country, several of whom have previously served as feedback givers for Femme Feedback, Loera-Wiggins said.

Featuring female comedians Ella Horwedel, Sam Rager, Patty Rooney, Mary Spencer, Madison Thomas, Raegan Niemela, Sonal Aggarwal, and Katie Kincaid, Loera-Wiggins said she hopes the showcase will provide a window into how Femme Feedback works and how many great trans and femme comedians there are in Michigan.

“I hope, especially if comics who have done Femme Feedback in the past, that they come to the Femme Showcase, the goal is also for them to see: This is how a featured act goes, and this is how I can tighten up my material, because a lot of comedy is consuming comedy,” she said. “I hope that people see that we have a really deep bench of femme comedians that are just killing it everywhere.”

Born and raised in Paradise, California, Loera-Wiggins, who is Mexican, said there weren’t many female or Hispanic comedians to look up to as a child. Her interest in the Latina stand-up community was first piqued when she saw a Zoom performance of comedian Gwen La Roka during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

The performance inspired her to better understand how Latina comedians are striving to create a scene for themselves, which is what led to her Ph.D. pursuit at the University of Michigan. While immersing herself in this scene in Chicago was insightful, it also exposed her to a world that can be misogynistic toward women and harbor anti-Latinx hostility.

of “I think it's just really important to show how community is sustained through stand-up comedy, and also what takes place on stage, which is being super creative, being a little vulgar,” Loera-Wiggins said. “Especially now, the scene is kind of, I wouldn't say suffering, but people have sort of stopped appearing on stage so publicly, so there's limitations, and that has to do with citizenship and the political moment.”

Beyond diving into the experiences of Latina comedians, Loera-Wiggins said she has worked to develop her own unique voice as a comedian through a busy schedule packed with open mics and paid shows in Ann Arbor.

Sporting an Instagram handle of @_mucusgracias, Loera-Wiggins described her comedy as quirky, sweet, and silly, often focusing jokes around family and identity.

“With finding my own voice, I've actually done that with other comedians from their feedback,” she said. “It's very much like both communities—both the Latinas scene and Ann Arbor scene especially—are really helpful in giving feedback, because there is a structure in writing a joke that takes a lot of time and honing. I have different audiences, and I'm always trying to translate my project, too. But one is just ultimately, like, what do I think is funny, and then how can I communicate that to a paying audience?”

Martin Slagter is a writer and reporter with 18 years of experience in print and digital media. He also writes about Michigan-based music in his weekly newsletter Radio Amor.

The Tree Town Comedy Festival runs March 4-7 at four venues: The Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase, The Blind Pig, Bløm Mead + Cider, and hear.say brewing + theater. There are more than 30 comedians scheduled to perform; you can see the full list here. Visit treetowncomedy.com for tickets, showtimes, and more information.