Modesto-raised comic Marcella Arguello grows up with first TV comedy special for HBO Max
If you went to Teel Middle School with Marcella Arguello and turn on HBO Max this Friday, you’ll likely experience a hilarious blast from the past.
The first solo comedy special from the Modesto-raised comic premieres Friday on HBO Max. The 2002 Johansen High graduate’s half-hour show on the premium streaming service spans the gamut, from pandemic dating to the ever-present questions about her height.
But folks who knew Arguello back in her middle school days in Modesto will no doubt recognize the Michael Jackson impression in her special. It’s been one she has been honing for decades, when she would entertain classmates with her moonwalk and other impersonations of the pop superstar.
The brash and blunt performer, who in 2019 released her first comedy album “The Woke Bully,” pulls no punches in her comedy yet always shares love for her hometown.
“I always tell people I am who I am because I grew up in Modesto,” Arguello said in a recent phone interview. “I think that a lot of comics they want to go to New York, LA or San Francisco to do comedy, which is normal. But you learn about how people really are in some of these smaller towns, even though Modesto is larger — but you still get that small-burb vibe. I think Modesto is very reflective of how Middle America is. When I’m on the road, I’m in Modesto over and over again.”
Arguello, who in 2009 took home the first-ever best comedian trophy at the Modesto Area Music Association Awards, has spent almost two decades making people laugh professionally. In 2015 she made her national television debut on “Last Call with Carson Daly.”
Since then she has hosted the Tubi viral video series “The Cache,” written for shows like TBS’s “Drop the Mic” and Netflix’s “Bill Nye Saves the World,” and appeared on Fuse TV’s new show “We Need To Talk About America” and the Comedy Central game show “@midnight.” She also continues to host her regular LA comedy showcase “Women Crush Wednesday.”
Her first album, released a year before the pandemic started, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Comedy Charts and was named by the NPR podcast “Bullseye” as one of the best comedy albums of 2019.
But the comic’s world was rocked when the COVID-19 outbreak began and nightclubs across the country went dark.
“My career, basically a lot of careers not just in comedy, was put on hold,” Arguello said. “I was really spooked for a second there. But I’ve done comedy for 17 years now, so I’ve been doing it long enough to know you have to roll with the punches. I know I’m a better comedian because I had to adapt to new circumstances.”
That also means she has a wealth of material at her fingertips, so when HBO Max contacted her about filming a special on short notice, she was ready. She was given about a month to prepare for her first TV special.
Arguello put the show together with all new material. It helped that she had been working on her follow-up comedy album at the time. But she said the audience at her live recording for the album recently in Colorado was off, and she felt “terrible” about the results. So she worked on them, and when HBO Max called she was ready.
The special title, “Bitch, Grow Up!,” is as much about her as it is about other people, she said. It opens with the inevitable discussions of her height (She’s 6 feet, 2 inches tall) and discusses her Salvadorean roots, her new relationship and her quest to be a better person. That included dusting off and perfecting one of her longest-running bits — her King of Pop impersonation.
“I got my Michael Jackson in there, finally. I always wanted to put it in something, but it’s such a visual joke,” she said. “I’ve been saving it obviously since I was a child. It’s one of my favorite bits.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
