Lower Classy

Cristela Alonzo begins her first Netflix special with a joke about wanting to break the glass ceiling but also wanting to clean it. That balance between soaring ambition and working-class reality sets the tone for an hour recorded at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre in San Antonio. Alonzo, who had recently seen her self-titled ABC sitcom canceled, uses the stage to talk about the economic and cultural realities of growing up poor in South Texas as a first-generation American.\n\nThe set leans heavily on cultural observation and political reality, arriving just after the 2016 election. She tackles the absurdity of the proposed border wall by suggesting immigrants would just dig tunnels, critiques white girls wearing cornrows, and tells a story about her family’s confusion over an expensive Bloomingdale’s purse. The show balances these lighter, physical bits with a vulnerable tribute to her late mother. Alonzo shifts the audience from genuine sadness back to laughter quickly, showing an ability to ground her material in actual grief without losing the room.