When asked about his upbringing, Carlos “Cahrlos” Hernandez doesn’t hesitate. “I was born in Mexico, but my parents are Cuban,” he says, “so I can jump and swim really well.” It’s that razor-sharp wit and effortless delivery that distinguish the 28-year-old comedian, who is best known locally as the outrageous host of the Only in Dade (@onlyindade) social media channel that boasts more than 2 million followers.
Hernandez has interviewed such celebrities as Brazilian singer Anitta, Inter Miami CF co-owner David Beckham, and rapper/record executive Rick Ross—and he makes both his subjects and audience burst out laughing. “I want [celebrities] to feel comfortable and to be seen as real people, so I treat them as I would anybody else,” says Hernandez, recalling the time he asked Spanish musician Rosalía to teach him how to re-create her viral gum-chewing meme.
It’s hard for Hernandez to pinpoint a time when comedy wasn’t his passion. As a kid in Mexico, he watched the ’90s Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan & Kel (dubbed in Spanish), and it inspired him to concoct antics to make his sister and parents crack up.
“I was like 9 years old and would pretend to break-dance poorly just to make my family laugh,” Hernandez says. “I was a fan of comedy from afar, but secretly I always wanted to be one of the people actually doing comedy.”
After moving to Miami at age 10 and attending middle and high school in Miami Lakes, Hernandez graduated from Florida International University “in something that had nothing to do with comedy,” he says. At 21, he found himself working in cybersecurity, sitting inside a server room looking up comedy classes at Just the Funny Theater on Coral Way. For most of his classmates, improv was just a hobby. For Hernandez, it was more. “I told the teacher to be hard on me, that I’m taking this seriously, and that this is what my career is going to be,” he recalls.
Hernandez’s career took off slowly as he balanced a full-time position with evening comedy and improv classes. After touring festivals with his improv group, Hernandez segued into stand-up comedy and building his brand. He appeared in local shows and at comedy nights across South Florida, including Taurus in Coconut Grove. Amid the pandemic, Hernandez auditioned for American Idol on a whim. Though he’s “not a singer by any means,” Hernandez used his improv skills to prank the judges with a portrayal of Yurisbel, an upbeat Cuban rapper who performed “Fireball” by Pitbull. (“Yurisbel is basically just a more human version of me,” Hernandez kids.)
Last year, Hernandez quit his job to pursue comedy full-time. Sure, there’s the heckling and relentless reworking of material, but it’s his childhood dream come true. He has opened for comedians such as Michael Rapaport, Damon Wayans, Matt Rife, Pete Davidson, Ricky Velez, Aida Rodriguez, and Craig Robinson. This year, he booked shows in Ohio, Los Angeles, and New York, and appeared in films, online series, and national commercials. “I’ve gotten to work with a few comedians that I really like,” Hernandez says. “I would have been proud just to be in the same room as these people and now I get to rub shoulders with them.”
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