When U.S. Army Capt. Isaura Ramirez retired from the military, transitioning to civilian life proved to be challenging.
She found herself in a dark place, but later saw the light when she discovered her flair as a stand-up comedian through the Armed Services Arts Partnership.
Now, Ramirez is working with other veterans to help them also find their stride beyond the military.
Ramirez, a native of Puerto Rico spent 13 years in the Army before being medically discharged in 2014. She is among the first to graduate from the Armed Services Arts Partnership’s Comedy Bootcamp class two years ago.
Sam Pressler, its executive director, started the partnership while he was a student at the College of William & Mary as a way to support veterans. He wanted to provide a platform to showcase the veterans’ talents through music, comedy, and other art forms, and allowing them to integrate with ease into the community post-military.
The idea for ASAP stemmed in part from personal tragedy, after one of Pressler’s uncles committed suicide.
“I use humor as my means to cope in traumatic situations,” Pressler said.
After hearing about mental health challenges local veterans sometimes face, Pressler felt compelled to help. He started off by establishing a writing seminar program for veterans, which became the William & Mary Center for Veterans Engagement.
The center offered writing, music, and comedy classes for veterans and eventually evolved into ASAP. The nationally-recognized program serves veterans in Hampton Roads and the Washington DC area, and empowers its alumni to become artistic leaders in their communities.
The ASAP gives veterans an outlet “to tell their stories, and gives the public a better understanding of who they are,” Pressler said. “Isaura is great at telling her story. It’s been an inspiration watching her go through the program.”
Ramirez signed on after encouragement from her husband, Armando Velasquez, a fellow veteran whom she met while they were both stationed in Germany. The pair, who have a young daughter, retired to Williamsburg and opened a business in Suffolk, but Ramirez soon became overwhelmed and depressed. Her husband noticed a flyer about ASAP in a coffeehouse and convinced her to give it a try.
“It gave her something to take her mind off things, and really helped her out,” Velasquez said. “She really took to it. It changed her life.”
Ramirez found fodder for her comedy skits through her unique perspective in the Army as a minority female.
“My Army experience was not your typical experience,” she said. “It’s been rewarding for me to get on stage and connect with people. When people laugh at your jokes, that means they understand you, they connect with you. That’s what I love about it. It makes me feel like I have a purpose.”
Feedback from the Comedy Bootcamp class was so positive that Ramirez decided to pursue comedy as a second career. She’s started the business Latina Laughs with her husband as her manager and has performed at numerous venues both locally and across the country.
She routinely takes the stage at Cozzy’s Comedy Club and Tavern in Newport News as well as in Virginia Beach and Richmond. Ramirez has also appeared in Miami, Tampa, New York City and at the White House. She was featured in a PBS documentary about ASAP’s Comedy Bootcamp.
“I never thought I’d be asked to perform again,” Ramirez said. “I feel like a teenager when I am up on stage.”
Ramirez is so grateful for her experience through ASAP that she now volunteers with the program. She’s helped develop a curriculum for the comedy classes, and just wrapped up her second gig as a comedy instructor.
“ASAP has been so supportive,” she said. “Being able to use my talent to help other people has been very rewarding. It’s great motivation.”
Ramirez also enjoys expressing herself through Latino dance and writing. She has a trip planned soon to Los Angeles to participate in a writers’ workshop for veterans. Her hope is to one day pen a sitcom.
“My dream job is to be a comedy writer,” she said. “We will see where this all takes me.”
To view some of Ramirez’s comedy, click here.
For more information on the Armed Services Arts Partnership, visit asapasap.org. For more information on Latina Laughs, visit latinalaughs.com.
Read more profiles of local residents in WYDaily’s section In Our Hometown.
