Aida Rodriguez | Bob Saget's Here For You

In November of 2021 the very first one hour special of Aida Rodriguez arrived on HBO Max, called, "Fighting Words". I watched it and was hooked. Obviously, years had gone into making a comedian this savvy and honest and, oh, yes, funny. She got to me on every level. This is a special woman with a very clear and brave path.

In the special, she takes to the stage to address today’s audiences about cancel-culture and the social issues of the day, not just because they’re ripped from the headlines, but because they are in the pages torn out of her personal life. Her family members are in attendance at this show shot in The Bronx. The plan was for her to meet her biological father, whom she met for the first time, on camera.

The hour concludes with a travel documentary of Aida’s trips to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic directed by award-winning Puerto Rican documentarian Nadia Hallgren (Michelle Obama’s "Becoming"). The doc celebrates Rodriguez’s vibrant Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage as the cameras capture her reuniting with her estranged father and paying it forward for up-and-coming comedians. 

Aida is also presently developing her own half hour comedy series with HBO Max based on her own incredible life story, which includes surviving two kidnappings, sexual abuse, and a period of homelessness with her children. The series is co-written and Executive Produced by Rodriguez, Chris Case (Showtime’s "Flatbush Misdemeanors") and Nastaran Dibai (Netflix’s "Dear White People").

In 2019, Aida’s half hour special premiered on Netflix’s hit comedy series "They Ready", Executive Produced by Tiffany Haddish and Wanda Sykes. In reviews, Esquire Magazine declared “This is Rodriguez's genius—using comedy to turn pain into progress, to give voice to the voiceless, and to laugh instead of cry.”

I loved my conversation with this talented, driven person, who I had the pleasure of meeting through this podcast. That, for me, is the gift of doing