Rachel Strauss-Muniz
Micheal Diaz
Ant Palmini
Jamie Fernandez
Jerry Diaz
Ariana Rodriguez
Andrew Casanova
Karina Ortiz
What is Room 28???
There is a saying in the Dominican Republic that when someone is insane they belong in "el cuarto veinte y ocho" (Room 28); a reference to the insane asylum located at the 28th milepost between the cities of Santiago and Santo Domingo. Here in the United States when you refer
to Room 28, you are being reminded of a similarly insane group of people—a collective of Hispanic comedic actors who are quickly taking the world of sketch comedy by storm.
Consisting of the “Core Five” players, Jaime Fernandez, Jerry “Elmo DiFoca” Diaz, Michael “Juan Bago” Diaz, Anthony Palmini and Rachel “La Loca” Strauss-Muniz, Room 28 and their supporting cast of up and coming actors brings laughter and bladder control issues to thousands of fans via filmed skits broadcasted through various outlets, including thoroughly-produced live shows, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Vine. Highlighting topics from subway R&B singers to Latino superheroes, Room 28 showcases humor in various situations—and the laughter is contagious. Everyone is now asking, "Who are these nuts in Room
28?" and more importantly, "How can I see more of them?” With a unique product offering, Room 28 has built quite the fan-base, which includes a diverse set of millennial tastemakers and influencers. Between a track record of consecutively SOLD OUT live shows between
2014 and 2015 and the creative and highly-produced web content, Room 28 is fulfilling the demand for high-quality, Latino-based comedy in the USA.
Now introducing ROOM 28...
Brooklyn native of both Dominican and Jewish-American heritage, Rachel Strauss-Muñiz, aka Loca La Boca has immersed herself within the world of media, including television, film, radio and stage. She has an admitted obsession with game shows--her enthusiasm caught the eye of television producers as she was selected to be a contestant on The Price is Right (ABC) and The Newlywed Game (GSN). Rachel has been casted in a celebrity spoof on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS), NuvoTV series, “Latino 101” and MTV’s “FNMTV”. She’s starred in documentaries such as HBO’s “Habla Ya” and “The Bigger the Hoop” (Latino Flavored Prod.). She was casted for the 2009 New York International Latino Film Festival TV spot, where she also served as a red carpet reporter for the festival. In 2011, the short film entitled “Act of Love” (Heightz Entertainment), where Rachel played the lead female role, was accepted into the same festival where it made its premier. On stage, Rachel was involved in a two runs “Please Hold” (Jenny Saldaña) which was featured in The 2009 Ultimate Latina Theater Festival and “The Crazy Mexican Show” (Alvador Saar Rios) which ran during the 2010 Ultimate Latina Theater Festival. She was part of the traveling cast of “Yo Soy Latina” (Latino Flavored Prod.). Rachel is known as Loca La Boca (The Crazy Mouth) on Internet radio’s “The Bochinche Bueno Show “(Good Gossip) where Loca La Boca served listeners with a dose of the latest dirt on the celebs we love to hate. Rachel is also very excited to have starred in web series’ such as “The Work Jerks (www.theworkjerks.com) and “Ungirly” ( http://ungirlythewebseries.com/). Check out her latest web series, entitled “Latino Field Studies”, as featured in Univiision’s, “Flama” channel. Rachel studied improv at The Upright Citizens Brigade.
As the oldest son to Dominican parents, Jerry Diaz, also known as "Elmo Difoca", began demonstrating signs of his artistic talent at an early age. After high school, Jerry decided to experiment with his creative talents, and began his performance career as part of a rap group called "The Pedigree." It was during his time with the group that Jerry's skill in both spoken word and writing began to flourish. His lyrical ability, combined with his humor caused his cousin, Michael Diaz, to ask if he'd be interested in acting. Jerry, reminded of the Academy Award speech he gave to his mother when he was four, decided to give acting a shot. In "Juan Bago,“ the movie, Jerry played two characters which ignited his inner acting bug. He went on to star in independent films such as "Hood Politics" and "The Jolopeo." But, it was his stage presence with the comedy troupe “Lose Control” that would allow Jerry to hone his skills in comedic acting, improvisation, writing and direction. After meeting actor and writer Jaime Fernandez in Lose Control, Jerry joined with him and Michael to create their own troupe, Room 28. Along with Jaime, his writing partner, Jerry also penned the script for the 2008 New York International Latino Film Festival promotional spot and also starred in it. Currently, Jerry is part of the creative team behind the parody duo "Juan Bago and O", helping to write their creative comedic concepts and the composing of songs. He can also been seen in many of their videos guest starring as various comedic characters.
Jaime Fernandez has been heavily involved in the New York City comedy circuit for the last ten years. At first a standup comedian, Jaime transitioned into acting in both live and filmed sketch comedy as a co-founder of the comedy troupe Room 28. He tested the waters of short and long form film in productions such as "The Ghouligans! MiniSeries, “Sandman’s Box,” “The Tickets", and “Arthouse Film." His TV credits include starring in HBO Latino’s series Habla Ya! Parts 1 & 2, being a commentator on the NUVOTV series "Latino 101", and appearing in commercials for Optimum Online and Jackson Hewitt. Jaime has also done numerous voiceover work including spots for Citibank, Tecate Beer, MIO Liquid Enhancer, and voicing the character of Armando in “Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony.” He has also written and acted in the webseries shows "Work Jerks" and "Studio Heads". He is currently the lead in the web series, "Henry" which recently made it to the New York Television Film Festival.
With his high energy physical style of comedy, Michael “Juan Bago” Diaz has evolved throughout the years into a versatile entertainer. In 2006, Michael wrote, produced and starred in his first independent film "The Story of Juan Bago." Which was in 3 film festivals The success of the slapstick humored film led to Michael’s involvement with various projects as a producer, actor and host. For years Diaz worked on Room 28 Comedy, where he served as both a producer and talent. He has studied at the famed Upright Citizens Brigade to perfect his comedy and improvisation skills. Consecutively, it led to his next up rise as cohost on The Bochinche Bueno Show on Urban Latino Radio for two years. He then worked on various projects ranging from producing and starring in the short film, “Act of Love” to working as a personality for Nuvotv’s series Latino101,MTV Tr3s Chisme Club & HBO Latino’s series Habla Ya! Parts 1 & 2. His Parody Group “Juan Bago and O” created the viral hits “Pan con Queso”, “Dominis in the Heights”, “Hooked on Hookah”. Coverage of his videos have been featured in The New York Daily News, Telemundo, Yahoo News, Billboard.com, and the video on rotation on Mun2, MtvTr3s and Music Choice while accumulating over 2 million views. Michael worked with Lipton and Remezlca to host Brisk Bodega Chat a series traveling the country interviewing up and coming artists. He produced and starred “Studio Heads webisodes which was featured in Daily news & Splitsider.com , a costar in the Award Winning Weberies “Henry” Check out his latest web series, entitled “Ask Bago”,featured in Univision’s, “Flama” channel.
Acting, doing stand up comedy to then being led into the world of directing and editing, entertaining comes natural for Anthony and the passion began early on with directing shorts and sending them off to film festivals. Anthony then set forth to learn everything there was about editing so he could not only write and direct his own projects but edit them as well. And finally his "Robert Rodriguez" like training was complete when he learned about how to compose for film. In the last 8yrs it finally came all together to make him have these set of "tools" that he’s able to bring not only to his own projects but to others as well. From composing music for independent films to leading the editing on MTV’s G”Guy Code” to directing all of Room 28’s promotional videos, Anthony always bring that complete knowledge of what it means to be a team player and what it means to deliver the best product at a fast paced turnaround.
Ariana Rodriguez is an Actress and Comedienne and based out of New York City. She studied at the historic American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and has been involved in entertainment for most of her life. She performs all over the city in comedy clubs, off-Broadway plays, Hosting/Emcee live events, and works as a full-time model. When Ariana is not on stage or on set, she's writing comedy/sketches/commercials for others and her very own comedy website ShesKindaFunny.com. She loves to share her love affair with comedy and immense passion for acting. Ariana would love to have you follow her work as she smiles for the camera and cracks jokes all the way to the top
Karina Ortiz was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She was the middle child and only girl among her two brothers. Due to her younger brother being diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby, her family moved to New York City when she was 4 years old in order to provide him with better care and opportunities. From a young age, Karina was always emotionally drawn to both music and acting resulting in her wanting to connect with the world by performing. Unfortunately, due to financial hardships her parents were not able to afford the training she needed. It was not until college where she was finally able to fully pursue acting and in 2009 she graduated with a BA in Theatre from The City College of New York. Upon graduating, she performed on Off-Broadway stages (Platanos and Collard Greens) but later focused on TV and film. Credits include 'Orange Is The New Black,' 'Blue Bloods,' and 'Do No Harm.' Twitter and Instagram: @itskarinaortiz, Vine: Karina Karina.
Andrew Casanova is an actor and 2011 graduate of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts: School of Film and Television. In the past 2 years, you may have seen Andrew in several commercials for the likes of: TripAdvisor, Bojangles’ Chicken, Kyocera with Bear Grylls, Daily News, Go Go Squeez and a national network spot for Verizon. Andrew can soon be seen as the lead role in the upcoming indie feature drama, Heroes Don’t Come Home, set to make waves in the festival circuit! Recently, Andrew also shot roles in several other projects including: HBO’s Codes of Conduct, directed by 12 Years A Slave director, Steve McQueen, the feature-length film/documentary entitled, Audition, and the teaser trailer for the feature film, An Evening with Donald Kempinski. Andrew is also a lyricist, music producer, hip-hop dancer and voice-over artist. When he is not acting, Andrew can be seen creating original comedic music videos like, “Subway Girls” and parodies like, “Pregnant Queen." Check out more info, footage and music at: andrewcasanova.com
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