PROFILE TOMAS CARRASCO : Homeboy Debut : The satirist leads Chicano Secret Service in its guerrilla attacks on racism, politics, social stereotypes--and Oxnard.

By CAROL WEINSTOCK

April 16, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Chicano Secret Service plans to pack some extra punch lines when it performs at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard on April 24. The added wallop will come from Tomas Carrasco, Oxnard homeboy.

Carrasco, one of the troupe’s three comics who lampoon racism, politics and social stereotypes, is writing new material for his hometown debut.

“Oxnard has its own culture and lingo,” he said during a recent interview at his parents’ home in South Oxnard. Anything from cruising and fast food to city government and the immigrant-vs.-Chicano, white-beach-society- vs.-agricultural-workers split will be targets for Carrasco and CSS’ guerrilla strikes.

Jabs at Oxnard will blend with jokes featuring Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (re-named Kahlua), raza rapper MC Chorizo, Linda Ronstadt, Edgar Allen Poe (re-baptized Posales), and George Bush. The group performs in English, although they throw in a lot of Spanish, most of it Chicano slang.

Carrasco, along with fellow comedians Eduardo Lopez and Elias Serna, delivers “in-your-face” Chicano humor.

“We’re about social change,” Carrasco said. “We deal with demographics: You must recognize us. You must respect us because we are America. America has never been all white and it never will be.”

They call their show “Locura Lo Cura,” “A Little Madness Will Cure It,” to emphasize that this crazy, mixed-up society is best swallowed with a dose of humor, Carrasco said.

They challenge their audiences with serious issues, but the message is transmitted through humor.

That way, Carrasco said, people “keep their ears and eyes open. Whereas if you hit them over the head with it, they’ll clam up.”

All three members of CSS grew up in Southern California barrios. Later, all were student activists. Their routines reflect their education as much as their socio-economic roots.

Lopez, 26, holds a master’s degree from UC Berkeley in architecture, and Serna, 24, completed a BA in English as a Second Language at Berkeley and is a published short-story writer.

Carrasco, 27, earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and Chicano studies and is completing a master’s in ethnic studies at San Francisco State, where he studied with 1960s black activist Angela Davis, now a professor.

“I thank God I do have the education because I can answer any intellectual from Harvard to Yale. They’re not going to intimidate me,” Carrasco said.

The group invites input at an open session after each show. Common criticisms are that the group is sexist, practices reverse discrimination and hates whites.

“Chicano culture is sexist, period. And we’re translating Chicano culture onstage,” Carrasco said, adding that he dislikes people paralleling sexism with racism. He denies that there is any such thing as reverse discrimination or that the group hates whites. “It’s not white people, it’s the system,” he said.

Gloria Urango of Oxnard, who has seen CSS perform in San Diego and Los Angeles, especially enjoyed the interchanges after the shows.

“Even more than the performance, I like the way they come out at the end and speak to the audience, and they never know what they’ll be asked,” she said. “It’s courageous.”

Besides playing to a paying crowd, Chicano Secret Service will perform free shows for students at Carrasco’s alma maters: Haydock Intermediate and Channel Islands High, plus other Oxnard schools.

“That’s our favorite thing to do: Balance it off. Get in the paying crowd but also go into the Chicano community and do a couple of shows for free,” Carrasco said.

Last June, CSS played at a local conference aimed at ending youth violence.

“They dressed like homeboys and parodied interactions on the street,” said Gabino Aguirre, principal of Community High School in Moorpark. “Our youngsters saw themselves there; I saw myself there, too. They showed that sometimes we’re so patterned in our interactions that we’re ridiculous.”

For Aguirre, CSS ranks second only to Teatro Campesino in providing an authentic Chicano theater experience, and he is looking forward to the Oxnard show.

“It’s healthy to laugh at yourself,” he said of the troupe’s act. “You need to look at yourself objectively, which means sometimes you have to get upset with yourself and sometimes you laugh at yourself in order to grow. They do a very good job at that.”

Laughing at himself is something Carrasco has done since he was young. As the middle one of five siblings he had to get attention somehow.

“My defense was my mouth,” Carrasco said. He said he learned the art of exaggeration from his grandfather, a great storyteller and entertainer.

Carrasco pulls into the act his daily experiences with family and friends, stretching and embellishing them.

“To me, life’s an exaggeration,” he said.

But beyond the exaggeration is the message: “I want Chicano culture to be acknowledged and respected by mainstream society. That’s what we’re about.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

Chicano Secret Service will perform April 24 at 7 p.m. at Haydock Intermediate School, 647 W. Hill St., Oxnard. Opening act for CSS will be El Teatro Inlakech, which will perform two skits: “Viet Nam Blues” and “Garage Dogs.” Tickets will be available at the door at $7 for adults, $4 for students. For information, call 486-7468.

CHICANO TALK

Al rato: See you in a while; later

Aztlan: The U.S. Southwestern states taken from Mexico in 1848

Barrio: Mexican community

Carnal: Blood brother

Chingon: Brave and powerful person

Cholo: Homeboy

Gavacho: White Anglo-Saxon

Homeboy/homey: Raza brother

Orale/pongale: Spontaneous action

Pocho: A Chicano who speaks Spanish poorly

Raza: The indigenous Chicano people