How did a Guatemalan-American shy gurl become a top banana?

In 2nd Grade at Our Lady of Peace, a private Catholic school located deep in the San Fernando Valley, Janeva drew a highly realistic and beautiful portrait. Her classmate Richard (lest we forget his name) quickly drew a cartoon. On this fateful day, the students applauded Richard’s funny drawing preferring it over Janeva’s masterpiece of realism. While her ego was burned, a seed was planted: humor speaks to the masses.

Earning a full-tuition scholarship, Janeva studied Fine Art at the prestigious Cooper Union in NYC where she created many more boring masterpieces and graduated with honors. Then, curveball. She was serendipitously cast as the star of the feature film “La Voz de los Silenciados”. This project was a turning point.

But it wasn’t till she was pushing 30, after lots of therapy, globe-trotting, and the stability of a loving partnership, that she could even fathom trying comedy. She dove into improv (didn’t love it), but it was her gateway drug to stand-up!

Inspired by her identity crisis as a first-gen Latina, Janeva wrote the comedy pilot “Más Latina” which she also produced, co-directed, and starred in. Through a killer festival run, she found producing partners to pitch an updated version of the series, and she is developing a slate of other projects. Her work centers on womxn, embraces poetic absurdity, celebrates the underdog, and flips stereotypes.

In 2022, Janeva reconnected with stand-up and launched an ongoing show, First Dibs Comedy, which she produces, performs on, and often hosts. The show takes place in Lake Arrowhead, CA, where Janeva now lives. Her hobbies include milking sheep and building sheds. Well, the comedy show part is true.