About

Esteban Gast is a comedian, writer, and host. 

Esteban is Colombian, was raised in Puerto Rico and Illinois, and lives in LA. He is co-creator and co-host of Identity at Play, a Spotify Original podcast featured in Insider and Remezcla. He is the host of "Comedians Conquering Climate Change, a podcast that was called "irreverent but aspirational" by Variety. He was the host of Hyundai Highways, a travel series using only an electric car. He was the star of Jungletown, a TV show airing on VICELAND. He's the creator and host of a variety of educational-focused series, including On a Different Note, Nothing Is Boring, and Third Culture Conversations.

Esteban is the co-creator of the Climate Comedy Cohort, creating a first-of-its-kind program connecting comedians to climate experts and giving money, production support, and entertainment connections to empower comedians to create comedy around the climate crisis. The work from the cohort was featured in a live tour and on Comedy Central. Esteban's work has been written about in The Guardian, Grist, NPR, and others. 

With the skills gained as a standup comedian and his years in the classroom, Esteban is a gifted communicator who loves breaking down complex issues.

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Esteban's event was great, we had a small but engaged crowd (tough time of year to really bring out a huge group). Esteban was so easy to work with and we enjoyed his event immensely. Thank you!

Leann Adams
Director of Student Activities
Whitman College

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Bestselling Author of Permanent Midnight and I, Fatty

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popular programs

SEEING OURSELVES: CREATING ART THAT REPRESENTS THE LATIN AMERICAN DIASPORA
As a Colombian-American kid, Esteban moved to Chicago in elementary school. Suddenly he didn’t meet too many people that looked like him. When he went home and watched movies or TV, he still didn’t see too many people like him on screen. Worse, the ones he saw represented an incomplete part of his culture - to the point that Esteban was ashamed to have the name Esteban. Latin Americans make up 20% of the American population and account for 30% of movie tickets sold, yet they only appear as 5.4% of movie leads and 5.7% of any on screen roles. A culture that doesn’t see itself on screen in their own country is made to feel invisible and unimportant.

Now, as the host of Spotify Original’s “Identity at Play,” a show exploring Latin American identity and culture, along with SoulPancake’s “Third Culture Conversations,” Esteban is focused on telling stories (and helping others tell stories) to create mirrors for those in society who don’t see themselves. 

In this talk, he dives into his personal journey and offers an expansive framework for how to tell representative stories. He also asks meaningful questions about the stories we believe about ourselves, how those show up in the art we create, and the stories we tell to the world. If stories are how we shape the world around us, how can we be more intentional about finding and telling better stories in our everyday life. What are steps all of us can take to make others feel seen and heard? 

​This talk is for everyone - not just those in performing arts - because in this digital era we are all storytellers. Sharing the “3-P” approach to representation—Presence, Prominence, and Portrayal—Esteban challenges listeners to create a world where all feel seen and heard. 
Diversity Matters: New Thinking For a More Inclusive World
Soon after his move to LA, Esteban realized Hollywood has a real diversity problem. 87% of film & television writers are white men, and though Latinx/Hispanic audiences buy 25% of movie tickets, only 6% of the speaking roles found in last year's top-grossing 250 movies were played by Latinx/Hispanic people.
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He went about making change in the way he saw others make changes; he starred in a TV show that featured Latin Americans positively, worked with the cast of Jane The Virgin, and created and worked on other value-aligned shows.

However, he began viewing diversity and inclusion as more of a systemic issue that can’t be solved by individual high-achievers. He co-founded the screenplay production platform Scriptd, which takes a data-driven tech-first approach to diversity, building tools and exploring comprehensive data to tell stories that reflect the world we live in. 90% of scripts optioned from Scriptd have been written by women and people of color. In order to build a more inclusive future, we have to move beyond emotional and moral arguments and simply look at data concerning the world around us.

In this optimistic talk, he details his journey and gives tangible insights on how to think about diversity & inclusion so we might reconsider how anyone can approach emotionally-charged issues we care about.

Program Run Time: 45 min + 15 min Q&A
THE SERIOUS POWER OF SILLY: HOW JOY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
​As young people feel the effects of multiple crises, what are strategies we can use to make a positive change in the world? Are there many ways to make a difference in the world? And how does joy fit into all of this?

In this talk, Esteban shows how storytelling and silliness can  help us cope with and tackle some of the world's most urgent problems. According to research from American University, hope and humor have a unique ability to inspire people into action - and should be used more in social movements, motivation, and teambuilding. Inspired by these findings, Esteban shares his framework for using humor and levity as a mechanism for social change. 

In the talk, he walks through his “Joy Paradigm,” a shift from conventional thinking about how we create positive change. Guided by research that connection and joy sustain movements and work, Esteban walks the participants through exercises in reframing, connecting, and cultivating a sense of whimsy into meaningful work. This talk offers inspiration and actionable steps for people from all walks of life who are inspired to make the world a better place - or even more meaningfully connect with their work.

Pulling from his diverse career, as co-founder of the Climate Comedy Cohort and host of Spotify Original podcast “Identity at Play,” as well as sharing his thoughts on comedy as a mechanism for source of social change with ABC Nightline and NPR’s Science Friday, Esteban provides a hilarious talk meant to inspire, educate, and reflect on what “making a difference” can actually look like. ​

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Working with Esteban was a great experience for all of us! Esteban did an excellent job tailoring his performance to his audience. He asked questions about campus before he went on stage in order to tie that info into his comedy set. He made a lot of references about Texas State, and he did amazing at building a connection with the students.

Rigo Gutierrez
Coordinator for Campus Activities
​Texas State University

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Bestselling Author of Permanent Midnight and I, Fatty

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LA Times: Meet the comedians telling hilarious jokes about climate change

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Bestselling Author of Permanent Midnight and I, Fatty

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