Instagram Story Viewer

Hey everyone, I need your help!

A lot of you may not know this, but I’m in grad school!

I’m doing an MFA in Creative Writing at Chapman University!

(I may get a MA in English too!)

It’s my second semester right now, and I need to come up with some funds for urgent administrative fees I need to pay very soon.

I mean I also need money for books, coffee, and gas, so I appreciate help with that too!

Anything you can throw my way is appreciated, so please donate whatever you can.

You can Venmo me at @Fernando-Funes-1.

And if you have my phone number you can Zelle me.

(You can DM me for my phone number)

Other ways to support me?

I’ll be teaching sketch and improv again very soon, so keep an eye out for classes. I can also coach your improv group, direct your sketch team, or do private coaching for all things writing and comedy.

Or if you need help with a piece of writing, I’m more than happy to sit down with you and give you feedback on your college papers, poems, essays, short stories, or whatever – I’m here to help.

So if you can help me out, I’d really appreciate it!

This is the first week of school, so I have to get on this!

Doing this MFA super low budget, so I have to scrimp and save to pay for it when I don’t have enough work to cover urgent fees.

Appreciate any help you can throw my way!

#writer #poet #writer #mfa #gradstudent

Poem 143 for 2026

The more tired you,
the more rest you need.
And the rest you don't take now
is the burnout you'll face later.

143.2026 #poem #burnout

Poem 142 for 2026

Doing something really hard
reveals parts of you
that needed the challenge
to be brought out;
that's why you do those crazy pushes
on yourself – to discover more of
who you are.

142.2026 #poem #challenge

Poem 141 for 2026

What is it about leaving that requires finality? 
Not implies finality, nor hints at finality, but equals finality.
I guess it’s the idea that you can’t go back to what you left
because it means you return to the conditions that caused 
You to leave in the first place. 

I guess that begs the question why people go back to toxic partners or stay in toxic situations, or give themselves over to abuse from loved ones who insist on loving them while hurting them? 

Sometimes you don’t leave a situation, but a situation leaves you, and although you’re the better for it, you can’t help feel like the choice was ripped from out of you just as you thought about it every day. 

I don’t miss my toxic family. I thank God for their absence. 
I would never return to that, not even for “closure,” or money unless we’re talking about an inheritance that requires some kind of Scooby Doo-like adventure! 

But back to seriousness. 
Leaving is choosing you over everyone else, 
and that’s why you gotta do it when the time calls for an exit. 

141.2026 #poem #exit

Poem 140 for 2026

I've been watching a lot of
delulu Instagram videos
targeted towards women
telling them that the Black Sheep
is the chosen one.
I know there for women
because half of them end with
"Girl this is for you."

I guess the algorithm is giving me more
of what I want, a literal case of
what you put in is what you get out.
What I would really love is for my crush
to become my partner, and to get a nice pep talk
from that older male co-worker
who has been there and done that.
I guess my daddy issues are showing,
but there's something to the wisdom
of a teacher or a coach without the baggage
of a parent or the dread of a relative you
can't stand.

But the videos are all like,
"Your time is coming," "Chosen ones eat last,"
and "Leaders are healers," or stuff like that.
Now I'm not trying to throw shade on these videos.
But it's like having a donut without motherloving
strong coffee. For every "Dream crazy because
we're living in crazy times," I need a "You're
executive dysfunction is your shadow self
come to end your lineage."
Even that seems a little much, like having a
Vietnamese Iced Coffee with a Maple Donut.

What if it's a simpler video than that, like,
"Make sure to put gas when you're at a 1/4 tank,"
or, "Bake in your commute into clocking in on time."
You know, stuff like that.

Maybe I can split the difference with horoscope reels
saying stuff like, "Scorpio: don't forget to do a smog check
during this Full Moon." Or "Water Signs: the energy
I'm reading right now is that you're tired
and you need 8 hours of sleep." Or "Fixed signs:
your ex is coming back because they couldn't find
anyone better nor could you, so make it work
because you're both on the wrong side of 30."

I want to be delulu while being practical.
I want the benefits of being boring
while coming off exciting. Is that what having money is?
Since you don't have to worry about money
you just do whatever you want, so you do boring things
like chill, eat good food, read good books, and hangout?"
Is that what I've been missing this whole time?
Is money really the key to happiness?
It is! We all know it! I'm delulu for that moolah

140.2026 #poem #delulu

Poem 139 for 2026

First you bite the chocolate
Then you drink the coffee
The sweetness followed by the bitter.
It's the kind of balance that people call harmony.

139.2026 #poem #coffee #chocolate

Today is the best day of the month because it’s Duo It Again day! 

What is Duo It Again? 

Elevator pitch: 1 duo does a scene and then 20+ other duos do their version of it or something related! It’s a big multiverse that begins and ends in under an hour featuring improvisers from all over LA! And it’s LA’s biggest improv show too! Check it out! 

Phew! 

(Just imagine that I delivered that in one breath at full speed!) 

Duo It Again for Dummies: it’s long form made up of short form scenes. There! 

And it’s going to be a special one as we got some special guests: 2 Shrinks 1 License – Kristen Gull and Allison Smith. 

I can’t think of two better folks better suited to host the show than these two, Kristen being my regular co-host, and Allison being a Duo It Again stalwart, and both good friends. 

Also, we got over 20 duos from all over LA’s improv scene! 

It’s going to be wild and unpredictable, yet it’s all going to make sense in the end – just like a fever dream. 

So come check it out! 

Duo It Again 43 is tonight, May 19 at 7:30pm at The Lyric Hyperion. 

Tickets are just $5. 

#duoitagain #improv #lyrichyperion #community #duoprov

Poem 138 for 2026

Do you ever feel like chocolate
who hasn't found their peanut butter?

138.2026 #poem #chocolate #peanutbutter

Poem 137 for 2026

How is your metacognition?
How many improv shows did it take you
to detach from your body
and view yourself on stage
from the outside
as if you were Dr. Strange
doing an astral projection
from the Sanctum Sanctorum
WHILE still making choices
based on audience feedback,
what your scene partner is giving you,
and what feels right and true to your character
and the reality you've established?

Well, I hate to break it to you:
I'm not completely in the moment.
I have to manage a lot of inputs at once
while making sure my outputs
honor what has come before
WHILE taking in the energy of everything:
how am I feeling? How was my day?
What's worrying me? How is my scene partner?
Is stuff from their personal life weighing them down?
What about the audience? Why are they here?
Are they digging this, or are we losing them?
We have them! Great! Let's not lose them!
What about the venue? Are they digging us?
How much time do we have left in our set
vs how much time we have to say goodbye vs
how much time before the venue has to turn
the room around for the next show? Did we get a picture?
Is the picture good? Make sure to take more pictures?
Post the picture. Tag everyone. Have decent copy.

Well at some point the improviser
crosses over into the producer,
and that's another level of metacognition:
it's two Dr. Stranges astral projecting from
two different Sanctum Sanctorums in two different
West Villages in two different Manhattans
fighting the same villains but in different ways.

I prefer playing without being a producer,
but I've learned how to play while being a producer.
So what's the gist? I manage energy by taking in
all the energy around me, and I adjust and pivot constantly
depending on what the moment needs
and the context will support. I'm plugged into everyone
and everything, and for better or worse,
I can no longer turn it off.

137.2026

#poem #improv #metacognition #stage #performer

PC: Renata Shayk

Duo It Again 43 is here! 

And it’s going to be an extra special one because we’re changing things up a bit with Kristen Gull and Allison Smith hosting! 

Alas, I can’t make it because of grad school, but Kristen and Allison are going to hold it down and put on a great show! 

We got a good mix of new duos and old duos, and some remixes! 

Oh yeah! I forgot to answer this super important question – what is Duo It Again? 

Duo It Again is a show where 20+ duos do the same scene over and over! 

So it’s like a big game of telephone that gets really surreal and meta, and it’s just something you gotta see to believe! 

So come check it out! 

Here are your duos for Duo It Again 43! 

Sibling Ribaldry (Molly Sharp + Jack Sharp) 

Minette (Justine Racyzy + Chris Skelton)

AC/BC (Aaron Caponigro + Bill Chott) 

Julio Urquidi + Mai Tai 

Las Romanticas (Gloria De León + Ingrid Tobar)

Janet Davidson + Amanda Blake Davis 

David Auspitz and Richard Anderson

Purse Chair (Jennie Roberson + Nina Lucy Locke)

Steven Getz + Stephen Sullivan

Russian Blush ((Jennie Roberson + Megh McLaughlin)

Kyle and Nithya 

London Smith + Jason Luna 

Baldwin & Weiss 

Extra Cheese (Grant & Troy)

Dino Kao + Ellis Meng 

Shaun Cruz + Miguel Nuñez

Same Lips Same Cup (Michael Ornellas + Lee Gordon)

Jason Waszak + A Mystery Partner 

Sidetracked (Andie Sloan + Andrew Soulès)

Elvis Ali +  Kyle Berthusen 

Bryan Saunders + Hayden Plunkett

🎯Hosted by 2 Shrinks 1 License – Kristen Gull + Allison Smith 🎯

Duo It Again 43 is on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30pm at The Lyric Hyperion. 

#duoitagain #improv #ferngully #lyrichyperion #duoprov

Poem 136 for 2026

What do I have to offer?
Myself, including my baggage,
my BS, my trauma, my gifts,
my magic, my miracles.
You have to take the good with the bad,
but the good news is
I want the same from you:
All of you

136.2026 #poem #self

PC: Renata Shayk

Unstable Attention Shift: An Increasingly Unreproducible Class Show https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unstable-attention-shift-an-increasingly-unreproducible-class-show-tickets-1989266760430?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=wsa&aff=ebdsshwebmobile