Valley Stream native JC Mendoza draws on his upbringing, family and relationships for his comedy. Known on Instagram and TikTok as peachfuzzpapi, Mendoza co-hosts the podcast Soft Launch with his wife, fellow comedian Samantha Santos, and continues to develop new comedy projects while embracing his Long Island roots.
Q: How did growing up in Valley Stream shape you and your perspective on the world?
A: I grew up in Valley Stream in the ’90s, born and raised. I went to Clearstream Avenue Elementary School, Memorial Junior High School and Valley Stream Central High School.
I feel like the most important part of how Valley Stream shaped me was growing up there during that time. I feel like Valley Stream was super diverse. I think it was one of the first towns to experience what people call white flight, and my family was there early on. I grew up around a lot of diversity, not just different people of color, but different types of white people, too.
When I went to St. John’s University, I watched it be a culture shock for so many people to be around that many different types of people. I didn’t experience that because it was what I grew up with. That’s the biggest thing I remember taking away from growing up.
Q: How did your childhood and family experiences influence your sense of humor and your approach to comedy?
A: Everything I do in comedy is informed by my childhood, my family and growing up. You learn how to make light of situations when your parents are going through a divorce. Humor becomes a driving force in tense moments, helping alleviate some pressure.
I remember feeling that pressure a lot when I was younger. Marriage is hard, and marriage is hard without three kids. Divorce is hard, and figuring out your lifestyle as a grown-up with three children is difficult. I remember very clearly how intense it felt, and I would try to alleviate that tension by cracking a joke.
A lot of my comedy comes from stories from my childhood and my takes on marriage now that I’m in one, compared with what I remember watching my parents go through.
Q: Did you always envision yourself pursuing comedy or building a presence on social media?
A: Honestly, growing up, I thought I was going to be a professional baseball player. If you saw my high school batting average, you would understand why that would be a great story to tell.
I always thought I was going to be an athlete. It wasn’t until I got to college and started meeting more creative people that I realized you could live a different kind of lifestyle and chase something a little different. I never felt like an office 9-to-5 job was for me. I always thought it was going to be sports, but meeting people in college showed me it didn’t have to look traditional, and it didn’t have to be sports. That’s where I found the arts.
I did that all the way through college. Those impressions were things I used to make other people think I was cool. It was always present in my life, but it wasn’t until I was about 25 or 26 that I realized it was something I could do.
Q: Do you remember the first time your comedy took off on social media?
A: I’m still looking for that big breakout that will really change my life, but I remember the first video I posted that went super viral. I actually reposted it a couple of days ago. It was about teaching in Brooklyn.
The video went huge and was picked up by a couple of big Instagram pages that feature viral New York content. I gained about 30,000 followers from that one video, and that was amazing. It was like a shot of adrenaline.
At the same time, the video went viral among the students I was talking about, which made doing my job as a teacher in Brooklyn very difficult. While I was experiencing a really fun upturn in my creative career, it presented an interesting challenge in my career.
I’m grateful for it. I thought it was a lot of fun.
Q: You co-host the podcast Soft Launch with your wife, Samantha Santos. How did that project come about?
A: “Soft Launch” is my podcast with my wife, Samantha Santos, who is also a stand-up comedian. That’s our baby. It’s my favorite thing to do. We put out an episode every Wednesday on podcast streaming platforms.
My wife and I spend so much of our day having long conversations, whether we’re going to shows or walking our dog. Our whole relationship has been one long conversation, so we thought we should put it on camera and let other people get a peek into it.
We love it. It feels more like two best friends having an adventure than a traditional husband-and-wife podcast focused on relationship advice.
