[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]hen I first met Nick Ducassi, he was smoking a fat cigar. He was also wearing sunglasses and a straw hat and what appeared to be cruise wear. It was winter and we were standing in an apartment in Hollywood. But his energy sold the hell out of the 'fit. Also, Ducassi is a first-generation Cuban-American and this party we were at had big Little Havana vibes.
Ducassi was funny. Too funny to be contained in any one conversation.
In just a few hours, in between joke after joke, he told me some of his recent life story, the hilarious history of Fidel Castro's plan to give every Cuban a miniature cow, and about his L.A. specific satire news site The Avocado that he and his equally funny partners run.
The Avocado blends real news bites through an absurd lens. It's a bit like The Onion but with a distinctly L.A. voice and a mission to get news to people through satire. It was created by L.A. native Justin Winston Ono Wales who lived in Miami for a few years.
In Miami, Ono Wales was a community activist and created a local satirical website called The Plantain as a way to comment on local and state issues. When he moved back to Los Angeles, he partnered with Ducassi and "1st gen Mexitalian" actor Adriana DeGirolami to help him get The Avocado off the ground.