El Risitas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
El Risitas
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Joya in 2015
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| Born |
Juan Joya Borja
5 April 1956 |
| Died | 28 April 2021 (aged 65) Seville, Andalusia, Spain
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| Years active | 2000–2021 |
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) |
| Television | 2000–2002: El Vagamundo, Canal 2 Andalucía 2002–2005: Ratones Coloraos, Canal Sur Televisión 2006–2007: El loco de la colina, La1 2007–2012: El Gatopardo, Canal Sur |
Juan Joya Borja (born April 5, 1956 – died April 28, 2021), known by his stage name El Risitas (which means "The Giggles" in English), was a Spanish comedian and actor. He became very popular around 2015 because of many internet memes. These memes were made from a funny TV interview he did in 2007 on a show called Ratones Coloraos.
Contents
About El Risitas
Juan Joya Borja was born in Seville, a city in Andalusia, Spain, on April 5, 1956. Before becoming famous, he worked many different jobs. For example, he worked as a cook and helped unload heavy sacks of cement.
His Start on TV
El Risitas first appeared on television in 2001. He was on a show called El Vagamundo, hosted by Jesús Quintero. On the show, he would tell funny stories about his life. He often shared these stories with his friend, Antonio Rivera, who was also known as "El Peíto" or "el Cuñao".
He became well-known for his unique, high-pitched laugh. People often described his laugh as sounding like a dolphin. This special laugh is how he got his nickname, "El Risitas," which means "Giggles" in Spanish.
Acting and International Fame
Besides his TV appearances, El Risitas also acted in a movie. He was in the 2005 film Torrente 3: El protector.
When he became famous worldwide around 2015, he even worked for companies outside of Spain. For instance, he appeared in a commercial in Finland.
The Famous Interview Meme
In 2007, El Risitas was a guest on Jesús Quintero's TV show Ratones Coloraos again. During this interview, he told a hilarious story about a time he worked as a kitchen helper.
The Paella Pan Story
He explained how he left some large paella pans in the ocean overnight to soak and clean them. But when he went back the next morning, the pans had been carried away by the tide! As he told the story, he kept stopping to laugh with his famous giggle.
The original video of this interview was put on YouTube on June 25, 2007. It got over a million views even before it became a huge internet meme eight years later.
How the Meme Spread
In March 2014, parts of his interview video were used in Egypt. Some people used it to make fun of a political leader. However, most of the videos that used El Risitas's interview were not about politics. They were usually funny parodies about technology or video games.
For example, some popular versions of the video showed El Risitas as if he were:
- A designer for the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics card.
- A designer for the game Team Fortress 2.
- An employee from Valve Corporation talking about the game Dota 2.
- A representative from Canon Inc. discussing the C300 camera.
- An Xbox Live employee describing the gaming system.
- A filmmaker talking about shooting with a Red camera.
The MacBook Meme
In March 2015, the meme became even more popular. This happened after the new 2015 MacBook was launched. In these new videos, subtitles made it seem like El Risitas was a designer who worked on the MacBook. Within just one month, this video received over five million views on YouTube.
The way this meme spread and became so popular is similar to how parodies of the 2004 movie Downfall became famous. In those parodies, scenes from the movie were edited with fake subtitles to make them funny.
Other Popular Uses
Another well-known meme using El Risitas was made in April 2015. It made fun of a political issue in Slovakia called the Vahostav affair. A popular Slovak comedian named Jano Gordulic added the funny subtitles for this version.
In 2019, a close-up picture of El Risitas's face from the interview became a popular "emote" on Twitch. This emote is called KEKW. As of April 2022, over 100,000 Twitch channels use this emote. It has been used more than 400 million times in chat, making it one of the most popular emotes on the platform.
Health and Passing
In September 2020, El Risitas was admitted to the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville. He had a serious blood vessel problem and needed surgery. Sadly, because of this, one of his legs had to be removed.
Less than a year later, on April 28, 2021, El Risitas became very ill again. He was moved from the Hospital de la Caridad to another hospital, the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. He passed away later that afternoon due to complications from his illness. He was 65 years old.
Filmography
- Torrente 3: El protector (2005)
Television
- El Vagamundo (2000–2002) – Canal 2 Andalucía
- Ratones Coloraos (2002–2005) – Canal Sur Televisión
- El loco de la colina (2006–2007) – La1
- El Gatopardo (2007–2012) – Canal Sur
See also
In Spanish: El Risitas para niños
