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Juan Joya Borja (5 April 1956 – 28 April 2021),[1] was a Spanish comedian and actor, better known by his stage name, El Risitas ([el ri.ˈsi.tas]; lit.'The Giggles'). He gained widespread popularity in 2015 thanks to a series of memes based on a television interview recorded in 2007 on Jesús Quintero's TV show Ratones Coloraos.[2]

Key Information

Biography

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Joya was born in Seville, Andalusia.[3] He had a number of jobs throughout his life, including cooking, and unloading sacks of cement.[4]

His first appearance on television was in 2001, on Jesús Quintero's show El Vagamundo [es], where he recalled, in a comedic tone, his experiences with "El Peíto", Antonio Rivero Crespo.[3] He became recognizable for his high-pitched, wheezing laugh which was described in The Guardian as like a "dolphin with a 20-a-day habit",[2] which led to his nickname.[5] He also appeared in the 2005 film Torrente 3: el protector. When he became known internationally around 2015, he also performed for companies outside of Spain, for example in a Finnish commercial.[6]

Ratones Coloraos interview meme

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In 2007, Joya appeared on Jesús Quintero's show Ratones Coloraos and described an incident when he worked as a kitchen porter. He had left some paella pans (paelleras) tied by sticks in the sand by the seashore overnight to let them soak and clean in the water, and when he returned the next morning to retrieve the pans, he found they had all washed out to sea with the high tide except for one. He frequently interrupts the story with his trademark laugh as he fails to keep his composure.[2] The original video was uploaded to YouTube on 25 June 2007, and received over 1 million views eight years before the meme became widespread.[7]

In March 2014, footage from the interview was used in Egypt by the then recently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization to parody presidential candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.[8] Other videos featuring footage from the interview were also produced, mostly apolitical parodies about technology and gaming.[2] The most viewed versions of the video subtitled Joya as the designer of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics card, a designer of Team Fortress 2, a Valve employee discussing Dota 2, a Canon representative discussing the C300 camera, an Xbox Live employee describing the platform's system, and a cinematographer describing shooting on a Red camera.[9]

In March 2015, the meme received significant attention after the launch of the 2015 MacBook, where subtitles present Joya as a designer who worked on the prototype. Within a month the video had received over five million views on YouTube.[10] The meme's impact has been compared to parodies of the 2004 war drama Downfall, where scenes from the film are similarly edited with fake subtitles.[2]

Another popular meme was published in April 2015 parodying a political affair in Slovakia known as the Váhostav affair [sk],[11] where Joya was subtitled by popular Slovak stand-up comedy performer Ján Gordulič.

In 2019, a zoomed-in still image of his face from the interview, named KEKW, was added as a 3rd-party emote for Twitch on FrankerFaceZ.[12] As of April 2022, over 100,000 channels on Twitch have enabled the emote.[13] With more than 400 million uses in chat, the emote occupies 10th place among the most popular FrankerFaceZ emotes.[14][15]

Health and death

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In September 2020, Joya was admitted to the Hospital de la Caridad in Seville, where he underwent an intervention for a vascular problem and had a leg amputated.[16]

Less than a year later, at noon on 28 April 2021, Joya was transferred from the Hospital de la Caridad to the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, after a sudden relapse. He died from complications of his illness later that afternoon at the age of 65.[17][18]

Filmography

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Television

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Juan Joya Borja (5 April 1956 – 28 April 2021), known professionally as El Risitas, was a Spanish comedian and actor whose uncontrollable laughter during a 2007 television interview recounting a workplace mishap became the source material for a globally viral internet meme featuring extensive parody remixes. Born in Seville, Andalusia, Borja worked various manual jobs, including as a cook's assistant at a beachside restaurant called Las Paelleras, before entering show business in the early 2000s through appearances on programs hosted by Jesús Quintero, such as El Vagamundo and Ratones Coloraos. In the pivotal Ratones Coloraos segment aired in June 2007, he described immersing rusty paella pans in the sea to remove corrosion, only for the rising tide to carry them away, prompting his signature bursts of laughter that host Quintero and the crew echoed. The clip gained traction online in Spain shortly after, but exploded internationally around 2015 with English subtitles and dubbed audio overlays depicting absurd failures in contexts like technology glitches or corporate incompetence, evolving into the KEKW Twitch emote representing exaggerated amusement. Borja also featured in the 2005 film Torrente 3: El protector and other Spanish media, though his meme-derived fame overshadowed earlier comedic work; he battled chronic health issues, including thrombosis leading to leg amputation, and succumbed to bronchial pneumonia in a Seville hospital.

Early Life

Birth and Family Background

Juan Joya Borja was born on 5 April 1956 in , , . He grew up in the city's working-class neighborhoods, including Polígono San Pablo, amid the modest socioeconomic conditions prevalent in post-Civil War , where and limited opportunities shaped daily life for many families. Public information on his remains sparse, with no verified details on parents or siblings available from contemporary accounts. His formative environment was rooted in Seville's urban underclass, influenced by the region's cultural traditions and the lingering economic hardships of the Franco era, which persisted into the 1960s and 1970s. At age 16 in 1972, during a visit to the El Rocío pilgrimage site, Joya earned his lifelong nickname "El Risitas" after an incident involving the "bautizo del Quema" ritual, highlighting his distinctive laughter early on.

Pre-Entertainment Occupations

Prior to entering the entertainment industry, Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, engaged in various manual labor roles in , . These encompassed temporary positions such as a construction helper and cement loader, involving the unloading of heavy sacks on building sites. He also worked as a kitchen helper and cook, performing tasks in food preparation that exposed him to everyday mishaps later echoed in his anecdotal humor. These low-paid, intermittent jobs aligned with the broader economic challenges in following Francisco Franco's death in 1975, including elevated rates exceeding 20% by the early amid industrial restructuring and the shift to . Such conditions, prevalent in southern regions like , shaped working-class narratives of and misfortune, providing Borja with unscripted material rooted in personal experience rather than formal training. Lacking any documented in or , his early interactions in these labor-intensive environments fostered a self-reliant style of expressive .

Professional Career

Entry into Comedy and Acting

Juan Joya Borja, born in on April 5, 1956, entered the field in 2000 at age 43 through his debut on the regional television program El Vagamundo, hosted by on Canal 2 Andalucía. Prior to this, Borja had worked various manual jobs in Seville's working-class Polígono San Pablo neighborhood, with no documented prior involvement in formal or circuits. His breakthrough stemmed from Quintero's invitation to share personal anecdotes, where Borja's spontaneous storytelling—delivered in a thick, unrefined Andalusian dialect—captured attention. Borja's signature high-pitched, uncontrollable laugh during these recounts earned him the stage name El Risitas ("The Giggles"), reflecting his giggling persona that became central to his comedic appeal. This authentic, unpolished style, combining verbal exaggeration with physical gestures like slapping his knee, distinguished him from scripted performers and highlighted a emergence grounded in regional folk humor rather than polished training. Early spots emphasized his everyman's relatability, drawing from real-life mishaps without reliance on industry networks. These initial television opportunities laid the foundation for Borja's shift into , as his expressive facial reactions and timing translated naturally to on-screen roles, though specific engagements followed later in his . His rise exemplified an organic path, propelled by innate charisma amid Andalusia's cultural emphasis on anecdotal wit over elite pedigrees.

Key Television Appearances

Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, entered Spanish television through guest spots on programs hosted by , whose unconventional interview style emphasized spontaneous anecdotes and unfiltered guest interactions, allowing Borja's natural expressiveness to shine. His debut occurred on April 17, 2000, during an episode of El Vagamundo on Canal 2 Andalucía, where he engaged in casual dialogue that highlighted his Andalusian dialect and quick-witted responses. Borja became a frequent collaborator on Quintero's , airing on Canal Sur Televisión, with appearances spanning multiple s that featured his improvisational retellings of everyday mishaps, often punctuated by escalating laughter and physical gestures for comedic effect. These segments, typically involving Borja alongside friends like "El Peito," cultivated a rapport with regional viewers through relatable, unpolished humor rooted in working-class experiences, though national metrics on viewership remain undocumented in available records. Early examples include a where Borja and companions shared lighthearted stories, establishing his role as a recurring comic foil in Quintero's ensemble. In 2006, Borja extended his television presence to El Loco de la Colina on TVE's La 1 channel, continuing the pattern of free-form interviews that showcased his ability to pivot anecdotes into humorous tangents, such as discussions on absurd scenarios that elicited his characteristic cackles. These outings, while niche and confined largely to late-night or regional slots, garnered appreciation in for Borja's authentic, non-professional charm, distinguishing him from scripted comedians of the era without achieving broad commercial metrics like high ratings.

Film Roles

Juan Joya Borja's cinematic output was limited, consisting primarily of supporting roles in Spanish comedies that highlighted his distinctive laughter and style. His most prominent film appearance came in Torrente 3: El protector (2005), directed by and starring as the titular anti-hero, a of gritty detective films akin to . Borja played Robledillo, a bumbling side character involved in low-stakes criminal antics, with scenes designed to exploit his exaggerated expressions and cackling laugh for humorous effect. Released on September 30, 2005, Torrente 3: El protector became a hit in , setting an opening weekend record by earning €7.2 million from 1.38 million tickets sold across 380 theaters, reflecting the franchise's appeal in the domestic parody genre despite mixed for its crude humor. Borja's involvement capitalized on his prior television visibility, him in roles that emphasized and verbal exaggeration over dramatic depth. No further major film credits followed, underscoring his niche as a suited to brief, persona-driven cameos rather than leading or sustained narrative parts.

The Ratones Coloraos Interview and Meme Phenomenon

The Original 2007 Interview

The segment featuring Juan Joya Borja, known professionally as El Risitas, aired in June 2007 on the Spanish regional television channel Canal Sur as part of the program Ratones Coloraos, hosted by journalist Jesús Quintero. In the interview, Borja shares an anecdote from his early working days as a kitchen assistant at a coastal chiringuito in Seville's Triana district, where he attempted to clean around 20 paella pans by submerging them in the sea overnight. The pans were swept away by the tide, leading to a confrontation with his employer who reacted with dismay upon discovering the loss. Borja's narration, delivered in thick Andalusian Spanish, builds to repeated fits of infectious laughter, particularly when mimicking the boss's exclamation of "¡Las paelleras!" upon realizing the mishap. Quintero facilitates the storytelling through probing questions and interjections, drawing out Borja's unscripted recollections of the real-life blunder without any apparent staging for comedic . The host's style emphasizes raw, dialect-infused dialogue typical of the program, which focused on conversational encounters with everyday sharing personal histories. Borja's amusement appears spontaneous, rooted in the absurdity of his youthful error rather than performative exaggeration, contributing to the segment's unpolished authenticity. The full exchange runs approximately seven minutes, capturing multiple laughter bursts amid the recounting.

Virality and Parody Evolution (2007–2015)

The original interview clip featuring Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, was uploaded to YouTube on June 25, 2007, under the title "Las Paelleras," accumulating over one million views in the subsequent eight years through organic sharing on niche platforms. Early dissemination remained limited, primarily within Spanish-speaking online communities, without significant algorithmic or promotional amplification. The first notable parody emerged on March 28, 2014, when user Thursday Comics subtitled the clip to mock the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, garnering over 850,000 views and marking the onset of ironic reinterpretations syncing Borja's distinctive laughter to commentary on perceived failures. Virality accelerated in early 2015, particularly on the French forum jeuxvideo.com's Blabla 18-25 section, where the clip first appeared as a sticker in spring and evolved into widespread use by November, with anonymous users creating dubbed versions lampooning technical shortcomings and video game issues. Examples included parodies targeting Nvidia's GTX 970 graphics card controversy (January 30, 2015), Destiny developer decisions (February 2015), Grand Theft Auto V's PC port delays (March 22, 2015), and updates in Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 (early February 2015), where editors overlaid subtitles to align Borja's escalating laughter with ironic narratives of incompetence or sabotage. These edits emphasized causal mismatches between expectations and outcomes, such as hardware deceptions or game patch absurdities, fostering humor through Borja's involuntary reactions repurposed as punchlines. By mid-2015, the meme's parodies had proliferated on , with individual videos like the GTX 970 dub exceeding 780,000 views, contributing to millions accumulated across variants without corporate backing or endorsement. Empirical patterns showed diffusion from European forum subcultures—driven by on sites like —to broader global audiences via cross-posting to Reddit's gaming communities and recommendations, relying on remixing rather than paid promotion. This organic evolution highlighted the clip's adaptability, as anonymous creators iteratively refined subtitle timing to maximize the laughter's disruptive effect on failure monologues.

Global Usage and Cultural Adaptations

The El Risitas meme has been repurposed in parodies spanning technology, gaming, and mundane failures, often dubbing subtitles over the original interview to narrate ironic or disastrous outcomes, with Borja's laughter underscoring schadenfreude. In technology contexts, examples include spoofs mocking Apple MacBook engineering flaws and software development mishaps like Git repository errors. Gaming adaptations frequently target titles such as Destiny, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Grand Theft Auto, and Team Fortress 2, where the laughter accompanies exaggerated critiques of bugs or design choices. These non-political applications highlight the meme's versatility as a template for relatable incompetence, detached from its Spanish origins. Adaptations often involve overlaying in languages including English, French, and others, while preserving the authentic Spanish audio and Borja's unscripted laughter to maintain its raw, infectious quality. This approach facilitates global dissemination on platforms like and , enabling creators to localize narratives without altering the core visual and auditory elements that drive its appeal. The meme's endurance stems from this format's simplicity, allowing remixes in diverse cultural contexts without necessitating translation of the spoken content. Borja derived no direct financial benefit from the meme's proliferation until 2021, when fan-driven efforts raised approximately €14,000 for his medical needs, including an electric following a amputation. This late-stage support, initiated by online communities rather than meme creators or platforms, underscores the 's grassroots exploitation without compensatory mechanisms for the subject. Derivative videos collectively amassed millions of views across platforms, though precise aggregates remain unquantified due to decentralized uploads.

Later Years and Personal Challenges

Health Decline

In the 2010s, Juan Joya Borja developed chronic , compounded by , which progressively impaired circulation and healing in his lower extremities. These conditions, typical in older individuals with metabolic disorders, led to severe complications including poor recovery and risk of systemic , exacerbated by his age of 64 and limited mobility post-fame. By September 2020, Borja required hospitalization at Hospital de la Caridad in due to acute vascular failure, necessitating the of one to prevent further tissue necrosis and potential . He remained there under ongoing care for post-surgical recovery, including management hindered by diabetes-related delays in tissue repair. Borja's brother publicly appealed for financial support amid these medical needs and economic hardship, prompting donations from online communities familiar with his meme persona, which collectively raised approximately €14,000 from sources including French forums. This aid addressed immediate care costs at the facility, though his underlying vascular pathology continued to limit independence.

Death in 2021

Juan Joya Borja died on April 28, 2021, at the age of 65 in , , from complications arising from a long-standing . He experienced a sudden relapse that led to his transfer to the Hospital Virgen del Rocío, where he passed away midday local time. Borja had been hospitalized since September 2020 at the Hospital de la Caridad in , initially for intervention on a vascular issue that necessitated the amputation of one leg due to severe complications, including diabetes-related factors. Despite the timing amid the , reports from local media and his medical history emphasized the relapse of his preexisting condition without attributing the death to the virus. Following his death, Spanish outlets including ABC Sevilla and El Mundo published obituaries detailing his medical history and career highlights. Online communities, particularly those associated with internet memes, shared tributes recalling his distinctive laugh, though no or posthumous awards were arranged.

Legacy

Impact on Internet Meme Culture

The meme introduced a durable template for through the practice of custom subtitles over the original interview footage of Juan Joya Borja, retaining his unscripted bursts of laughter to amplify ironic or exaggerated storytelling. This structural approach, which gained traction in video parodies by 2014–2015, enabled creators to recontextualize the authentic audio for commentary on mishaps or absurdities, predating and influencing later formats involving manipulated speech overlays in viral content. Its emphasis on preserving the unaltered laugh—described as infectious and —facilitated broad adaptability across platforms, with derivatives including static stickers, animated GIFs, and multilingual subtitle variants that maintained the core contrast between visual hilarity and overlaid narrative. The meme's dissemination exemplified the shift from forum-based niches to mainstream remix ecosystems, particularly via amplification on jeuxvideo.com's Blabla 18-25 ans section starting in spring , where it manifested as community stickers and onomatopoeic expressions like "Issou" amid the forum's 40 million monthly page views and 2 million posts. This through user-driven "crazes" extended to tools like Risibank, where over half of stickers derived from El Risitas variants, fostering ironic expression without ideological exclusivity and paving the way for wider adoption on sites like and . By 2016, such evolutions had solidified its role in visual-audio hybrids, influencing templates that prioritize expressive, reusable elements over scripted humor. Although not the inaugural laugh-based meme—preceded by earlier viral instances of exaggerated laughter in online humor—the format's longevity derives from Borja's genuine, unpolished reaction, offering a versatile scaffold for derivatives that outlasted many contemporaries through alignment with remix values of irony and accessibility. Examples include Reddit adaptations recasting the interview as escalating failure narratives in tech or corporate scenarios, demonstrating the template's capacity for narrative escalation without reliance on visual alterations. This persistence, evident in ongoing template availability and a 2020 French crowdfunding effort raising over €14,000 for Borja, underscores its foundational yet non-pioneering status in audio-driven ironic memes.

Broader Cultural and Posthumous Influence

The El Risitas extended beyond internet subcultures into and corporate critique, with parodies dubbing Borja's laughter over events like Egyptian political scandals and the 2015 Slovak Váhostav affair, where it lampooned government bailouts of construction firms. In , the aligned with far-right online communities, mirroring patterns seen in other viral icons like , and transitioned into offline political signaling among forum users. Media spoofs repurposed the clip for tech commentary, such as mocking Apple engineers' product failures, amassing millions of views and influencing remix formats akin to Downfall parodies. Following Juan Joya Borja's death on April 28, 2021, from respiratory failure linked to prior vascular issues, international tributes highlighted his unintended global legacy, with social media posts and Spanish broadcasters eulogizing his authentic humor amid a career marked by modest local fame. The meme persisted posthumously on platforms like Twitch as a , sustaining its role in live-streaming reactions. In November 2023, amplified the clip's reach by subtitling a 2001 interview variant to deride OpenAI's ouster and rehiring of CEO , incorporating AI-generated voiceovers that drew over millions of views on X (formerly ) and prompted Andalusian broadcaster Canal Sur to demand licensing fees for the original footage. This resurgence underscored the meme's adaptability to contemporary tech controversies, reinforcing Borja's image as a symbol of ironic detachment from institutional absurdities. Academic studies have since traced its evolution from niche forums to broader cultural artifacts, noting its role in blending humor with critique of power structures.

References

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