About
“El Risitas” Interview Parodies refers to a video remix series based on a TV interview with the Spanish comedian and actor Juan Joya Borja, better known by his nickname “El Risitas” (“The Giggles”) stemming from his signature laughter, and a variety of parody subtitles depicting Borja as an employee of a well-known consumer tech or media company who openly mocks his customers, bearing much resemblance to the “And Then I Said…” image macros in tone and the “Hitler Reacts” videos in style of presentation.
Origin
In June 2007, Borja was interviewed by host Jesus Quintero on the Spanish-language television program Ratones Coloraos, where he burst into laughter after telling a humorous anecdote about throwing kitchen pans into the sea while working at a beach restaurant as a young man (shown below). On June 21st, the Jesus Quintero YouTube channel uploaded the interview segment, which gained over 1.1 million views over the next eight years (shown below).
Spread
On March 28th, 2014, the Thursday Comics YouTube channel uploaded a falsely subtitled version of the interview released by the Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian Islamist movement, which portrays Borja as a man commenting on the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (shown below). Over the next year, the video received upwards of 850,000 views and 920 comments. In October, a group of Egyptian students released a subtitled version of a different interview with Borjas, with captions mocking the private security used to contain protests at Egyptian universities.[6]
On January 30th, 2015, YouTuber ClukosGaming uploaded a subtitled version of the interview depicting Borja as a designer for the GTX 970, graphic card, claiming that the hardware was deliberately sabotaged (shown below, left). On February 1st, Reditor brighterside submitted the video to the /r/gaming[3] subreddit. Within one month, the video garnered more than 780,000 views on YouTube and 2,700 votes (85% upvoted) on Reddit. The same day, YouTuber chicane486 uploaded a video portraying Borja as a Team Fortress 2 employee, who jokes about the various unpopular changes made to the first-person shooter game (shown below, right). On February 2nd, Redditor Reniva posted the video on the /r/tf2[4] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 1,000 votes (88% upvoted) in the next three weeks.
On the following day, YouTuber Dota 420 posted a video titled “Shocking interview with Valve Dota 2 employee,” in which Borja is translated as a Valve employee poking fun at Defense of the Ancients 2 players (shown below, left). On February 4th, YouTuber DirtyNoona uploaded a subtitled video titled “Interview with an OC Transpo employee,” in which Borja is depicted as an uncaring employee for the bus transit service OC Transpo in Ottawa and Carleton, Canada (shown below, right).
Search Interest
Not available.
External Links
[1]YouTube – Canal Oficial – Jesús Quintero
[2]Wikipedia – Jesús Quintero
[3]Reddit – Nvidia on their release of the GTX 970.
[4]Reddit – SHOCKING interview with Valve/TF2 employee
[5]El Mundo – Los islamistas egipcios ‘contratan’ al ‘Risitas’ para burlarse de Al Sisi
[6]El Mundo – Estudiantes antigubernamentales egipcios recurren al ‘Risitas’ para mofarse del régimen