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Spanish comedian and actor Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, died in Seville on April 28, 2021, aged 65. He died at Hospital Virgen del Rocío, with his death confirmed by the Santa Caridad residence where he lived, Europa Press Andalucía reported. Borja was a television personality and comedian before a 2007 interview clip made him internationally recognizable as the “Spanish Laughing Guy.”
Who was El Risitas?
Juan Joya Borja was a comedian and actor from Seville whose stage name, El Risitas, referred to his distinctive laugh. He had appeared on Spanish television from the early 2000s, especially on programs associated with journalist Jesús Quintero, and also appeared in the film Torrente 3, according to Europa Press Andalucía.
That career matters to the story: Borja was not simply a face discovered by meme culture. Spanish audiences had seen him as an entertainer before an excerpt from one of his television interviews traveled far beyond its original context.
What happened before his death?
Borja died at Hospital Virgen del Rocío in Seville on April 28, 2021, aged 65. Europa Press reported that the Santa Caridad residence confirmed his death. The report also said his health had been delicate and that he had recently undergone a leg amputation. Le Monde reported that Spanish media had described diabetes and an amputation.
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The available reports establish that Borja had serious health problems, but they do not establish a definitive medical cause of death. It would therefore be inaccurate to state that he died of diabetes or a specific complication.
Where did the “Spanish Laughing Guy” meme come from?
The source was an interview on the Spanish television program Ratones Coloraos. In the clip, Borja tells a story about washing dishes; as he recounts it, his laughter grows until it becomes the most memorable part of the footage. Le Monde dates the clip’s YouTube publication to June 25, 2007.
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Later editors added fabricated translations and captions, making it seem as though Borja were laughing about a wide range of unrelated subjects. The subtitles were inventions, not translations of his original anecdote. Versions circulated internationally under names such as “Spanish Laughing Guy,” and the clip became associated with the KEKW emote used on Twitch. Borja did not create or deliver the later captions, political parodies, or gaming and technology jokes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the clip take on different meanings?
The video’s adaptability came from the contrast between Borja’s escalating laughter and whatever story an editor attached to it. A 2014 Egyptian political parody was one example; elsewhere, users folded the clip into gaming and technology jokes. On a French forum, “Issou” became a related in-joke, while Twitch viewers used KEKW to signal laughter. These uses belonged to their respective online communities, not to Borja’s original interview.
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The meme also produced a more direct connection between its online audience and Borja. Le Monde reported that a January 2021 fundraiser raised more than €14,000 for him and helped pay for an electric scooter. After news of his death, the publication counted more than 400 pages of messages in the hour following the announcement on jeuxvideo.com’s Blabla 18-25 forum—a snapshot of that forum’s response, not a general measure of the meme’s popularity.
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