2023-11-19 17:53:39
The Peruvian public loves them so much that they only refer to them with affectionate diminutives. Miguel Barraza is 74 years old, but he is still Miguelito to the people who pass the word to him when they see him on the street. And the great Pablo Villanueva, with his 87 on his back, is simply ‘Melcochita’. They both met at the remembered Augusto Ferrando club, the same one that toured the entire country with a carnival of artists where everything from comedians to singers like Lucha Reyes shone.
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And although thirteen years of difference separates them, nothing stopped them from getting along immediately, becoming friends and brothers. Their combined chemistry is undeniable. They are the champions of absurd humor. Furthermore, they have too many shared memories and each person competes to tell it in the funniest way. Now they are promoting, because they have filmed a movie together, “Don’t go,” which premieres at the end of the month. We turn on the recorder.
Long before you were comedians, you were musicians…
Barraza: Of course, I played with Los Flyers, who were all pitucos, sons of Jews, Italians. They had money as a court. We made surf music. I lived in Magdalena so I don’t know how they found out regarding me. You may have asked “who sings here?” and they told them “there is “Gorilita, in Magdalena”. They called me that because I liked to climb trees. So, nothing, one day they came and, bam, they captured me…
Pablo, you were in orchestras and in Traffic Sound…
Villanueva: I will not have sung with. I started playing drums in night clubs but I also did my show. And one day, when I was at the Embassy, Augusto Ferrando appears. He came to see me because someone had told him “there is a dark-haired man who can help you.” It seemed to him that he had an angel, so he approached me and said to me: “Do you want to work in my club?” I stared at it and answered, “How much is there?” And when Ferrando gives me the figure, I tell him: “Ok. Who is there to kill?!” [Risas]
Barraza: I joined the club before him, when I won “Springboard to Fame.” I had been there for months, collecting my little money, until Melcochita came to the group, with all the craziness of it, and stole the applause. There we became teams.
LIMA, APRIL 11, 1966 PENA FERRANDO. IN THE IMAGE (C) AUGUSTO FERRANDO AND (D) PABLO VILLANUEVA MELCOCHITA. PHOTO: THE TRADE
Did you guys get along from the start, or did you ever see each other as competition?
Barraza: We have always gotten along wonderfully. He always seemed like a capo to me, ever since I saw him playing the guitar, he had a swing. And he did good imitations. And he also became a fan of mine at the touch. It was a sincere relationship because until now we have never fought or anything. More like we got drunk…
That’s what they say, that you were very naughty and Augusto Ferrando made him suffer.
Barraza: What didn’t we do to Ferrando…
Villanueva: He followed us everywhere with a megaphone.
Barraza: It’s just that we arrived at a place and disappeared. We were there, hanging out in a bar, and suddenly we heard Ferrando’s voice in the distance with a megaphone: “Melcochita and Barraza, wherever you are, get out now! The show is regarding to start! “I’ll increase your salary!” [Risas]
LIMA, DECEMBER 19, 1982 ARTISTS FROM THE TELEVISION PROGRAM RIAS Y SALSA PLAY A FOOTBALL GAME REPRESENTING THE CLUBS ALIANZA LIMA AND UNIVERSITARIO DE DEPORTES. IN THE PICTURE ALEJANDRO CASARETTO, KNOWN AS FAT CASARETTO, AND MIGUEL BARRAZA. IN THE PICTURE, ALEJANDRO “EL GORDO CASARETTO” CARRYING MIGUEL BARRAZA PHOTO: EL COMERCIO
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Did you protect each other a lot?
Villanueva: There is never a shortage of envious people. Once in “Estrafalario” [programa televisivo de comedia], Miguelito got a bomb and didn’t come. And many were happy that he didn’t arrive because that’s what envy is like, well. So I went to his house alone, broke down the door, bathed him, gave him coffee and took him to the set. And they all stayed like this [pone cara de sorprendido]. That’s how we were.
What was it like doing comedy back then? Was there more freedom?
Barraza: We had freedom. I remember that once, with the group, we did a parody of “The Exorcist”, which had just come out…
Villanueva: And we, for a change, were blown away. And since drunks are Frankenstein, we told Ferrando the truth, that his script was useless. He was offended. “If my script doesn’t work, make a better one!” He told us. But he allowed us to invent something, right there, in front of the people. And everyone went crazy.
Barraza: and from there Ferrando comes out and people tell him “my script is great, right?” [risas]
For this new movie, “Don’t Go”, did you learn the script?
Villanueva: The director gave us a script but we, regarding that material, hesitated.
Barraza: We put in some invented nonsense and it was recorded. Improvisation is the main thing in us. And that is already a divine gift.
Miguelito Barraza doing his best Jerry Lewis impression. (Photos: Richard Hirano).
What have been the main drawbacks of making this film?
Villanueva: We have been suffering for six months, brother. Do you think it’s easy, at our age, to make us run without shoes for five blocks?
Barraza: It has been very demanding. But anyway, my friend here has been a gymnast. He still exercises. I, rather, am lazy. I don’t even go out to run in the park that is around the corner from my house.
“One time Miguelito got into a bomb and didn’t come. So I went to his house alone, broke down his door, bathed him, gave him a coffee and took him to the set. And everyone was surprised”
Pablo Villanueva, “Melcochita”
How are your health?
Barraza: Despite the heart attacks I have had and various little things, the good thing a doctor told me was: “Your laughter makes you strong.”
When did you have those heart attacks?
Barraza: 2019, but I’m going to tell you something. I once told a friend: “I’ve had three strokes, I have cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes.” And he tells me: “Hold on, com-father, you have everything and you are still complaining?”
Villanueva: I’m fine because I eat well. I have my Quaker with apple, with soy, and a bread with butter or tamalcito. Of course, I don’t eat much lunch anymore.
Melcochita, in addition to being a comedian, is an excellent sonero artist, who has recorded with the best salseros in New York. “I have more than 170 songs and the radios don’t play them.” (Photo: Richard Hirano).
How do you never get discouraged, for example, in the context of the economic recession that the country is going through?
Villanueva: What ages us are problems, brother. That’s why I always say: you gain nothing by worrying and stressing yourself. If you can’t afford new notebooks, buy an eraser and erase last year’s notebooks.
Barraza: That’s the good thing regarding my friend. It’s just that he takes everything as a joke. The truth is that you no longer earn what you earned before.
During the pandemic, how did you not get depressed?
Villanueva: At the beginning, I was ‘mancando’. That thing where the garbage man comes and you tell him: “Sir, leave me three bags.” But then I was able to do shows on Zoom and that helped me. Even he earned more than going abroad. They also hired me to put badges on them.
“How many times have they told me to become mayor, that it would be easy for me. I tell them to leave me alone. I was born a comedian and I will die a comedian.”
Miguelito Barraza
You were the kings of badges, but the codes of humor have changed. There are things that can no longer be said.
Villanueva: My badges are carrots. I say, “Hurry up, my dear ‘vase with eyes’.” Or: “You see, my dear ‘kion with arms’.”
Barraza: These are absurd things that occur to him, and people laugh to death. It’s still healthy humor.
Villanueva: Even people who see me on the street ask me to give them a badge. That’s right, my dear ‘Miyashiro with a beard’.
You already gave me my badge. And national politics doesn’t discourage them?
Barraza: I don’t like politics or political jokes. You already know that all of those are, you know… They don’t love their country. What a coincidence that this is the only country in which all its former presidents have been imprisoned.
Villanueva: Everyone steals. I have experienced hunger, during the time of Bustamante and Rivero. You had to queue for 24 hours to buy.
Barraza: How many times have they told me: “Become mayor, little brother; “You take it.” No, let me live my life in peace. I was born a comedian and I will die a comedian.
Do you think or have you thought regarding death?
Villanueva: I have already been through death, so I am not afraid of it. You feel sleepy, you don’t feel pain or anything.
Did you go through death? How is that?
Villanueva: that was at the time of “Risas y Salsa.” I was canoeing here, with my friend, and I fell. The river was mighty, then, and I was drowning. At that moment, many people despair, right? “My God, help me!” they say. I remember that I thought: “I’ve already lost, Lord, take me then” and at that moment I began to feel sleepy. Until they put the oar on me and with an effort I was able to hold on. That’s why I say I already know what it feels like to die, and there is no pain.
Barraza: Nobody knows how one is going to die. That’s why, when there is an earthquake, everyone believes in God. I believe in God always.
The friendship of both comedians is legendary and they cultivate it, they say. They claim that in more than 50 years they have never fought. (Photo: Richard Hirano).
For the comedian, let’s say, it is normal to see the happy side of life… At what point do you get angry?
Barraza: what’s bothering me? When are they going to charge me, brother… [Risas]
Are they no longer celebrating like before?
Villanueva: On my birthday, at home, but not like before. The years teach.
Barraza: You can’t anymore, then. Before, I woke up with my friend. We were left without sleeping, to follow her. Not anymore, now I see 12 on the clock and I already want to be in the envelope.
Villanueva: there is nothing better than the envelope. //
Besides…
“Don’t go”, the movie
‘Melcochita’ and Miguelito play two dreamy cousins who fantasize regarding the idea of being millionaires, but when they wake up they face the bitter reality of poverty. To try to achieve wealth, they will look for money through various jobs that will lead them to comical, crazy and ingenious situations. The film will be released nationwide on November 23. Both comedians assure that it is a family film, without vulgar language or vulgarity.
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