Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, was a Spanish comedian whose infectious laugh first reached a wide audience through a television interview in Spain. In the mid-2010s, internet users began adding invented subtitles to the clip, turning his reactions into commentary on everything from technology launches to politics, and the format spread across YouTube, Reddit and social media. Because the laugh needs no translation, it travelled easily between languages and remains a shorthand for finding something absurdly funny, especially when a confident claim is about to unravel.
About this sound
The El Risitas laugh, the wheezing Spanish comedian chuckle from a viral interview clip, used to punctuate funny fails and ironic moments in memes.
This is the unmistakable laugh of Juan Joya Borja, better known as El Risitas, recorded during a Spanish television interview and later turned into one of the internet's most recognisable reaction sounds. It starts as a strained, wheezing chuckle that quickly breaks into loud, breathless, almost uncontrollable laughter, with snorts and pauses that make it sound even more genuine. Hearing it instantly signals that something is absurd, ironic or hilariously backfiring, and it makes a simple fail feel like a shared joke. The laugh is warm rather than cruel, which is why it works so well over awkward moments, pranks and unexpected twists.
