Ulises Toirac Challenges Virulo: Humor Can't Mask Cuba's Harsh Realities

Comedian Ulises Toirac once again took a firm stand against the views of Alejandro García, known as "Virulo." This time, the debate was sparked by a Facebook post from writer Enrique del Risco, which revisited statements made by the comedian in 2020.

Back then, Virulo told Vanguardia newspaper that "Cuba is a very good place to live" and suggested that humor shouldn’t focus on criticizing the country's issues.

"People expect comedians to point out everything that's wrong. While it's fair to critique problems, it's equally important to acknowledge Cuba's accomplishments. Therefore, humor shouldn't be overly critical, which is unfortunately happening," Virulo remarked.

In response, Toirac offered a straightforward and powerful reflection: humor doesn't exist in a vacuum and cannot ignore people's realities.

Toirac, who has always lived in Cuba and faced censorship and pressure for his work, emphasizes that his perspective is grounded in firsthand experience.

"Virulo forgets a profound truth: humor varies across countries because their histories, customs, and realities differ. Humor is historically and socially conditioned," Toirac wrote.

According to him, attempting to craft humor detached from the Cuban context is as absurd as trying to emulate entirely foreign models: "A Cuban attempting English humor is like a shoe for a legless person. It doesn't fit at all."

Ulises concludes by stating that the rest of Virulo's stance is mere "self-justification exported," a phrase encapsulating the frustration many comedians and audiences feel about selective depoliticization.

For Toirac, humor is inseparable from real life, and Cuban life today is marred by shortages, crises, and discontent that no sugar-coated joke can conceal.

Virulo's comments, as quoted by Del Risco, suggested that the Cuban audience "finds it increasingly difficult to understand me" because they want humor that addresses the country's issues, which he sees as excessive "hypercriticism."

He also mentioned that "people need to know that Cuba is a very good place to live."

For Ulises and many other comedians both within and outside the Island, this approach deliberately sidesteps the point: people demand critical humor because they live through critical situations.

This isn't the first clash between the two comedians over differing viewpoints.

In 2021, after another statement by Virulo on Cuban television, Toirac defended the humor crafted during the most challenging years of the Special Period, highlighting that it was precisely this critical humor that "saved laughter and lives" during a time of significant hardship.

He also emphasized that disregarding the work of those who sustained the comedic scene after Virulo's departure from Cuba "isn't serious."

That 2021 controversy sparked a wave of responses: Osvaldo Doimeadiós claimed Virulo "hit rock bottom"; Nelson Gudín, Iván Camejo, Marcos García, Kike Quiñones, Claudia Valdés, and Otto Ortiz's daughter agreed that Virulo seemed to self-proclaim as an irreplaceable figure in national humor.

The comedic community openly rejected the notion that Cuban humor declined after Virulo's move to Mexico, defending the sustained work of those who continued creating, even under censorship, crisis, and scarcity.

Now, three years after those initial tensions, Ulises's words bring the debate back to where many believe it should be: humor cannot ask its audience to ignore their lived experiences, nor can it replace critique with emotional propaganda.

For a country under such constant pressure, critical humor isn't a "vice"; it's a necessity. And once again, Toirac reminded Virulo of this with the clarity that audiences appreciate.