I liked what the text was proposing, its intentions of uniting and not dividing\u2014which is something that always moves me\u2014and its universal success. It is a magical piece that tries to explain, in a fun and intelligent way, the differences and disagreements between men and women. It may be the most talked-about recent theater hit in Miami, and I\u2019m grateful for that. Doing \u201cDefending the Caveman\u201d has made me feel like an artist and an actor again.<\/p>\n
This monologue has many different versions; they say more than eight million people in 45 countries have seen it, in 15 languages. What did you contribute to the script?<\/strong><\/p>\n I gave it my \u201cCuban-Miami-esque\u201d adaptation; I put in my jokes, ideas, and experiences. I worked on the text for a couple of months. The president of the Icelandic company that owns the rights told me: \u201cFor the first 10 minutes, nobody laughs, but don\u2019t worry, because that\u2019s how the piece is.\u201d But I can\u2019t go for 10 minutes without anybody laughing; it depresses me. So I adapted the first 10 minutes.<\/p>\n What has been the reaction from the critics and public?<\/strong><\/p>\n There was one review that seemed to have been paid for by me, ha ha\u2026it says that Rob Becker wrote the piece for me without know it. That\u2019s a great compliment, and I\u2019m grateful to the journalist. But the public has done it all, with their laughter and applause, and with that word of mouth that filled up the theater every week. I had never done a show where I got a standing ovation at the end of the night every night\u2014Wow!<\/p>\n What do you think were the keys to success for your program Esta Noche Tu Night?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a program that took a fresh approach to humor; a daring and refreshing proposal in the Miami context; above all, we were honest and not facile. What has always been successful? Doing comedy with Cuban politics? Well, let\u2019s not do that.<\/p>\n In your performances for Esta Noche Tu Night, you frequently used a sort of \u201chumoristic impartiality\u201d; could you conceptualize this from the standpoint of humor?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what humoristic impartiality means. I suppose it refers to the fact that we were \u201cnot for or against anybody.\u201d I think that a comedian\u2014someone who questions society\u2014should not have any commitments to political tendencies. It would not be honest to use humor for political opportunism, but it would be to question politicians, because if comedians don\u2019t do it, who will? [Jos\u00e9] Mart\u00ed used to say: \u201cHumor is a whip with bells on the tip.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know that your program was followed in Cuba, and that even though it is off the air, people still watch it?<\/strong><\/p>\n That makes me happy. It is my country, my people, and it was a gift. We didn\u2019t do it with that in mind. It just happened. I was acting for the market where I was, Miami. One day they told us, \u201cThe show is a super-hit in Cuba,\u201d and we said to ourselves, \u201cWell, let\u2019s take that into account,\u201d and so we started doing things while keeping in mind the people on the island, too.<\/p>\n A lot of rumors are circulating, on both sides of the Strait, about whether or not you will return to TV. Would you like to announce something to that effect?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been working on that for a long time, ha ha. I\u2019ve been fighting for more than a year on certain working and contract conditions that will make me a little happier. People think it\u2019s just about money. If all I cared about was money I would be a banker, not a comedian.<\/p>\n Who are the comedians that you most revere, and who taught you the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n My references were always Chaplin, perhaps the greatest in the world; Cantinflas, surely the greatest in the Spanish language; Leopoldo Fern\u00e1ndez,1 the most successful Cuban comedian of his time, and who had a major impact on Latin American radio. Subsequently I met Gila,2 in Spain, and I learned a lot by watching him, in fact, I worked with him. I also very much admire Peter Sellers, the actor from The Pink Panther, Being There, and other great things. Guillermo \u00c1lvarez Guedes influenced me with that unique way he has of telling a joke and saying a word\u2014supposedly rude\u2014and always being elegant. That is mastery, too.<\/p>\n In a certain way I was influenced by my compatriots Alejandro Garc\u00eda, Virulo, in that way he has of doing comedy with song; Carlos Ru\u00edz de la Tejera, in being an artist as well as a comedian; and of course my father, Leonel Vald\u00e9s, my involuntary teacher. I learned from him that more than anything else, a comedian is an actor.<\/p>\n What do you remember most about your relationship with the public in Cuba?<\/strong><\/p>\n Many things. Imagine, it was my first public, and it gave me a lot of joy\u2014not a lot, an immense amount. It was a love story: they gave me laughter and I worked hard to do better, to learn, and to constantly surprise them. Based on that type of collaboration, you can be free to create, take risks, and even to be wrong. But when they love you, they forgive you and make up excuses for you; they give you one more opportunity, and then another\u2026. The public in Cuba pampered me. Some of the shows that I did in theaters and nightclubs were so tremendous in terms of the laughter that I think\u2014and I\u2019m aware that memories are idealistic\u2014that I felt a magic, a state of grace, that I never felt again.<\/p>\n Would you like to perform on the island again?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cuba is my homeland. A ton of people there have the same roots as I do, went through the same childhood, which is something essential. When comedians talk about their childhood with the public of their homeland, that shared childhood with its tender and miserable moments\u2026.that is something you just can\u2019t beat.<\/p>\n Alexis Vald\u00e9s, the well-known Cuban actor and comedian, began performing the monologue \u201cDefending the Caveman\u201d at the Trail Theater in Miami on Sept. 6, 2013. It is a piece written in 1991 by U.S. actor Rob Becker, who won the Laurence Olivier Award for best entertainment that same year. 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