Although Colombia does not have a tradition of comedy and comedians compared to other Spanish speaking countries such as Mexico or Spain, it still has important features that makes it distinctive.
Colombian president, General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla,[4] started the project of bringing television as a major media after a trip to Germany where he found the device almost by accident, since he had traveled to Europe to buy ammunition and weapons for Colombia, which at the time was involved in a war against Peru.
During the late 1970s a new production called Don Chinche started to be broadcast on national television, which at the time was still wholly owned by the government.
Don Chinche[5] (Which could be translated as "Mr. Crab Louse") depicted the traditional low-medium class family and its relationships to the "barrio" (neighbourhood).
Stand-up comedy in Colombia has been promoted by the show Happy Saturdays Sabados Felices, produced by Caracol TV.
[6] During the late 1980s a new comedy called Dejémonos de Vainas (understood locally as "Let's cut the crap") depicted a completely urban upper-middle-class family from Bogotá.
After Zoociedad, Jaime Garzón continued working in a new project called Quac El Noticero (translated as Quac The News, where Noticero is a combination of the words news and the number zero in Spanish) where he reinvented himself by creating new characters depicting the nation, middle-class people or intellectuals.
However, because of his ideological affiliations and his openness and strong criticism to Colombia's government and politics, Jaime Garzón was shot to death on his way to the radio station where he worked.
During the 1990s, actors Martin de Francisco and Santiago Moure influenced by Howard Stern developed a new style of humour.
Because of its popularity and the widespread of segments on the show uploaded by fans to YouTube, De Francisco and Moure sought to revive it on a DVD collection and a new website.
[10] During the late 1990s to the beginning of the new millennium Colombian comedian Jose Ordoñez became a national celebrity by setting a world record for the person with the longest time telling jokes on the radio.
With his profit José Ordóñez started his own production company where he created new comedy shows such as Lo Que Faltaba!
[12] López's show "The Ball of Letters" - La Pelota de Letras consists of a subtle sociological analysis of life in Latin American countries between the 1960s and the 2000s.
In December 2005, in the Hard Rock Cafe Bogotá using the Universal Music Colombia label he launched La Pelota de Letras on DVD.
In 2005 he won the HOLA Award from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors for the "Outstanding Solo Performance" after his sold out shows in New York and Miami.