[1] He has played several famous characters on Puerto Rican television, most notably "Israel", "El Veterano" and "Papo Swing", and released one salsa album in 1995.
During the early 80's, Carbonell, Jr. acted alongside Jacobo Morales, playing "El Veterano, Erminio Dominguez", a Vietnam War veteran, on a WAPA-TV variety show's ("El Show del Mediodia") daily comedy sketch, "La Tiendita".
Jr., returned to WAPA-TV's canal 4's mid-day television variety show, "El Show Del Mediodia", this time playing what would become his most popular character, "Papo Swing",[3] a streetwise, salsa loving, loudmouth comedic character that required Carbonell, Jr to wear a monster-like mask and perform difficult dancing moves on camera.
Carbonell, Jr. moved to WAPA's rival channel, Telemundo Puerto Rico, in 1991 to participate in a show named Con Lo Que Cuenta Este País, in which he played "Israel", an effeminate character who was the show's main character's (Chevy, el Ponzoñú, played by Melwin Cedeño) friend.
Carbonell published "Latitud 18 Norte, Rescate en el Caribe", a book about a rescue in the Caribbean Sea, during 2022.