Andy Ernesto Vázquez Toirac is a Cuban comedian born in 1975 in Baracoa, Guantánamo, Cuba.
At the age of 14, she appeared in the soap opera Prefiero las rosas by Raúl Pérez Sánchez. She later made several appearances on regular Cuban television shows such as Tras la huella, Jura decir la verdad, and No quiero llanto. She served as a judge on the well-known comedy program on the island, Los amigos de Pepito.
Andy Vázques' opportunity came with his inclusion in the popular and notable comedy show Vivir del Cuento. His ability to portray such diverse characters as Facundo Correcto, Ángel Bueno (Aguaje), and Bienvenido Blanco Blanco earned him great popularity among the Cuban audience, establishing him as one of the leading comedians in the Cuban repertoire.
Along with the cast of Vivir del Cuento, he received several awards in Cuba at different festivals, such as Aquelarre (2002), the Television Festival (2013), the Caricato Award for Acting, and the Barrio Award, both in 2014, among others.
In 2016, during his visit to Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama participated in a sketch alongside the main actors of "Vivir del Cuento" in which he plays a game of dominoes with Pánfilo and Chequera.
In 2019, Andy made headlines after being excluded from the cast of Vivir del Cuento and was suspended by the authorities of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT). The incident was motivated by the alleged repercussions within Cuba of the material titled "Las Chivate-rías de Facundo," where the character claimed that in the capital, they would reinstate the policy of basic, non-basic, and directed goods, which were used in stores in Cuba to regulate products during the early decades of Fidel Castro's revolution.
"Each resident of Havana will be required to go to the Cuatro Caminos market once a month and will be allowed to purchase one of each product. The basic item is a meat product, and one can choose between chicken, pork, or lamb; the non-basic allows for one detergent, one floor mat, or one tomato purée; and the directed category includes asparagus, seasoning, and fabric softener," she said.
The criticism was prompted by the incidents that occurred with the reopening of the popular Havana market Cuatro Caminos and the subsequent destruction caused after its inauguration by a group of people who gathered at the site to shop.
Facundo's material made the authorities uncomfortable, and the artist was expelled from the popular television comedy.
In December 2019, he traveled to Miami, and although initially he implied that he would return to the island, where his followers were requesting that he be given a second chance on the television show Vivir del Cuento, the comedian ultimately decided to stay.
From that moment on, Andy Vázquez had to deal with numerous threats made from the island as well as the disdain and insults typical of Cuban official media. The Ministry of Education (MINED) tweeted in February 2020 the message “Is Andy Vázquez an misunderstood civic figure? Not a chance, give me a break with that story." In August 2020, official journalist Jesús Álvarez López labeled the comedian along with other Cuban artists as "victims of weak legs.”
To the characters he was already portraying in Cuba, Andy has added Lina la Javá, who is the most popular, and Amore H “La Calentica, among others, making him one of the most beloved comedians in Miami due to his artistic versatility.
