Ulises Toirac is a popular Cuban actor, comedian, screenwriter, and theater and television director. He is the creator of characters in Cuban humor such as Juan Marchante (Chivichana), Matute, and Yudmila, among many others.
Ulises Toirac Abelenda was born on June 29, 1963. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the "José Antonio Echeverría" Technological University of Havana (CUJAE) in 1986. However, his professional career has been in the cultural sector.
Since his pre-university days, he began to perform as an amateur artist. In 1981, he formed a theater group for which he wrote the humorous play Colón en el Onceno Festival. With this group, he also carried out the first staging of the theatrical work Un Brindis por el Zonzo, a theatrical adaptation of a story by Onelio Jorge Cardoso.
At CUJAE, Ulises joined the amateur theater scene. He first became part of an experimental group directed by Augusto Cañozares, with which he participated in the play Ópera X. Later, he joined the Carlos Pous theater group.
After these experiences, Ulises, along with several friends, founded the First National University Humor Festival. He took this opportunity to invite Alejandro García Villalón (Virulo) to close the event with the National Show Ensemble. This was a turning point in Toirac's life that led him to choose acting, and particularly humor, as his path.
After finishing his university degree, he founded the group Onondivepa with a group of friends. They staged the play Farewell to the Comrade Benito and participated in summer shows alongside renowned Cuban artistic groups and comedians, such as La Seña del Humor and the National Show Group itself.
In 1988, Ulises joined the cast of the Programa de Ramón on Radio Ciudad de La Habana, where he acted, wrote scripts, and became familiar with radio production. A year later, he began working on the youth magazine broadcasted by Radio Progreso, titled Juventud 2000. At this station, he also wrote, directed, and starred in the humorous magazine Contalco.
His breakthrough in television came with Doble Filo, a show where he played the character Pupi, a young and talkative barber. In 1993, he joined the cast of Sabadazo, the television show that ultimately propelled him to fame.
In Sabadazo, the television program hosted by Carlos Otero, Ulises portrayed more than fifteen characters, among which Matute and Yudmila stood out.
Despite being a period of success, Ulises has stated in several interviews that it was a contradictory stage, as it also marked the beginning of an era of the trivialization of jokes and the simplification of the way humor is made in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary boost to delve into one-man shows. He stood out for his ability to connect different themes, attitudes, and talents. The first solo performance was Con Las Tiras del Pellejo (1995). This was followed by El Flaco (1996).
In 1999, he made his return to television with his own show in which he invited young comedians from all over the country to participate: ¿Y tú de qué te ríes?
In 2002, he then started his most ambitious project, Do You Swear to Tell the Truth?. It was a television show that paid homage to La Tremenda Corte, an internationally renowned Cuban humor program written by Castor Vispo and featuring Leopoldo Fernández and Aníbal de Mar.
In Do you swear to tell the truth? Toirac played Chivichana, a descendant of Trespatines. The show ran for 5 seasons and remained on air until 2009. Some scripts were adapted for the theater, achieving tremendous success.
Ulises Toirac has performed on international stages. In 2011, he toured the United States. In Florida, he presented his one-man show Cuentos, Canciones y otras IDEAteces at the Miami Dade County Auditorium.
Ulises Toirac is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Throughout his artistic career, he has received significant awards that affirm his popularity in Cuba, as well as distinctions such as the Order for National Culture (2004).
Movies in which he has participated as an actor:
- Alicia in Wonderland (1992)
- Tropical Dream (1993)
- Adorable Lies (1993)
- Pata Negra (1999)
- A King in Havana (2004)
- Chivichana The Movie (2005)
