Raymond y sus Amigos

*Raymond y sus Amigos*
Raymond y sus Amigos
	Title card for the show
Also known as	RYSA
Genre	Stand-up comedy; Satire; Political satire; Variety show; Sketch comedy;
Created by	Raymond Arrieta
Starring	Raymond Arrieta; Jasond Calderón; Jorge Castro; Joealis Filippetti; Norwill Fragoso; Sara Jarque; René Monclova; Miguel Morales; Mónica Pastrana; Lizmarie Quintana; Abraham Martí; Yeye Villanueva; JC Martínez;
Country of origin	Puerto Rico
Original language	Spanish
Production
Executive producer	Tony Mojena
Production locations	Telemundo Puerto Rico; San Juan, Puerto Rico
Running time	120 minutes (with commercials)
Production company	Tony Mojena Entertainment
Original release
Network	WKAQ-TV
Release	June 24, 2014 –; present

Raymond y sus Amigos (Spanish: Raymond and his Friends) is a Puerto Rican live television sketch comedy, political satire, and variety show created by Raymond Arrieta and developed by Tony Mojena that airs on Telemundo Puerto Rico. The show's recurring sketches often parody Puerto Rican culture and politics and are performed by the show's recurring cast, most of which have remained the same since the show's inception in 2014.

History

Raymond Arrieta rose to prominence as a comedian in Puerto Rican television by presenting El Show de Raymond (Raymond's Show) on Televicentro (WAPA-TV) during the late 90s and early 2000s. In 2006, Televicentro was sold to InterMedia Partners which brought changes to the station which included the cancellation of El Show de Raymond. After his contract with WAPA-TV ended, Arrieta joined Telemundo in 2007 as the co-host of daytime variety show Día a Día (Spanish: Day by Day).^[1]

Arrieta was approached by Tony Mojena, who produces Día a Día, with the idea of reviving his sketch comedy show on WKAQ-TV which led to the development of Raymond y sus Amigos. On June 6, 2014, a press conference was held to announce the debut of the new show, on the event it was announced that the show would debut on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, and would air for two hours. The introduction of the show marked the first time WKAQ-TV featured original local programming in eight years.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The format of the show begins with a monologue by Arrieta, joined by a house band, followed by comedic sketches, and featured interview segments, more comedic sketches and a musical guest, although the episodes may not include the latter. The show's premiere episode had interviews with boxers Félix "Tito" Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, with Luis Fonsi served as the musical guest. The premiere episode was a success for the network and managed to trend on Twitter through a game of hashtags, encouraging viewers to participate.^[5]

The show takes place from Studio 2 at WKAQ-TV Studios in San Juan where El Show de las 12 originated, with a capacity of 300 guests. During the COVID-19 pandemic the show halted admitting audiences and was performed in front of essential personnel only. In late 2021, the show resumed welcoming audiences in separated clusters and wearing masks and returned admitting full audiences in 2023.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Cast

The show is hosted and led by Raymond Arrieta and veteran comedians René Monclova, Jorge Castro and Miguel Morales. The show also held auditions to find newer talent and landed on Rosko Jaime, Joealis Filippetti, Norwill Fragoso, Mónica Pastrana, and Lirimar Castañeda. Joining them would be Abraham Martí, who had previously worked on sketch-comedy show TV Ilegal on WAPA-TV in the early 2000s, and Yeye Villanueva, who worked with Arrieta on El Show de Raymond on WAPA.^[9]^[10] On August 11, 2017, Lizmarie Quintana joined the cast. Quintana had previously worked with Martí on TV Ilegal.^[11] On August 22, 2023, it was announced during the show that comedian Jasond Calderón would be joining the cast of the show, who previously worked on TeleOnce's late-night talk show Acuestate con Francis and had been off television following the show's cancellation in July 2022.^[12]^[13]

Current cast

Raymond Arrieta
Jasond Calderón
Jorge Castro
Joealis Filippetti
Norwill Fragoso
Sara Jarque
René Monclova
Miguel Morales
Mónica Pastrana
Lizmarie Quintana
Abraham Martí
Yeye Villanueva
JC Martínez

Former cast

Rosko Jaime
Lirimar Castañeda
Nelson del Valle
Carlos Ramírez

Rosko Jaime's exit

During the tail-end of 2022, Rosko Jaime began missing episodes of the show. While he would eventually return to the program in early 2023, his exit from the cast became official in June 2023. Jaime portrayed the character of Luiso (nicknamed "Shupi"), a flamboyant gay man, who was often performed with exaggerated mannerisms and in a feminine manner on the show's Sex and the City parody called Men and the City. On June 6, 2023, Jaime expressed through his lawyer that he had been let go from the show because of his disagreement of the way the character was being written and considered the character and its storylines were verging on being offensive towards the LGBTQIA+ community. In Jaime's statement he said he expressed his concerns about the writing to executive producer Tony Mojena and WKAQ management but his complaints were not addressed by the production and instead he was notified he would no longer be appearing on the show. Jaime and Mojena came to an agreement behind closed doors for him to retain ownership of all the characters he portrayed on Raymond y sus Amigos and the two parted ways with Jaime shortly after joining rival network TeleOnce.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]

Recurring sketches

The show features a variety of recurring sketches based on different characters, some presented in an episodic way with new stories presented weekly for the recurring characters.

Gato Encerrado con la Dra. Apolo: A parody of Caso Cerrado where Arrieta impersonates Ana María Polo.
La Oficina de LUMA: Sketch mocking the customer service of Puerto Rico's energy provider, LUMA Energy.
Men and the City: A parody of Sex and the City, following a group of friends who meet weekly at a bar to talk about their relationships. The sketch follows Arrieta as Carlos (a man with an overbearing wife), Monclova as Mauricio (a divorced man who struggles financially), Castro as Sammy (a womanizer) and Morales as Larry (a single man who enjoys dating older women).
Guaraguao Security: An original sketch that follows a group of incompetent private security officers.
La Cuarteta: An original sketch following the adventures of a food truck owner.
Última Pregunta: A parody of the political analysis show Primera Pregunta con Rafael Lenin López. It features parodies of Puerto Rican political personalities.