Legendary Mexican comedian and Club America fan, Manuel “El Loco” Valdes passes away

Mexico lost one of the greatest comedy legends when Manuel Valdes died this Friday. Valdes was part of the famous Valdes brothers, which included legendary comedian German Valdes, better known as Tin Tan, and Ramon Valdes, who played the character of Don Ramon in “el Chavo del Ocho”, which is considered one of the most popular TV shows in Latin American history. Valdes was a movie star and TV star spanning decades, and was famous as being a huge fan of Club America. Valdes famously had a bet every season with comedian friend Sergio Corona over the Superclasico against Chivas. Millions of fans every season paid attention to who would prevail and who would pay over that bet.

Manuel Valdes was born in Ciudad Juarez in 1931. He was the younger brother of what turned to be great comedians, German Valdes and Ramon Valdes. German Valdes, better known as Tin Tan, would be a legendary comedian in Mexico, who would popularize the famous “Pachuco” look in Mexico. Manuel would join his brothers and start making movies in Mexico’s golden age of cinema. Because of his crazy comedic performance, he earned the nickname of “El Loco” to the point that most people in Mexico simply call him El Loco Valdes. Valdes would later move to television where he shined with shows like “Operacion Ja Ja”, “Ensalada de Locos” and “El Show del Loco Valdes”. He also had a robust cinema career that continued all the way until 2018.

“El Loco” Valdez had a strong relationship with his favorite club, America. For years he declared his love for the club in his TV shows including his famous phrase of “America y Ya!”. As a tribute to him and the phrase, Club America put out a tribute video on Friday.

In minute .56 of the video appears what made his recent fanfare for America more notable to many fans. With his comedian friend Sergio Corona, a notable Chivas fan, he would make bets every Superclasico. Many people in Mexico would know about the famous bet and would be waiting for the news of what punishment would suffer the loser of every Superclasico bet. Years after both were off television, fans and the press would cover the bet and the punishment as Valdes and Corona became the notable fans of their respective teams. In honor of his death, El Universal made the following video with many of the more notable punishments.

The death of Manuel “El Loco” Valdes closes a chapter in not only Mexican comedy, but in Mexico as a country in of itself. Valdes, who suffered censorship from the government for jokes he made against the government during his TV show, was a legend who was part of history along with his brothers. Club America meanwhile loses one of their most famous fans and a the end of the “rivalry” with Corona, also ends a funny anecdote that surrounds the Superclasico. May he rest in peace.