Ricardo Meruane

César Ricardo Meruane Meruane (Santiago de Chile, December 7, 1956) is a Chilean humorist and wood worker of Palestinian origin. His 2016 "noctule" joke went viral in 2024.

Biography

He was born in 1956, being one of the nine children of the immigrant Palestinian Chucre Meruane, merchant dedicated to the sale of fabrics. He is nephew of the actress Nelly Meruane and uncle of the writer Lina Meruane. He studied as a technician in tool and die making at the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, from which he graduated in 1981. That same year, while doing his professional practice in a plastics company, he competed in the program ¿Cuánto vale el show?, being this his first television appearance.

A year later, he decided to devote himself entirely to humor, working in different nightclubs in Santiago, until he was discovered by producer Emilio Rojas, who in 1983 took him to the programs Sábados gigantes and Noche de gigantes, both hosted by Don Francisco, where he gained national notoriety. Parallel to this, he ventured into the café concert format, presenting his shows Fotocopia feliz del Edén (1984) and La Viroca (1988).

In the late 1980s he returned for a stint on the international version of Sábado gigante, now broadcast from Miami, United States, where he reached the peak of his comedy career and managed to be seen by millions of viewers around the world. During the 1990s he participated in several television programs, including several editions of the Teletón and the International Festival of Humor 1995, where he shared the stage with Juan Verdaguer and Raúl Vale, among other international comedians. In 1998 he premiered his café concert Prejuicio final.