Do you understand Mexican/Latino Humor?
Actor 1
Pepito está en la escuela y la maestra le pregunta:
(Pepito is at school and the teacher asks:)
Actor 1
Pepito, ¿cómo se dice perro en inglés?
(Pepito, how do you say dog in English?)
Actor 2
Fácil, dog.
(Easy, dog.)
Actor 1
Muy bien, Pepito. ¿Y cómo se dice veterinario?
(Very well, Pepito. And how do you say veterinarian?)
Actor 2
Súper fácil, DOGtor.
(Super easy, DOGtor.)
This was a Pepito joke. Un chiste de Pepito (A Pepito joke). A variety of the many ways Mexicans make jokes. In this lesson, we’re exploring what you need to know about Mexican Latino humor.
I’m Paulísima, your Spanish teacher at Spring Spanish. Empecemos!
1. Mexican humor
Mexicans love a dirty joke, but we also laugh about everything else. Everything. Really, there’s no limit on what Mexicans joke about. Nos reímos de la muerte, de catástrofes naturales, de tragedias que han sacudido al país, de la realidad política y económica de México. ¡De todo! (We laugh at death, natural disasters, tragedies that have shaken the country, the political and economic reality of Mexico. Everything!)
Well, that’s not entirely true. Though we do use a lot of mentions to one’s mother, “yo mama” jokes are not really a thing.

If you are interested in learning our humor, check out Franco Escamilla. Hoy por hoy, es considerado el mejor standupero de México. (Nowadays, he is considered the best stand-up comedian in Mexico.) Extra points for him: he doesn’t talk that fast! Check out this video where I show you how to make the best out of consuming Netflix content in Spanish.
A mí me gusta reírme de todo. Díganme en los comentarios cuál es su tipo de humor favorito. (I like laughing about everything. Tell me in the comments what your favorite type of humor is.)
2. Types of popular Latino humor
1. Chiste de Mexicanos
In these types of jokes, the punchline is either about a Mexican outsmarting people from other nationalities. Or also about poking fun at the flaws of our nation or our way of being.
I’m telling one later, so stay tuned.
¿Les cuento un chiste de mexicanos? ¡Sí!
(Can I tell you a joke about Mexicans? Yes!)
Actor 1
Un equipo de investigadores japoneses inventó una máquina para atrapar ladrones. Colocaron la máquina justo en el Shibuya Center, y al cabo de una a hora, la máquina ya había atrapado a tres ladrones.
Al equipo de investigadores les gustó mucho el resultado, pero pensaron que tal vez investigadores de otros países podrían contribuir para perfeccionar la máquina de atrapar ladrones. Entonces la mandaron a Francia. El equipo de investigadores franceses hizo los ajustes necesarios a la máquina, y pum, que colocan la máquina en la torre Eiffel, ahí en el Campo Marte. Al cabo de cuarenta y cinco minutos, la máquina ya había atrapado a siete ladrones.
Los franceses quedaron encantados y a ellos les tocó mandarles la máquina al equipo de Estados Unidos. Mandan la máquina. Los investigadores estadounidenses le hacen los ajustes necesarios. Colocan la máquina en Nueva York, en el Times Square, y al cabo de veinte minutos, la máquina ya había atrapado a veinte ladrones.
Impresionados con los resultados maravillosos de la máquina, los estadounidenses envían la máquina al equipo de investigadores mexicanos. Los investigadores mexicanos reciben la máquina, le hacen los ajustes necesarios, le ponen un sombrero encima, la colocan en el Zócalo en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México, y al cabo de cinco minutos ya se habían robado la máquina.
(A team of Japanese investigators invented a machine to catch thieves. They placed the machine right in the Shibuya Center, and within an hour, the machine had already caught 3 thieves.
The team of researchers liked the result very much, but they thought that maybe researchers from other countries could contribute to improve the machine to catch thieves. Then they sent it to France. The team of French researchers made the necessary adjustments to the machine, and boom, they put the machine in the Eiffel Tower, in the Mars Field. After 45 minutes, the machine had already caught 7 thieves.
The French were delighted and they sent the machine to the U.S. team. American researchers made the necessary adjustments. They put the machine in New York, in Times Square, and after 20 minutes, the machine had already caught 20 thieves.
Impressed with the machine’s wonderful results, the Americans send the machine to the team of Mexican researchers. Mexican researchers receive the machine, make the necessary adjustments, put a hat on it, place it in the Zocalo in the Historic Center of Mexico City, and after 5 minutes the machine had been stolen.)
I don’t think this needs much explanation. Of course this is just a play on an stereotype. I don’t mean any harm. I absolutely adore my country. I live in Mexico city and I can tell you, it’s beautiful and I feel pretty safe here.
We Mexicans laugh a lot about ourselves. We like to make these kinds of jokes, but I think we don’t like it as much when other people make them.
I personally don’t find it offensive when somebody makes fun of a Mexican stereotype, granted they don’t actually believe it’s true.
2. Chistes de Gallegos
Gallegos is the name for the people from Galicia, Spain. Here the punchline plays on stereotypes about people from that region not being that bright. I think that in every country there are jokes about considering people of a certain nationality as dumb.
Who do you make fun of in your country?
Un Gallego choca su auto y le queda una tremenda abolladura. Entonces, se le ocurre que soplando por el tubo de escape, podrá arreglarlo. Así que empieza …Entonces que pasa otro Gallego y lo ve y le dice: Oye pero que si no cierras las ventanas del auto, el auto nunca se va a inflar.
(A Galician man crashes his car and gets a huge dent. Then, it occurs to him that by blowing through the exhaust pipe, he will be able to fix it. So he starts …Then another Gallego passes by and sees him and says: Hey, but if you don’t close the windows of the car, the car will never inflate.)
Important note: Neither I nor the vast majority of Mexicans have anything against the Galicians or Spaniards from any other region of Spain. So please don’t take offense to this little joke, because it’s just that, a joke.
3. Chistes de Pepito
In the Mexican context, Chistes de Pepito refers to a type of joke that typically involves a character named Pepito. These jokes often portray Pepito as a mischievous, trouble-making child who frequently gets into absurd or outrageous situations.
Actor 1
Un día, la mamá de Pepito estaba cocinando y se dio cuenta de que la receta que estaba haciendo llevaba huevos y no tenía, entonces le dijo a Pepito:
(One day, Pepito’s mom was cooking and realized that the recipe called for eggs but she didn’t have any, so she told Pepito:)
Actor 1
¡Pepito! Véte a la tienda por seis huevos.
(Pepito! Go to the store for 6 eggs.)
Actor 2
Sí, ma, ya voy.
(Yes, mom, I’m going.)
Actor 1
Pero córrele que los necesito para ahoritititita.
(But hurry up, I need them right now.)
Actor 2
¡Ya voy, ya voy, ya voy!
(I’m going, I’m going, I’m going!)
Pau
Se va Pepito a la tienda, llega, paga, muy quitado de la pena, agarra sus seis huevitos, y se va.
(Pepito goes to the store, arrives, pays and just walks out with his 6 little eggs.)
Cuando iba cruzando la calle para llegar a su casa, Pepito se dio se dio cuenta de que al lado de él venía un borrachito, y también de que venía un coche en sentido contrario. Como le dio miedo, Pepito empezó a meterle más velocidad para cruzar la calle, y volteó a ver y se dio cuenta que el borrachito ni en cuenta. No se dio cuenta de que venía un coche en sentido contrario, y pum, que lo atropella. Y aparte, otro coche que estaba intentando esquivar al coche que venía en sentido contrario lo termina de atropellar. Fue una cosa verdaderamente horrenda. Pepito fue testigo de todo. Se quedó estupefacto, llorando, sin saber qué hacer, y se fue corriendo a su casa.
(When he was crossing the street to get to his house, Pepito realized that next to him was a drunk, and also that a car was coming in the opposite direction. As he was afraid, Pepito began to rush to cross the street, and turned to see and realized that the drunk did not even notice. He didn’t realize a car was coming the wrong way, and bang, it hit him. Also, another car that was trying to dodge the car coming the other way ends up hitting him. It was a truly horrendous thing. Pepito witnessed it all. He was shocked, crying, not knowing what to do, and ran home.)
¡Mamá, mamá! Llama a una ambulancia. Atropellaron a un señor, mamá. Fue horrible.
¡Mamá, mamá! ¡Es que salieron volando los zapatos por allá! ¡Se le rompió la mano izquierda y salió volando por allá! ¡Se le rompió la mano derecha y salió volando por allá! Su brazo izquierdo también salió volando por allá.
(Mom, Mom! Call an ambulance. They ran over a man, Mom. It was horrible.
Mom, Mom! His shoes flew over there! His left hand broke and he flew over there! He broke his right hand and flew over there! His left arm also flew over there.)
Actor 1
Pepito, ¿y los huevos?
(Pepito, what about the eggs?)
Actor 2
Ah, esos si no sé dónde quedaron.
(Oh, I don’t know where they went.)
I know that in other countries this character has different names. What is the equivalent of Pepito in your country?
3. ¿Te cuento un chiste? (Can I tell you a joke?)
¿Quieres contar un chiste? (Do you want to tell a joke?) When you want to tell someone a chiste (joke), use the following chunk. For those who are new in the channel, chunks are phrases or word combinations often used by native Spanish speakers, They are super useful to speed up your learning. Get a free copy of our Essential Spanish Chunking Kit in the link in the description.
Pau
¿Te cuento un chiste?
(Can I tell you a joke?)
Pau
If you are asking a group you should say
: ¿Les cuento un chiste?
(Can I tell you all a joke?)
¿Le entendieron? (Did you get that?)
Pepito, who was carrying eggs, witnesses a horrific accident where he saw body parts flying around. When he re-tells the story to his mom, he mentions the different parts that he saw, and when his mom interrupts him to ask him about the eggs -that she send him to get- Pepito thinks she’s asking about the victim’s “eggs”, his testicles.
So, he tells her that he didn’t see where those ended up going.
I think it’s funny. What about you?
4. Aprende este chiste (Learn this joke)
Actor 1
Pepito, ¿qué sigue después de Marte?
(Pepito, what goes after Mars?)
Actor 2
MiércolE
(Wednesday)
The punchline of the joke is a play on words: after Mars, the next thing that follows is Jupiter, but instead of saying Jupiter, he answers MiércolE__ (Wednesday).
Pepito plays on the fact that the word Marte, Mars, sounds like MarteS, Tuesday in Spanish, but without the final S. Then, what goes after Tuesday? Miércoles, Wednesday. But Pepito says Miércole with the final S to make it match with MartE, understood as Martes, Tuesday, without the S.
This is a super clean joke that will at least make your Mexicans friends chuckle!