Peruvian comedian Enrique Eduardo Espejo Peña, known as ‘Yuca’, passed away at the age of 75 on Friday, September 11, 2026. Humorist Jorge Benavides confirmed the loss via social media, marking the end of a four-decade era in Peruvian television comedy defined by improvisation and physical humor.
- The Loss of an Icon: Enrique Espejo, Peruvian comic ‘Yuca’, passed away at 75 following a health battle tied to a severe accident in March 2025.
- Industry Legacy: Spanning over forty years, his career included TV comedy blocks like Risas y Salsa, El Especial del Humor, and various projects under Jorge Benavides.
- A Complex Farewell: While colleagues and fans celebrated his knack for spontaneous physical comedy, his final years were also shaped by medical seclusion and legal controversies that concluded earlier in 2026.
The Curtain Falls on a Pillar of Peruvian Television
For more than forty years, Enrique Espejo was known for his economy of expression. He didn’t always need dialogue to land a punchline; a signature gesture was enough to crack up viewers. Born in Barranca, Peru, on April 22, 1951, Espejo broke into the professional television landscape in 1980 when Tulio Loza brought him onto his program. Not long after, he joined Risas y Salsa—where Adolfo Chuiman gave him the moniker ‘Yuca’—cementing his status in the national pop culture lexicon.
His departure closes a chapter of Peruvian sketch comedy. Jorge Benavides took to Instagram on September 11 to break the news to fans. “Queridos seguidores. Nuestro querido Yuquita dejó de existir el día de hoy. Para mí es muy triste dar esta lamentable noticia,” Benavides wrote, sharing an emotional retrospective that highlighted classic bits from segments like La Farmacia and La Jugada Polémica.
From Slapstick Chemistry to the Reality of Behind-the-Scenes Seclusion
Within Benavides’ ensemble ecosystem—which included JB noticias and El Especial del Humor to El Wasap de JB and eventually JB en ATV—Espejo functioned as a comedic foil. According to Benavides’ public tributes, ‘Yuca’ possessed a gift for on-the-spot wit, often demanding his running gag of an “inflada de llanta” (a salary increase request) that routinely broke the cast’s composure mid-sketch.
| Era / Years | Program / Production | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 – 1990 | Risas y Salsa | Origin of the ‘Yuca’ moniker by Adolfo Chuiman |
| 1994 – 2001 | JB Noticias & La Paisana Jacinta | Partnership with Jorge Benavides |
| 2011 – 2014 | El Especial del Humor | Featured in La Jugada Polémica |
| 2017 – 2021 | El Wasap de JB / JB en ATV | Television runs prior to health hiatus |
That dynamic shifted in March 2025. Following a severe street fall in the district of Lince that left him unconscious with a traumatic brain injury and a serious head fracture, Espejo was rushed into emergency intensive care at Hospital Alberto Sabogal and later treated at Hospital Casimiro Ulloa. While family members maintained clinical privacy regarding his day-to-day diagnostics, subsequent updates from colleagues painted a sobering picture. By late 2025, Benavides shared with the public that his longtime co-star was struggling significantly with his health and hearing loss, keeping him away from the active television sets.
Navigating Public Legacy, Controversy, and the Final Chapter
Alongside his decades of television success and appearances in films like Asu Mare 2 and La Paisana Jacinta en búsqueda de Wasaberto, Espejo’s later years faced industry turbulence. In 2019, actress Clara Seminara publicly accused him of unwanted touching. Following legal judgments against Espejo, the legal battle reached a conclusion in January 2026, when Seminara opted to drop the remainder of the judicial process out of humanitarian considerations regarding the actor’s medical condition.
As the Peruvian entertainment community processes his passing, industry peers and fans are remembering the blueprint he established for national sketch comedy. ‘Yuca’ managed to anchor decades of programming through visual presence. As Benavides noted in his farewell, the void left on set when a foundational player steps away is never truly filled. Yuquita may have exited the stage, but his footprint across Peruvian broadcasting remains.
What are your favorite memories of ‘Yuca’ from the eras of Risas y Salsa or El Especial del Humor? Let’s talk about his comedic legacy in the comments below.
