Spanish morning show mistakes Irish comedy sketch for genuine sunburn competition

Anyone who has spent a summer in Spain will understand exactly why Spanish television thought the sketch might actually be real

Ireland is experiencing a heatwave at the moment, and in between articles about how the country is somehow hotter than Barcelona and Alicante, there have also been plenty of hilarious memes and sketches doing the rounds. Everything from jokes about not recognising the 'yellow ball in the sky' to Irish mammies suddenly switching to 'picky dinners' the moment the sun appears.

One of those comedy sketches has now made its way onto a morning TV show in Madrid. The only problem? It seems they thought it was real…

One of the sketches in question comes from ComedyJOE, the Irish comedy arm of the well-known JOE website, which regularly produces satirical clips based on current events and everyday Irish life.

This particular video was inspired by Ireland's recent burst of warm weather and is titled 'Are these the most sunburnt men in Ireland?' It features three comedians playing extremely sunburnt Irish men who have clearly taken full advantage of the sunshine, possibly a bit too much.

The sketch follows the trio as they enter a fictional 'Most Sunburnt Man in Ireland' competition, complete with a deadpan 'doctor' in a white coat acting as the judge, who appears to have taken time out of surgery just to oversee the event.

The humour is very clearly tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated tan lines and dangerously red skin tones.

How a Spanish TV show interpreted the sketch

The sketch was picked up by a morning TV show in Madrid, where the presenters showed and discussed it.

From the clips shared, it appears they may have believed it was real, or at least were treating it very much as if it was. The conversation is all completely straight-faced, with the hosts reacting with genuine surprise and confusion at what they were seeing.

One of the presenters explains to viewers that Ireland has been going through a rare spell of warm weather and that people there are not really used to much sun, which might explain the very red faces on screen.

They then go on to describe the 'event' in some detail, even adding in details about a beer festival, and how contestants were supposedly judged not just on how sunburnt they were, but also on tan lines from caps, glasses and T-shirts.

Then the conversation shifts into more of a public-health tone, with talk about sunscreen and sun protection, almost as if the clip was being used to highlight the dangers of overexposure to the sun.

The apparent confusion, if anything, only made the sketch even funnier, especially for anyone watching from outside Ireland.

Expats/immigrants in Spain are probably fairly used to this kind of thing by now anyway. Life here comes with its own running commentary on 'guiris', the term for northern Europeans who tend to stand out a bit in the Spanish sun.

And while the Irish sketch was clearly satire, there are moments every summer in Spain when it does genuinely feel like there might, in fact, be an unofficial sunburn competition going on!

 

 

 

 

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Image: Artistic representation