Mexico’s Olympics Coverage: My God, What Is This?

Last night, during coverage of men’s gymnastics (the only thing on the Olympics worth watching besides men’s swimming), Televisa’s sports correspondents came on to chitchat about the competition — just like sports anchors would do in the U.S.

But then, before my stunned eyes, a freaking hand puppet shot up and started telling jokes about gymnastics. And the two correspondents started giggling. Uncontrollably.

And that’s when I realized I was watching a hand puppet give commentary on the Olympics. And that, once again, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore…..

Meet El Compayito. Since we don’t watch a lot of TV, we are a bit late to meet him, too. But he’s apparently been on Mexican TV for many years. I’ve written before about Brozo, a hard-hitting news man who dresses as a clown to hide his real identity.

But a puppet?

Only in Mexico, folks. (And it goes without saying, but the puppet and the correspondents made plenty of jaw dropping politically incorrect jokes about Chinese people.)

Here El Compayito pretends to be a rhythmic gymnast in the ribbon competition.

El Compayito is apparently hilarious. And yeah, I'm pretty sure the anchor is holding a paddle.

If you’d like to watch Compayito in action, here’s a YouTube clip of his greatest moments on TV: