Luis Antonio Rivera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luis Antonio Rivera a.k.a. "Yoyo Boing" (born April 9, 1930 in Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a comedian who was also one of the pioneers of Puerto Rican television.
Yoyo's parents moved to Santurce, a section of San Juan, from Humacao when he was only three years old. After receiving his primary education, Yoyo attended the "Escuela Superior Central de Santurce" (Central High School of Santurce). He found a part-time job at a local radio station which opened the doors to a new world for him.
Yoyo became a member of the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico. As a drama member, he participated in two of Rene Marques' plays. He also had a radio show and that's when he came up with the name of Yoyo Boing for a "character" he used in the show.
1954 was the year that television "arrived" in Puerto Rico. Yoyo Boing, together with the likes of Tommy Muñiz, Jose Miguel Agrelot and Paquito Cordero was one of the first comics in Puerto Rican television. In 1960, he participated in the TV program called "La Críada Malcríada" (The Crazy Maid).
In the 1970's, Yoyo starred in own show called "Mi Hippie Me Encanta" (I'm Crazy about My Hippie) transmitted in Channel 2. In the 1980's, Yoyo starred in the show "Los Suegros" (The In-Laws) and later in a spin-off of that show called "Los Suegros y Los Nietos" (The In-Laws and the Grandchildren). Yoyo was also the General Manager of radio station "AM 81" and "Radio de Oro" (Golden Radio).
In the 1990's, Yoyo wrote a book titled "A Reir Con Yoyo" (Let's Laugh with Yoyo) and donated all of the proceeds to an AIDS organization. He was also active in a television show called "Desde Mi Pueblo" (From My Town) for Channel 6, where he would visit every town and city and show all of the interesting aspects of the featured place.
Yoyo is currently retired but, at times makes special appearances. He was the protagonist of the locally produced movie for television "Santa Clos es Boricua" (Santa Claus is Puerto Rican), a Puerto Rican version of the Charles Dickens novel Christmas Carol, which was telecast in Puerto Rico and the United States through WAPA-TV on December 20, 2004.
