Yunez Chaib: "Doing homework by candlelight is still part of many people's lives"

PalmYúnez Chaib, a comedian born in Melilla and raised in Mallorca, has developed her career through wit, sensitivity, and social criticism. We talk about her beginnings at Trampa Teatre in Palma to her rise to popularity on shows like La Resistencia, channels like Comedy Central, and the book she has just published, Corderito (Aguilar, 2026), which she will present on May 16th in Manacor and June 5th in Palma.

Now more things about you have started to appear, but until a few days ago I had found little material, and I would say no interviews online, at least in what is called traditional press. Can we say this is your first interview? Or one of the first (the interview was done on May 5th)?

— Yes. I haven't done any for many years. This is the first one in five years. I gave up doing interviews. I don't have much to explain and they all had the same character. Many questions were repeated and I preferred not to do them. I haven't missed it. There are people who like them because, besides, they give exposure. Now, with the book, I need to do them. I want people to find out.

I remember some of what must have been your first performances as a comedian in Palma, at Sala Trampa. You already showed promise: you had a nervous style, often with the support of your phone, but above all very sensitive when dealing with humor. It contrasted with what was seen on the Mallorcan underground scene, which often displayed a cruder sense of humor. Does this interpretation make sense?

— There are many types of humor. In my case, I was talking about personal experiences and my own miseries, and that requires more tact than explaining a joke about a news item or about something that doesn't concern you.

How did you get into doing comedy?

— When I was in university I studied Tourism and didn't have much of a calling. It was a degree that would give me a secure job, but I didn't know if I wanted to dedicate myself to it. I signed up for the Trampa Teatro school as a hobby, just as I had signed up for the Official School of Languages, and in that space I connected a lot with comedy, with theatrical writing, improvisation, and laughter in general. When I had been going for three years, they started having open mic nights and I signed up, just as I signed up for everything that was happening. That's how my professional calling began.

You have been moving around stages and have gone from venues with the stickiest floors in Mallorca – no offense intended – to being one of the most recognized comedians of your generation. You work on Spanish Television and have even taken your first steps with acting in series like Mai neva a Ciutat and Doctor Portuondo. How do you experience this change? And fame?

— It's something I think about daily: the luck or fortune I have. But I remain connected to my beginnings. Recently, I had a performance in Vigo, in a pretty cool theater, and when it ended, I went to an open mic at a taco restaurant because local comedians invited me. It was a space where you performed on top of a pallet and left the place smelling of Mexican food. I tend to do it from time to time because it connects me a lot with comedy and with comedians who have a lot of passion. It's great for me to stay connected to this, to my roots, although I don't want to romanticize it. It's difficult to make a living from comedy. I also go just in case, in case things start going badly or slower, so I can say: "Hey, I've always come to the taqueria" (laughs).

And psychologically, how do you handle fame?

— It has happened gradually. I have been preparing myself for all the phases. The summer before going to TVE, I did think that I would have a lot of exposure and that I had to prepare myself mentally. But then it's about exposing yourself, and once you're there, everything rolls along: on the days it goes well, you shouldn't get carried away, and when it goes badly, you shouldn't despair.

— Above all, accept that it is a job, not my whole life. I feel like a civil servant of comedy: I do work, I write jokes, I do my things, but I separate the work part from the leisure part a lot. When I'm at home, I dedicate myself to planting a bonsai, making sweet rice, reading...

We've already had a couple of Mallorcan questions… Do you want to talk about the book?

— Yes, yes, wanting to (laughs).

The protagonist, Abde, soon discovers that his name can be an obstacle. Does it stem directly from your life experience?

— The novel is autofiction. It is neither a biography nor an autobiography, but it does have a strong load of personal experiences, of a boy who is the son of migrants in 2006, and that connects a lot with my experience. I don't like to talk about it in the first person or refer to the character's parents as if they were my parents, even though there are many similar things. There are experiences that I have lived and others that I have imagined, when I have put myself in the situation. There is a lot of personal load, but it is not a biography. It is a way of defending myself and distancing myself from the story, even though it remains very close to me.

In the book there is the image of doing homework by candlelight.

— Yes. It is a moment in the protagonist's story. He lives in a house with few economic resources, but I didn't want to write it in a martyring way. I didn't want to fall into morbidity or explain it from sadness. These things happen. It's not a big drama. It happens and that's it; doing homework by candlelight is still part of many people's lives.

Talk about an identity “on the thread”, between two realities. Do you think this is a constant for second-generation migrants?

— I guess for some more and for others less, but this can happen to anyone. For example, to a person who has a very serious job and then a hobby that clashes a lot, like going out to dance bachata. One can be in the thread of different realities, and not just two. I have groups of friends with whom we are very different, and I find it hard to imagine bringing them all together because I don't know what I would have to do. It still happens to me, and not always on the racial issue, although also, but because of my job. It happens to me when I meet people outside of comedy, people who work in an office or are teachers... But it can also happen to someone who is vegan and has a super carnivorous family. No one is saved.

Humor is a core part of your career. Is it also present in this book?

— It is not a joke book or a stand-up comedy book, but it is a very funny novel, although it does not aim to make you laugh. The funny moments appear just as drama appears.

Does Mallorca appear in the novel?

— I wrote it thinking it happened in Mallorca, but in a subtle way. It's not a character; it's a space through which the protagonists move. We can say there is 'city' in lowercase, but not a city in uppercase. If that makes sense (laughs).

At some point you said that since you moved to Madrid you have lost a lot of Catalan.

— I speak less Catalan because in Madrid there are fewer people to speak it with. I speak it with my friend Leti or when I call friends from Mallorca. I've lost the habit a bit, and that's why I decided to do more performances in Catalan. In 2025 I did three or four and in 2026 I already have six or so planned. Besides, I like it because I had stopped doing performances in Catalan. When I perform in Granollers or Vic, for example, people are excited about it.

The book talks about a generation that is from here, but is often perceived as 'outsiders'. Do you think society is changing in this regard?

— There are many people rowing in favor and many others rowing against. It is a complicated moment, but when has it not been? I find it sad that the complicated moment never ends.

While we talk, Yúnez walks through Madrid's Gran Vía. He goes from the offices of La Revuelta to the publishing house. At one point he gets distracted and says: "Excuse me, but there is a man who is putting fake two-euro coins on the ground and then he's going to sit on a bollard to watch people. He's hunting all those who bend down to pick them up".

Can we say you are a benchmark?

— I don't see myself as a role model, but I'm also not going to pretend to be falsely humble: people have told me so. I also have role models, and we all, at some point, are role models for someone for anything, be it bigger or smaller. It doesn't give me any feeling of getting carried away when someone tells me that. It's a nice word, a detail, and that's it. My job is to be a comedian, not a role model. Yes, by being a comedian, we are role models for someone, then great.

My mother always says that "you are not from where you are born, but from where you graze", in the sense that identity ends up being defined by the place where you live and develop. Now that you have left Mallorca and moved to Madrid, will you be the typical person who says Madrid is the best and starts speaking with a Madrid accent?

— (Laughter). Maybe... it's that Madrid's water is the best in the world. No, seriously now: since I moved there, four and a half years ago, I haven't drunk tap water. People always talk about Madrid's water, but never about the pipes, which must be 350 years old and they scare me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I keep drinking bottled water, like I did in Mallorca.

— They say that anyone who comes to Madrid is from Madrid, but I am aware that I am privileged, that I have a good job and a certain status. Despite this, I still feel like I'm from Mallorca. That's where I want to go on vacation, where I have my family, and where I see myself in the long term. I'm in Madrid for work.

Do you want to take this opportunity to debunk any inaccuracies about yourselves circulating on social media? Or is there something being said that has particularly surprised you?

— This question scared me. I once had a somewhat difficult interview and the answers had nothing to do with what I thought I had said. Is that why?

No, no. It was in case you wanted to qualify, something, whatever.

— There is actually not much information about me. I'm lucky that there haven't been many statements from me yet, so I can't think of anything because I haven't done interviews. Although, well, if there's any joke that hasn't been liked, let me know and I'll file it.

Now I will ask two real questions that they have asked in beauty pageants. I had a bunch more, but I didn't want to steal all your day.

— Don't worry, I'm already late for the publishing house, but it's worth it.

What would you wish for yourself alone and not for the whole world?

— I would ask to have a full stomach, because I haven't eaten and I have to go to the publishing house. I will get home at five without having eaten. Right now I would have already eaten a hamburger.

Second question from the teacher: is woman man's complement?

— No. Period.