Spanish comedian José Mota says Jesus is 'the center of my existence'
In an interview with Aceprensa, the comedian talked about growing closer to faith after years of doubt, the humble background he credits for his values, and the question he asks himself before telling a joke
José Mota, the Spanish comedian from La Mancha, spoke about faith, family and vocation in an interview with Luis Luque published by Aceprensa. Mota, who has been making Spaniards laugh for decades, said he went through periods of doubt and agnosticism, but he now speaks plainly about his relationship with God. "I feel happy to be closer to Jesus every day. Jesus is, I would say, the center of my existence," he said.
Mota, who was born in Montiel, in the province of Ciudad Real, credits much of who he is to his humble beginnings. Growing up in that setting, he said, left him with an "immense wealth in values." He spoke in particular about his father, José Romero, who was not a comedian by trade but had a natural gift for telling stories and taught him to love literature from an early age. His roots, he said, are the key to understanding both his identity and his career.
Family is still his anchor. His three sisters work with him at his production company, and having them around every day brings him back to what matters. The love he received at home, he said, has protected him from the traps of fame, above all from vanity. "Love does not only build you up: it places you. It gives you identity, it gives you a place, a sense of who you are," Mota said. He uses the image of flying very high without letting go of the rope that ties him to his hometown.
Mota is blunt about the ego. "Feeding the ego, the 'me-me-me,' is starving the human soul. Because in the end it all comes to nothing," he said. Instead he defends the "we": professional success, he said, should go hand in hand with a commitment to others. The same standard governs his comedy. Before he tells a joke, he asks himself whether it could hurt anyone. If the answer is yes, he drops it without hesitation. "I would rather lose a laugh than attack anyone," he said.
Asked how he wants to be remembered, Mota set aside the awards and the shows. What matters to him is having been a good person and having used his talent for good. That fits the spiritual path he describes. "The closer I get to Jesus, the clearer it is to me where the center of my life is," he said, after years of searching that he says have finally given him answers.
