The man in black of El Hormiguero, from triumphing with Pablo Motos to selling 'frikadas': "We did tremendous things"

• ISRAEL ZABALLA

  @ZaballaIsrael

  Madrid

• PHOTOGRAPHS: ÁNGEL NAVARRETE

Updated Thursday,10August2023-21:17

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In Spain, according to the INE, there are 223,789 people who are called "Pablo" and 54,160 who are surnamed "Ibáñez". Therefore, if I tell you that I have interviewed a certain Pablo Ibáñez, you will surely think: "And why are you interested in my neighbor in the room?"

That is why it is more convenient to present this famous as the famous ants of Pablo Motos did. When he went out on set, for years it was heard: "The man in black has the black shirt and the thong toonnnn... The Man in Black Sang Marilyn Monroeeeee's Birthday... The man in black mediated between Willy Toledo and Frank Cuestaaaaa... The man in black made the cobra to Ana Simónnnnnnn...".

Do you remember yaaa? I give him more clues: black glasses, black coat, black pants and black boots. "I've seen this since I was 15," he laughs. And the clothing with which he presents himself to this conversation, in the middle of summer, does not deny him. Yes, it's The Man in Black himself... and in character.

His television alter ego triumphed for almost a decade and a half in El Hormiguero. In the mythical program he coincided with someone very familiar to him: "My brother Juan is Trancas and there he is, under the table of Pablo Motos, every day".

To his younger brother he owes the opportunity he had to succeed in the mythical Antena 3 show: "Juan was part of a musical group El hombre linterna, he had also started in El Club de la Comedia and then went to the radio. One day I went to a concert of his at the Sala Galileo and he had told Motos about me. It would be about two o'clock in the morning when Motos came up to me and said, 'I want you to work for me.' And I said, 'Of what? And he said, 'I don't care, but I want you to work for me on a project I have.'"

Retro-viral characters (III)

Retro-viral characters (III).

Yurena, the social and television phenomenon who was "torn to pieces": "I tried to commit suicide twice; the last one I almost got it"

• Writing: ESTHER MUCIENTES Madrid
• Writing: PHOTOGRAPHS: JAVIER MARTÍNEZ

Yurena, the social and television phenomenon who was "torn to pieces": "I tried to commit suicide twice; the last one I almost got it"

That conversation led Ibáñez to the set of El Hormiguero and his attire soon became his hallmark, thus giving rise to the alias by which he has been known ever since. But it was not him, but another of the protagonists of the program, who invented it: "It was 'Flipy', who at the beginning did the science part, who gave me the nickname. One day he came out and to announce me he said: 'Let The Man in Black come in.' And there it stayed."

He became a kind of McGyver – another TV legend – capable of performing the craziest performances before millions of viewers. The suspense of whether or not the experiment would come out kept people glued to the screen in prime time television: "We did tremendous things. Some experiments took months to prepare and then the execution only took a few minutes. I think people didn't realize how difficult it was what we were doing."

Many of his performances, in the company of ojiplática celebrities such as Ben Stiller, Nicole Kidman or Hugh Jackman, are still accumulating views on Youtube: "The man in black gets into a fish tank with jellyfish ... The man in black shows a tornado from within... The man in black shoots a card on its side... The man in black moves to outer space..."

The man in black in El Hormiguero.ANTENA 3

During the interview he himself recalls one of the biggest chaladuras he organized. "What caught the most attention was the 'Art to the Beast' section. We did things like putting cars up, dominoes, things like that. The latter, for example, was very successful."

So why put an end to it? It was already many years and I felt that I had done all the great things that could be done. And how was the moment to tell Pablo Motos, did he take it well? They didn't like it, no. But I had been thinking about it for a while and it was a firm decision.

Although they tried to convince him, Ibáñez put an end to that stage. Then, after sporadic appearances in other TV programs such as Dancing with the Stars, he began another adventure, but this time as an entrepreneur. The pause we all experienced during the pandemic contributed to this determination. "I changed my chip and register then," he confesses.

He says he has no idea of going back to show business: "You don't close the door completely, but I'm in business now and it's a more comfortable life." That life to which he alludes includes the only caganers store in Madrid and Friking, an expanding business with several establishments dedicated to the sale of fun t-shirts and other products for geeks. In both cases his brother Juan accompanies him as a partner.

Ibáñez points out that the two initiatives are working well for him, especially that of the figurines doing their needs with their asses in pomp. "When tourists see the caganers, which is the majority audience we have in our store on Calle Mayor, they are surprised. Americans, especially, go crazy. They can't believe it. They die of laughter as soon as they enter the store." Let's split their asses when they see that of others in the air.

As an anecdote, he tells the characters who sell the most in such an impudent maneuver of lowering his pants: "Among the Americans we have been taking a lot of Putin for a while. And Trump also buys a lot." Other hits are Maradona, Messi or Freddy Mercury. Of his character, 'The Man in Black', there is no caganer, but one that looks a lot like him: "There is one of John Snow, the character of Game of Thrones, who ask me if it is me [laughs out loud]".

Running these businesses takes up a lot of time, so Ibáñez will only have a few days of vacation during this time of year. "There are about 20 Friking stores of our own. Now we are about to open more stores during the summer. I'll take a week off with my family in August and don't think I'll be able to stop much longer."

The basement of the establishment on Arenal Street where the talk takes place rumbles with the passage of the subway cars. "This was a bank before. Downstairs they had the safes and upstairs, where the store is, there was a vault," he says.

Speaking of money... In what color does The Man in Black pay his employees? All blank, hahaha.

The vibration of the Madrid underground will make no one listen to our bad joke. Better. Only one ant, drawn with black marker on a white board by Trancas himself, has witnessed the joke. And she, generous, has been smiling throughout the interview.

• The Anthill
• Pablo Motos