In 1985, while he was serving in the military, Mota met
Juan Muñoz, with whom he began his career as a comedian. The two started performing shows at small theaters in
Madrid, such as
Cien personajes en busca de humor (
One Hundred Characters in the Quest of Humor), but it was
Javier Sardá who gave them the opportunity of making their own radio show,
La Bisagra. In 1989 they moved to television with the program
Pero ¿esto qué es?, in the Spanish public channel (). The sketches were about a radio station, "
Cruz y Raya, the station that should, but never shuts up". Later they were aired on
Telecinco with the show
Tutti Frutti, and then came back to
TVE in order to replace the famous Spanish comedians
Martes y Trece at several New Year's Eve special shows.
Other works while at Cruz y Raya Mota has also given his voice to several characters in the Spanish dubbing of animation films such as
Monsters, Inc. and the
Shrek films. In 2006 he adapted, along with
Santiago Segura, the Spanish version of
The Producers. The comedian made
cameo appearances in TV shows such as
7 vidas and
Manolo y Benito Corporeision.
Separation After more than ten years fully dedicated to
Cruz y Raya, José and Juan decided to work in other projects on their own. In November 2007 the definitive separation of the famous couple was confirmed.
The José Mota Hour and other sketch programs In 2009 before his separation with workmate Juan Antonio Muñoz, Jose Mota decided to make a new television show,
La hora de José Mota. The television show was aired on the Spanish State television (
TVE) on Fridays. He started to do another type of humor mixed by the latest he did. For example, he criticized bad Spanish and European politics, society and he did more imitations. Many sketches and their characters have become very famous in Spain. He has made impersonations of many public figures such as
Bear Grylls,
Woody Allen and
Larry King as well as Spanish and international politicians like
José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (ZP)
Mariano Rajoy and
Merkel and
Sarkozy. He also created new characters such as ''La Vieja'l Visillo
(The Old Woman in the Window) or El Tío la Vara
(The Man of the Rod). He has created several catchphrases such as behind the musgo
(behind the moss), that is used in his Bear Grylls'' sketches. In 2013 he created the sketch show
La noche de José Mota, very similar to the former, in the television channel
Telecinco. The success of the new show was lower than expected, and it only lasted for one season (however, Mota said later that it had been planned that way from the beginning). He returned in 2015 to with a weekly show named
José Mota presenta, which premiered on 20 February. From March to June 2017 he starred in the sketch comedy show
El acabose. He has starred in La 1 New Year's Eve specials from 2007 to 2011 and 2014 to 2020, with great success. ==Personal life==