After decades as an unseen flamenco singer, a humble artist from Málaga achieves unexpected fame in his sixties, becoming the country’s most beloved comedian: Chiquito de la Calzada. His first biography, told from the perspective of a close friend, celebrates humor, perseverance, and second chances.
The life of Gregorio Sánchez “Chiquito de la Calzada” proves that artistic paths are not always straight or predictable. For decades, his name went largely unnoticed while he cultivated a vocation that would eventually give rise to one of the most surprising and beloved phenomena in Spanish popular culture. Vicente Pitarch Ortiz, a close friend of Chiquito, pays tribute to him in this first biography of the artist, filled with humor, tenderness, and optimism.
Before becoming a comedian, Chiquito was, above all, a flamenco singer. Born into a humble family in Málaga, he began working at a very young age to help support his household and found in flamenco not only a profession, but also a place to hold on to. The book revisits those years of travel, cafés, and tablaos, a life on the road without fame or certainty, sustained by passion, craft, and an extraordinary ability to move forward with dignity and good humor.
Everything changes when, later in life, his spontaneous and deeply personal way of making people laugh—physical, improvised, absurd, and absolutely unmistakable—appears almost by chance on television. What seems like a one-time anecdote becomes an unstoppable phenomenon. In a very short time, Chiquito connects with audiences through a language of his own, unforgettable expressions, and a contagious energy that crosses generations. Success arrives late, yes, but with unexpected and overwhelming force.
Far from focusing only on triumph, the book places its emphasis on the balance between the character and the person. Despite fame, Chiquito never stops being who he always was: a flamenco singer at heart, a simple man, deeply devoted to his wife, to Málaga, and to an honest way of being in the world. This coherence and lack of vanity ultimately become one of the keys to his enormous popularity.
Through amusing anecdotes and heartfelt moments, the narrative reflects on humor as a form of everyday resistance, on the importance of shared laughter, and on staying true to oneself. More than a biography, it is a celebration of popular spirit, oral culture, and of someone who, without ever intending to, ended up giving laughter to an entire country.
KEY INFORMATION: Vicente Pitarch Ortiz is a Spanish writer. His best-known work, ¡Hasta luego, Lucas!, is a tribute to the figure of Chiquito de la Calzada, with whom he shared a friendship of more than forty years. This closeness, together with his admiration for Andalusian culture and his passion for flamenco, led him to undertake the project of telling the artist’s life story. Pitarch writes from a place of trust and shared experience, offering an intimate and affectionate portrait.
From a commercial perspective, the work offers a real, inspiring, and universal story, ideal for adaptation as a biopic or documentary, with an iconic protagonist, a clear narrative arc, and a luminous tone that connects emotion and comedy.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Film.
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.
