Fighter and the Kid Mexican Accent Funny
Moment student revealed to classmates his Mexican accent was a FAKE after fooling them day in day out for THREE months
A 26-year-old community college student faked a Mexican accent in his public speaking class over the course of four months - and has finally made the big reveal to a room full of shocked classmates.
In late August, Jose Barrientos, an Iraq War veteran turned stand-up comedian, sat quietly on the first day of Speech 101 at the Los Angeles City College and decided to reinvent himself as a newly arrived Mexican immigrant.
He gave presentations about his fake heritage as a pinata maker, his undying love for actor David Hasselhoff and shared tales of how he would ride to school on a donkey in his native land but last week he finally revealed that the entire episode was just an act. He chronicled the pretense in a YouTube video that has gone viral.
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My name is Jose Barrientos: The 26-year-old speaks with an American accent in real life but decided to pose as a Mexican immigrant with a thick accent for a semester
Barrientos told The MailOnline that the idea of posing as an immigrant with a thick, Mexican accent was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
'It really wasn't planned, I was just sitting in class and I hadn't talked to anyone yet,' he explained about the moment in late August.
'During the roll call, I decided to give it a try. It was a do or die moment. If I decided to do it, I know that I had to commit to it and I had to do it.'
The man, who is bilingual, has used the accent as part of his comedy routine previously, when he refers to how his mother speaks.
Though he speaks with a perfectly clear American accent in real life, he reverts to the Mexican accent to demonstrate lighthearted vocabulary mistakes his mother makes. But he insists that it doesn't come from 'a mean place' and said she doesn't find his treatment of her accent insulting.
In the course of keeping up the pretense at the class that met twice a week, he kept his personality very simple, expressed ignorance at American concepts like Facebook, would slick back his hair and wore style-less outfits to appear down to earth.
Fiesta: For his first presentation, Jose Barrientos presented a fake family history about his heritage in pinata making
Did you ever know that you're my hero? The Hispanic comedian gave a speech about his admiration for former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff
VIDEO: Watch the moment Jose Barrientos reveals he does NOT have a hispanic accent
'I realized I could say anything and people would say "Oh, he's a foreigner." People equate intelligence with an accent. They think someone with a British accent is more erudite or sophisticated than someone with a Mexican accent,' he said.
For his first class assignment, delivering a speech about an object, he decided to describe a pinata and talked about his made up family history, presenting the paper toy to the class.
'I used the speech to explain how I can from a family of pinata makers. "My dad was a pinata maker and his dad was a pinata maker but I decided, I do not want to be a pinata maker,"' he told the class.
Barrientos said that as he stood at the front of the class with the colorful party accessory, one member of the class began laughing out loud.
And the presenter-fraud called out his classmate for the laughter, asking him if he thought the pinata was funny.
The jovial student approached Barrientos afterward offering his apologies.
Here's the deal: In class on November 20, Jose Barrientos finally came clean with his classmates about his true accent
Say what? The students in Speech 101 starred at him in disbelief when he revealed his true identity. He will find out what his grade is on Tuesday
'I'm really sorry, I wasn't laughing at you… It was a really touching story,' the student told him in a plea for forgiveness.
In another speech, where the class had to describe their hero, Barrientos chose former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff.
He talked about the multifaceted talents of the 60-year-old entertainer and described how beloved a figure he was in Mexico. Then he showed off a hilarious photo of the actor posing with a couple of puppies.
That's when Barrientos realized he had completely convinced the class of his alter-ego.
'People gave me a weird look [when I showed off the puppy pic] but then they just started nodding. I expected people to laugh.'
He said that he had to be very intentional when it came to keeping up appearances of the character he had created for the class.
If he would see his classmates around the campus he would have to revert to his fake accent.
His cover was almost blown when he walked down the hallway one day and saw his English professor, who knew Barrientos with an American accent, with his speech prof, who knew him having a Mexican accent.
To avoid an awkward encounter, he pretended to have had a dental operation which made it difficult for him to speak.
Comedy circuit: Jose Barrientos served two tours of duty in Iraq and got out of the Army in 2010. He has been pursuing comedy for two years
But the moment of truth came on November 20, when during a presentation he stood before the class and announced that he had a special drink that he could ingest that would make his accent go away.
He took a sip and began speaking normally.
Footage from the incident, showed the class completely shocked and stupefied by the announcement.
He said that most of the other students thought it was hilarious and were amazed, though there were a few that accused him of cultural insensitivity.
'People treat me like I'm stupid when I speak with a Mexican accent. Most people thought I was some simple Hispanic guy, I shattered it for them,' he said.
But the critical point will come on Tuesday, when the funnyman finds out what his professor thought of his little stunt and he learns what his grade is.
He is hopeful since he completed all the assignments and didn't plagiarize any of his speeches.
He thinks he could potentially get in trouble with the school for filming his performances in class but hopes they'll overlook that detail given how popular the video has become.
Incognito: Jose (in character in September) said he slicked back his hair and wore the least stylish clothes he had to convince his classmates of his made up identity
Barrientos, who is studying computer science at the community college, realized he wanted to pursue comedy during his time in the military.
He did two tours of duty in Iraq in the U.S. Army and relied on comedy during harrowing moments, when the pressure and stress level would surge.
'Joking through the pain was great for morale raising. I liked cheering people up through pretty depressing situations,' he said.
He spent four and a half years in the Army and got out in 2010.
He has been pursuing comedy for two years and performs at various clubs in Los Angeles and travels around the country.
His YouTube clip has garnered more than 550k hits and the comedian hopes the attention will help boost the attendance at his upcoming show at a Burbank club this week.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238995/Comedian-spends-months-speaking-fake-Mexican-accent-trick-classmates-community-college.html
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