I just looked it up to be sure, Senor Wences (Wenceslao Moreno) wasn't making fun of Hispanics, his accent came naturally because he was actually born and raised in Spain. Jose Jimenez, (Bill Dana) on the other hand, was really of Hungarian/Jewish ancestry and was certainly making fun of Hispanics, Bolivians in particular. Dana ultimately "killed off" his character in 1970, largely because of the criticism of Hispanic groups. Senor Wences performed his act well into his 80s, and died in 1999 at the age of 103. I've never heard anybody say anything bad about him.
When I saw Senor Wences perform as a kid, I just thought of it as a cute puppet show. I stumbled onto his films on You Tube awhile back when we were discussing Tiny Tim, and it gave me a deeper appreciation of his talent, particularly his ability to rapidly switch back and forth between two or three different voices, giving the impression that the characters were arguing with each other. Another thing was the puppet that he made out of his own hand (Johnny, pronounced "Yanni"). I tried making my hand talk like that, and I couldn't do it. I found that my left hand was more flexible than my right, but neither of them came close to what Wences could do.
Good luck with your show, Uncle Ken. I didn't know what to make of your art when I was first introduced to it, but I began to understand it after you explained it to me. I still don't know a lot about art, but I know more about it now than I did before. I only wish I could say the same about my attempts to teach you about music. Ha-ha-ha. Pedro! Sorry.
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