Tio Jel, July 9th

Nuno Duarte, stage name Tio Jel was a character created spontaneously by himself, who introduced him to a generation that didn't know him, becoming a phenomenon. His first single entitled "Sal Grosso" went viral on the internet and he went on tour. Tio, born on Instagram in July, catapulted Jel (artistic name of Nuno Duarte) back into the limelight. Not the traditional one, on television, where characters like Men of Struggle and others like Carlinhos, the Machista Gay, Ruce, were born, but the one on social networks. "This character of Tio, which was a spontaneous creation, introduced me to a generation that didn't know me." A phenomenon that has already produced fruit, such as the first single, Sal Grosso, and a tour. "All this that has happened to me in the last three months has amazed me enormously", admits Nuno Duarte, "Before, I had my life pretty much programmed. I had my production company working well, with my documentaries, I was curating comedy and stand up comedy stages, without putting too much pressure on myself, and then, all of a sudden, this Uncle kicks in and is turning everything upside down! Tio is a forty-year-old who always dresses in beach shorts, an open shirt, wears bracelets and necklaces and dances to 90s music: "Maybe Tio is my mid-life crisis. And if it is, I'm glad it came. Tio makes me feel young, although I've never felt old. But the truth is I'm turning 45. I'm not going for young but the liberation it brings me, the complete immunity to ridicule I've had," he admits. "Coarse salt", the expression used for this new character, which Jel considers to be the most organic to the point of considering it his "alter-ego" is born at a crucial moment in the comedian's life. "That comes from love. When you have love around you, it gives you the confidence to do whatever you feel like. When you're at your most needy, it's easier to stay in your little corner and swallow your gut. You're just there in the wardrobe, afraid of what other people will think."