The only sign that marks that Sebastian Wainraich It’s not King Midas, it’s his favorite team Atlanta. He goes to the field to see it, meets the players, speaks with the coach and the leaders and even so, Bohemio does not surpass the middle of the table in the second division championship of Argentine soccer. In the rest of his activities, what he touches turns into gold. To your oiled program “Turn and a half” on radio Urbana Play FM104, one of the most listened to in the country and its television cycle “The perfect night” in El Trece, he added the publication of his first novel “Homeland and family”which is receiving very good reviews for having been able to perfectly interpret the intimate thoughts of a candidate for president of the Nation. Whoever reads the book will see the image of Alberto Fernández very clearly because it has many points in common with his story. But chronologically and due to the editorial times of editing and printing, it is confirmed that it was not a faithful copy, but rather a coincidence of those with which television series shield themselves “any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence.” For his presentation Wainraich left the archetype of a bookstore with dozens of chairs, a living room with two armchairs where he could be interviewed and put on a show at the Maipo theater with his friend Pablo Fábregas, his wife Dalia Gutmann and they did two monologues. With free entry, but promoted by himself, it filled the house and sold hundreds of books. Absolute success, just like when he ventures into cinema and gives a successful film like “A Night of Love” or a series like “Almost Happy”.
News: His book “Patria y familia” seems to predict the story of Alberto Fernández, with the difference that it was published later.
Sebastian Wainraich: Yes, we can recognize that this candidate has an intense sexual life and then everything collided with reality. But it’s pure coincidence. I didn’t know anything. I know that politicians are adults and sex plays an important role, but when everything about Alberto Fernández happened, I had already delivered the book weeks ago to the publisher. I spoke to my editor, as if to say that the book was lost, and she told me that on the contrary, let’s move forward. I wanted to hear that. I don’t have a problem. I wrote it last year and it went to print in June. The dates work in my favor. I’m calm.
News: How did the story of this presidential candidate Luis Alberto Camino come about?
Wainraich: The idea came to me very clearly and I realized that I had something there. I thought about whether I was right to start writing about a presidential candidate because suspicions begin about who I write to, who I hit, who I play for, but I am 50 years old and I care very little what they say. Not rebellious but carefree. And last week I got the idea of the second part if I do it. I understood that a very interesting character emerged and I verified it with the feedback from the people who read it.
News: They say that writers leave a lot of themselves in their books.
Wainraich: The character is very far from me, it has nothing to do with me, but I speak three hours a day on the radio and yes, some of my way of writing coincides with my speaking times and my pauses, but this politician is the antithesis of me. He is a cynical, ruthless character. He’s not that perverse, but he’s interested in everything. He does not move with clean feelings. Maybe I poured into a character everything that I am not, nor could be.
News: He triumphs on radio, television and on stage when he goes on tour with his works. Is writing giving yourself another level of challenge?
Wainraich: I like to write. There is no other rational explanation. I wrote this book in the morning, after taking the kids to school. I would go to my office, which is essential because I don’t work at home, and write. And when I write I feel fulfilled, useful, and I enjoy. And what better way to feel that when you work. There must be a significant ego share of wanting to feel recognized. The ego is cyclothymic. On the one hand, that is saying, listen to me, read me, look at me, and on the other, there is low self-esteem, asking please to read me, to listen to me. Not to go unnoticed.
News: His imprint as an antihero and eternal loser is far from his present. How much is true and how much is character?
Wainraich: I don’t play an antihero or loser character, what happens is that on television there are all-powerful characters that over time you see them disappear. So if you don’t appear like me, you are an antihero but in reality I feel sincere and common. I say what I feel. Now I’m at El Trece hosting a program, but I don’t know if I’ll be there next Monday. When we started with “The Perfect Night” the program could have lasted a month and it wouldn’t be so illogical on our television. Of course I don’t do this on radio because I know that next year I will return with my program and team. I have been in radio for 17 years, it would be silly to act like I doubt it, but on TV no one is guaranteed success.
News: In radio he worked with many professionals, but it could be said that he graduated with Fernando Peña.
Wainraich: The truth is yes. Working every day with Peña was like going to university. He learned every day, a genius on the level of Charly García and Maradona. Total vertigo. An unusual talent. What he did cannot be done, interrupted between his own characters. I had a lot of fun, I enjoyed it a lot and I got very tired because it was very intense. On weekends we did theater, his plays were very long, we only knew what time they started, not when they ended. They lasted four or five hours and whoever left was insulted. But 80 percent of the room remained. Only he could do that.
News: Whoever follows him considers him a friend and comedians have a reputation for being serious and solitary. How do you manage people’s energy?
Wainraich: It’s true, at times I am very lonely and quiet. When you are a great observer of life because you make humor with what you see, there are moments when you have to get away from the scene and just watch and listen. And sometimes you bump into someone who comes with a good vibe to greet you. I am impressed by the diversity of anecdotes that people have with me and I feel a bit obliged to be empathetic with that story. Many times it comes out genuinely and other times I confront it, but because I cannot be rude to someone who wants to tell me something intimate about them in which I am the protagonist. People give so much that I try to respond with the same tune.
News: Were you never interested in getting into football, as the manager of Atlanta, for example?
Wainraich: No, I like being a fan and I like to help from the place I have in the media. I do not feel qualified to be a leader, much less president. I don’t have that vocation. I swear when the team plays badly, the lack of solidarity between the players makes me sick and the list of benefiting teams in the Argentine tournament drives me crazy. I couldn’t be a leader because it would last a day. I prefer to be a fan and have the illusion that this year we are going to be champions, even if it never happens. Before the pandemic, Atlanta was first, everything stopped, the eternal quarantine appeared and when the championship returned it started everything from scratch. It was a scandal and nobody said anything.
News: At 50 years old, he has already been through several presidents, even playing one in his new book. How do you see the present?
Wainraich: I see this present with amazement. I transfer all the themes of life to fiction and I tell myself that this is a template to make an extraordinary comedy. President Javier Milei, vice Victoria Villarruel, boss Karina Milei and Adorni. You put them in fiction and it is a comedy that stands alone. From reality, everything that is economics is a huge question mark because I don’t know anything. We knew that everyone was going to make an adjustment, but in this government they are proud of the adjustment and it seems that they make fun of it. I don’t like what’s happening in the country. And the modes that have much less. In the first theater class they teach you that form is content. It seems ugly, dangerous and can escalate to me.
News: Would you take the president to your show “The Perfect Night”?
Wainraich: Without any problem. I would prepare the note a lot, but I should still be there to see what happens to me. When you interview these personalities, there is a lot of preparation but also a lot of the moment. I would study that note a lot. Maybe I don’t feel like a journalist, I only do interviews from my place as a comedian.
