A comedy troupe from Spain has ignited a fierce online debate after their carnival act saw them perform in costume as the late, renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. The group aimed to raise awareness and funds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the motor neurone disease Hawking lived with for decades.
A Controversial Carnival Performance
The performers, from Cádiz, took to the stage at the Gran Teatro Falla on Wednesday, January 17, 2026, as part of the city's annual Official Carnival Groups Competition. Their show, titled 'Una chirigota en teoria' (A Chirigota in Theory), featured the men in suits, light wigs, facial prosthetics, and glasses to mimic Hawking's appearance.
In a move that quickly drew attention, they used electric wheelchairs to whizz around the cobbled streets of Cádiz, directly referencing the scientist's mobility aids. On stage, they sang satirical songs using a robotic voice, a nod to Hawking's famous speech-generating device.
Raising Awareness Through Dark Humour
Group member Miguel Angel Llul described the act as an "all-or-nothing idea." He told Spanish newspaper El País that the intention was to use dark humour to highlight Hawking's life with ALS without causing offence. "Don't be offended, this is just for laughs," Miguel stated.
The performance's lyrics celebrated Hawking's resilience. One reported line sang: "With my will to live and my wheelchair, I have reached the very top, even the stars." Another stated: "ALS left me as you can see, but I managed to be independent, I triumphed all on my own."
Miguel added that the group's director, Francisco Aragon, often works to give disabled people a "voice and visibility" through comedy.
Charitable Aims and Lasting Legacy
Despite the controversy, the troupe has clear charitable objectives. They hope to progress to the competition finals on February 13. Once the carnival season concludes, they have pledged to donate all 12 wheelchairs used in their act to people living with ALS.
The act has forced a public conversation about ALS, a progressive neurological condition that Hawking was diagnosed with in 1963 at age 21. Doctors initially gave him just two years to live, but he defied expectations, pursuing a groundbreaking career in cosmology for over five decades. He died from complications of ALS on March 14, 2018, aged 76.
Whether seen as inspirational or insensitive, the Cádiz group's performance has undeniably succeeded in putting the challenges and realities of motor neurone disease back in the public eye.
