From Tarzan to Papa Smurf, humor comes first for these Brazilian candidates

“Vote Tiririca, because it can’t get worse than this!” That was the campaign slogan of well-known Brazilian clown Tiririca — real name Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva — when he was elected as a member of Congress in 2010. He became the lawmaker with the highest number of votes in Brazil’s history, with 1.3 million people paving his way to the capital in what was seen as a protest vote, against the erosion of the population’s trust in politics.

As it turned out, it could get worse — much worse.

Tiririca was a pioneer. In the ten years that followed, political hopefuls around Brazil have turned to comedy and farce as a genuine strategy for election — to varying degrees of success.

Indeed, the first step for these candidates is finding the perfect name to go on the ballot. Characters from children’s cartoons are a recurring favorite, with...