filipino comedian

Filipino Stand Up Comedians and Black Comedians

Filipino audiences and black audiences are similar in one way, they care more about the performer than they do about the material. The second way is they both love chicken. So if you had a comedy show and served fried chicken or chicken adobo, you’d be making a killing (why haven’t I thought of that – chicken n comedy). So Filipino stand up comics and black stand up comics share the same challenge of winning over their crowd. I’ve performed in black rooms before. Some were nice and a couple were just downright dangerous and intimidating. In fact, in one show, the black host heckled me. In my introduction, she said, “This next comic… I love Jackie Chan…”. So I Karate chopped her boobs and left the stage. Then I heard the next week, somebody got shot right outside of that club. I hope it was that host.

Much like the Apollo crowd, Pinoy audiences will show you love if they really like you and you show them who you really are. If you’re just going to run through your lines like you’re just reading a script, they won’t give you much love. Your material is secondary. You can have really good punch lines, but if you don’t deliver it with that swagger, you won’t be getting the laughs. But if you have average jokes but give it attitude, then they will swallow it up, especially if there are Singaporeans in the house (because in Singapore it is illegal to spit). They like to see your personality and they like you to be animated. Facial expressions, classic funny face, and other tools your comedy coach taught you will work to your advantage. Don’t get me wrong, deadpan also works, but you have to pick your audience. Deadpan delivery mostly works on the younger hipper audience, the same kids who smoke pot and are familiar with Dimitri Martin.

I think this is reflective of the star-driven movie industry. In the Philippines, movie plots are almost unnecessary for a blockbuster. It’s the stars that drive the movie sale and not the brilliant writing. The parallelism exists in the comedy scene. Of course, this doesn’t mean that things won’t change, but for now I think that is the mindset of the people here. So if you’re planning on performing out here, keep those factors in mind. And remember to offer them chicken.