comedy cartel performs stand up at Capone's in Avenue
This March 18, 2011 at 7pm, the international group of Pinoy stand-up comedians called the Comedy Cartel will be performing their brand of humor at Capone’s for a very good cause. Divina Comedia: Laugh Your Way From Inferno to Paradiso is a fundraiser organized by L’amour and Mighty Maits for the benefit of Mighty Minds.
Capone’s is located in the A-Venue Mall in Makati City along Makati Avenue. Door charge is P250. Please call or text Richel 0922-8187592 for tickets and reservations.
I’m a fan of these Comedy Cartel guys and you will have a fun time laughing at their jokes or just laughing at them.
Our very own GB Labrador of the Comedy Cartel, the only group in the Philippines that performs point of view stand up comedy, won 2nd place in the English Division of the 4th Annual Hong Kong Comedy Festival held at Take Out Comedy. Watch him as he performs tonight, Wednesday, at Votre Bar in Quezon City (on top of East St. Louis) near ABS-CBN. Our other Filipino representatives that participated in the comedy festival were the funny Noel Gascon, Eri Neeman, and Raffy Taruc. This is a big win for Pinoy stand up comedy, proving once again that Pinoy talent is world class.
One of the promising stars in the Pinoy comedy circuit is a young man by the name of Raffy Taruc. Nicknamed “the Huk”, not because his grandfather was part of the hukbalahap (a group of rebels that fought the Japanese occupiers) but rather because his penis is shaped like a hook, Raffy’s deadpan style and rhythm is bound to have you in stitches once you open your mind and throw away your judgement. Watch him regularly perform with the Comedy Cartel in Spicy Fingers, Greenbelt 2, Makati, Philippines every Monday night.
Kevin Camia is one of the fastest rising stars in the comedy scene. I’ve known this guy for quite a while and he’s the real deal. He’s good friends with Allan Manalo and Tim Tayag. He’s one of the best writers out there in the circuit and he can do Filipino audiences and mixed audiences as well. This video is just a snippet of this guy’s awesome skills on stage. I hope you enjoy him.
If there’s one thing I noticed about Fil-Am comics is their staple bit about their mothers and how funny they sound with their accent. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I find it a bit hacky when a Fil-Am comedian does this because every Fil-Am standup that I’ve seen has a bit that portrays their mother (or sometimes their father or uncle) talking in this funny way. I’ve seen Rex do it (in fact, I’ve noticed most of his act revolves around this premise: 1st generation Filipino Americans talk funny). I’ve seen Jo Koy do this. And I’ve seen about every Pinoy comic do this.
It makes me wonder, do they get laughs because the situation or the character being portrayed is truly funny or is it just funny because they sound funny when they talk? Now I also understand that they are telling a story from their perspective and it just so happens that their reality is that their parents really have a problem with their “f”, “p”, “v”, and “b”. Call me an elitist, but my parents don’t talk that way. The most that I’ve heard them say that’s remotely similar to this accent is the way they pronounce “menu” and when they refer to a band as a “combo”.
In my opinion, it seems that it’s such an easy way to get a laugh. You could just go on stage and because of the novelty of Pinoy comedians, anything they say with this “funny” accent immediately gets a laugh. Also any Filipino profanity will get you laughter: “putang ina”, “titi mo”, or “lintik kang bata ka”. Maybe I’m being judgemental and a hypocrite, but there’s something about this that bothers me. Then again, it just bothers me when someone just goes for the cheap laugh. Or maybe I’m getting this all wrong. Maybe the most important thing is getting the laughs with the risk of being hacky. After all, people pay to laugh and not to really analyze.
In the meantime, since this for the most part is not my reality, I just try to be as real as possible with the characters in my material and represent them as I see them with a little bit of exaggeration.
Filipino American Comics and Their Mothers
If there’s one thing I noticed about Fil-Am comics is their staple bit about their mothers and how funny they sound with their accent. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I find it a bit hacky when a Fil-Am comedian does this because every Fil-Am standup that I’ve seen has a bit that portrays their mother (or sometimes their father or uncle) talking in this funny way. I’ve seen Rex do it (in fact, I’ve noticed most of his act revolves around this premise: 1st generation Filipino Americans talk funny). I’ve seen Jo Koy do this. And I’ve seen about every Pinoy comic do this.
It makes me wonder, do they get laughs because the situation or the character being portrayed is truly funny or is it just funny because they sound funny when they talk? Now I also understand that they are telling a story from their perspective and it just so happens that their reality is that their parents really have a problem with their “f”, “p”, “v”, and “b”. Call me an elitist, but my parents don’t talk that way. The most that I’ve heard them say that’s remotely similar to this accent is the way they pronounce “menu” and when they refer to a band as a “combo”.
In my opinion, it seems that it’s such an easy way to get a laugh. You could just go on stage and because of the novelty of Pinoy comedians, anything they say with this “funny” accent immediately gets a laugh. Also any Filipino profanity will get you laughter: “putang ina”, “titi mo”, or “lintik kang bata ka”. Maybe I’m being judgemental and a hypocrite, but there’s something about this that bothers me. Then again, it just bothers me when someone just goes for the cheap laugh. Or maybe I’m getting this all wrong. Maybe the most important thing is getting the laughs with the risk of being hacky. After all, people pay to laugh and not to really analyze.
In the meantime, since this for the most part is not my reality, I just try to be as real as possible with the characters in my material and represent them as I see them with a little bit of exaggeration.