Posts Tagged → pinoy comedy
Kevin Camia’s Kindness
Kindness
I mentioned Kevin Camia before in a previous post and luckily I was able to listen to his latest album called Kindness. I like Kevin’s style because he’s just funny without resorting to the typical Filipino accent punch line that a lot of Filipino American comics substitute for good writing. Frankly, I’ve heard one too many of those routines where the comedian shows how hilarious his parents sound because they have a fobbish Pilipino accent that switches the p’s and f’s and v’s and b’s. Come on, enough already! I get it, Pinoys talk funny. Here’s a litmus test: take away the accent and the act just isn’t funny. And what’s sad is unsophisticated audiences who are just hungry for Pinoy comedy just eat this up without realizing it’s a hack.
Not Kevin’s act. You can tell Kevin is a good writer and has done a lot of gigs beyond those Filipino fiestas where they ask performers to do it for free. He makes use of a lot of misdirections and just when you thought you knew where he was going, he changes it up with some absurd sh*t. It’s like a misdirection within a misdirection. That’s what cracks me up. Things like:
I was raised up in Sta. Rosa… all I did was hang out with white kids coz that’s all there was. I would end up doing crazy white shit… like hang out in creeks… we played these staring contests, we’d stare at each other and you couldn’t blink your eyes at all then we’d take these ferns from a tree and pull our pants down… and just tickles our balls – crazy white shit. Remember that game, bro?
What I like is the fact that Kev is funny first before anything else. It’s what I always believed in as a Filipino comedian myself. I would rather just be a funny guy who happens to be Filipino. So throughout the cd, you don’t have to be a Filipino to get his humor. Kindness is universal, and so is Kevin’s comedy.
Congratulations to GB Labrador of the Comedy Cartel
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.
Pinoy Comedian Raffy Taruc
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
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.
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.
The State of Philippine Comedy
Here’s the way I see it: Dolphy, the supposedly king of Philippine comedy, is ancient. No disrespect to the man but his gags are old. I think he should retire and spend his remaining years with his loved ones. I acknowledge his contributions to the comedy scene but he is from a different era. Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon, while still in their productive years, are not really offering anything new besides the old and tired “acheche!” punch line. Willie Revillame, if you can even call him a comedian, has a style that is irritating to the educated but for some strange reason appeals to the masses who don’t know any better. Same goes to Ai-ai. How many times can you play with the title “Tanging Ina Mo”? The horse has been dead for years and she still beats it. Speaking of horses, Vice Ganda’s horse jokes and condescending comments to dance contestants might be funny to an audience that doesn’t think much but it really doesn’t enlighten anyone.
So what is the future of Philippine comedy?
It’s definitely not Jojo A, who tries so pathetically hard to copy Conan O’Brien but has no idea what a punch line is if it bit him in the ass. He just thinks that mimicking Conan’s moves and corky face is about what it takes to get a laugh. Although I must admit, he is funny in a not funny way, if you know what I mean.
The future of Pinoy comedy is actually already here and starting to blow up. It’s point-of-view comedy and it’s being pioneered by a group called the Comedy Cartel. It’s pretty much still an underground movement if you compare it to the mainstream comedy that we’ve been forced fed. But it won’t stay that way for long. With regular gigs on Wednesdays at Votre Bar in Quezon City in the ABS-CBN area and shows at Spicy Fingers in Greenbelt 2 every other Mondays, the group’s following is growing by the hundreds. What they offer is insightful, funny, and revolutionary comic performances that is changing the way people appreciate comedy.
If you dont’ believe me, come check them out for yourself. But I’m willing to bet my Porsche Panamera that you will agree with me. Of course, I have yet to buy the Panamera.
Let me know what your thoughts, comments, violent reactions, etc. are.