Funny TV

Fine comedy shows boast of an unspecified shelf life - and discriminate no one. I say this with confidence because my mother is not really a fan of TV (the last to protest if ever it conks out), but a fan of the longest-running comedy show onscreen, "Bubble Gang." For the rest of the week, she tries to head for the bedsheets at 8pm. But every Friday, she still sleeps around 8, hardly gives a care for all shows showing around that timeslot, but sets the alarm clock to 10:30pm or asks anybody to wake her up just to be sure that she could catch "Bubble Gang." Sometimes show oversleeps, and I'm mostly to blame for it.

I'm partial towards sketches/gag shows over sitcoms on Philippine TV because I hardly get a good guffaw out of the latter nowadays. Based on what's shown on the two major networks, I've noticed the actors have been resorting to too many tasteless ad libs - I mean, is the script really that sloppy? - dishing out private jokes only they can relate to or understand (unless you're really a faithful follower of everything that is showbiz). And too much of grown men acting like in their pre-teens are even boring the women-eye candy, yes, but as a friend puts it, we're not that shallow.

In my experience, "Bubble Gang's" comical sketches are always a fodder for talk or icebreakers from the dining table, to workplace to social events. Venerated sketches now of the past include Myusik Tagalog Bersyon (MTB) and Music English Version (MEV). (Remember the English version of Banal Na Aso: "Holy Doggy, A Saintly Horsie, is very funny. hee hee hee hee. "?) Now a hit segment is their spoofs of today's hottest bands, butchering lyrics of Cueshe's Ulan to Ulam, South Border's Ikaw Nga to Isaw Nga, or Kamikazee's Narda to Mamaw, among others.

"Nuts Entertainment," particularly for its Balakubak portion, serves me laughs as well for its satirical take on showbiz-oriented shows and even tackle real-life issues-complete with mock VTRs and all that jazz, but minus the sleaziness of tsismis-heavy shows. Here the stars who figure in the hotseat don't really know if the questions from the inimitable Joey de Leon and his riotous gang of hosts in drag are meant to be jokes or not or even rhetorical, but most of them seem to answer truthfully, anyway.

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Talking about comedy. let's talk about the other half of the ingenious founding duo of "Bubble Gang," Beethoven Bunagan or famously known as Michael V (the other is, of course, Ogie Alcasid). This Mass Communications graduate from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) is synonymous to Pinoy comedy. The 2005 TOYM awardee, Michael V has evolved from an aspiring rapper (though he dabbles occasionally for friends) to one of the most recognizable faces on television-even under numerous disguises and impersonations (he is, by the way, Mike Enriquez's and his wife's favorite "copycat").

Michael V is a wholesome and non-offensive jokester; I have yet to hear fierce objections to his shows from the media watchdogs, not even when he pulls on pranks for the "Yari Ka" segment in "Bitoy's Funniest Videos."

To follow the footsteps of Michael V may be no laughing matter. Nevertheless, here are some never-been-printed tips, in his own words, on how to be genuinely funny:

Draw humor from kids. I'm a father of three, and I always find kids funny. Whatever they do is always fun. Be like a child-a child's innocence is one secret to making people laugh. One of the best qualities of a kid is that you can imagine everything, it's as if everything is possible. When you let your thoughts run freely, that's when you become funny. Imitate kids, and you will not just be funny, you won't also be feeling old.

The family environment would make a good training ground too. I grew up in a tenement in Taguig, and I met a lot of people from all walks of life. The only limit there is that you'll never get the idea of what it is like to be well-off, because most of the people there were not. But then that's the majority of the audience, so you have a captured audience right away.

You have to base your jokes on reality. It should be something that people can relate to. Out of this world type of comedy would never be understood of the audience. What works is something that they'd be able to digest.

Aim for more than what is expected from you. My foremost concern when I make gags is time. I don't want to come up with something that has already been done by others. I always go for the original.

Be happy. It's hard to make people laugh if you're not a happy person deep inside. You can be focused, but it doesn't mean you should lose your humor. It's like living a double life, when you try to be funny, but you're actually serious as a person. It's harder to make people laugh if you're bothered or burdened by intrigues. You don't need that. If you have been hiding something, you'll not be totally free. Freedom to be yourself, to be actually what you are should serve as your fuel to be able to do what you really want.