But when she became sing-along master at Music Box, a cozy joint in Quezon City, she realized there was more to life than keeping things plain and simple.
Ai Ai has stuck to that belief since. Now Backroom Inc.’s (her management company) treasured jewel of an artist, Ai Ai her crown of three Folks Arts Theater concerts sitting comfortably on her head–wants to do one other thing for her fellow comediennes.
"I want respectability for Filipino comediennes," she declares. When she states her self-imposed mission, you get the feeling you’re in front of a fierce dragon, its nostrils blaring, its eyes blazing. Why, she wonders, must comediennes in our country be the butt of jokes? "Bakit kailangan silang batukan. Must everything be slapstick?" one of the regulars of ABS-CBN’s noontime show MTB wants to find out. But there is a way to respectability, Ai Ai insists. Dolphy has shown it oh-so-clearly.
"Hindi mo binabatukan si Dolphy," she observes. This, to her, is proof positive that comedians, especially female ones – can get the respect they deserve. And that is why Ai Ai is pulling all the stops in her upcoming show, more ambitions than her Folk Arts concerts. Dubbed as Out of this World na ME, Araneta na Kasi!!, it hopes to top all Ai Ai acts by filling up the 17,000 seats in the Big Dome, on Dec.1.
Just how will she do it?
Imagine Ai Ai singing Bohemian Rhapsody with the Montserrat Choral, and you have an idea how. Imagine the star of the show entering the stage in some sort of metallic costume, doors opening and closing behind her, a revolving stage all decked out in the shimmering colors of the solar system true to the title "out of this world."
Think Osama bin Laden as Ai Ai performs the Taliban Dance with the Manouevres (other guests are Pops Fernandez, The Hunks, Patricia Javier, Jaya, Side A, Whiplash and the Montserrat Male Singers).
Ai Ai will even dare go bald in one of the numbers — a move this single mother of three, is sure will spark strong reactions from her children.
"Sancho" (Vito, 10, her eldest child and a showbiz wannabe himself), will say, "Ma, what have you done this time?" Ai Ai predicts the boy’s reaction. But there’s no stopping this spunky mom, who is raising her brood – Sophia Andrea, Shaun Nicolo, and Sancho – by her lonesome in a house along Commonwealth Avenue she bought out of her hard-earned money.
Passion and the gung-ho spirit have been Ai Ai’s call. In school, she would parade around the campus in all-red attire – from the hat, down to her shoes, prompting fellow students to label her a "gay" (the female type, that is).
Irrepressible Ai Ai would break school rules and sneak out of the campus just to cool off with a bottle of softdrinks. Would it come as a surprise then, that many years later, Ai Ai would hie off to the mountains of Benguet and tie the knot with former husband Miguel Vera there?
Ai Ai out-of-this world ways are endless. As she admits, "my mood changes every five seconds".
One minute she’s all heart, giving a generous part of her earnings to her favorite charity (name withheld upon request). The next moment, she’s throwing her cell phone in a fit of anger.
"That’s why I bought this," she says, showing a cell phone with a durable case. The last one broke into pieces after I threw it in the air."
But make no mistake about it. There is a soft side to the comedienne who is not above cracking highly-suggestive jokes on stage (how else, do you think, did she run away with a concert called Seduct Me in 1999?).
Believe it or not, Ai Ai wants to be a modern-day nun, not the kind you see cloistered in convents and wearing a habit. This is the same person, who years back, when she was just living in a rented apartment at Project 7, Quezon City, would sponsor Sunday masses at the parish church.
"Eileen de las Alas and children" may not ring a bell to others. But to showbiz insiders attending mass at the Christ the King Church, it could only refer to Ai Ai de las Alas and her love children.
"The Lord has been good to me," she beams. "Isn’t this enough for me to dedicate my life to Him?"
Her helping out a charitable institution since 1993, and a pledge to hold a party for the poor — this Christmas prove Ai Ai doesn’t take her blessings for granted.
Show producers, especially her wide following in the Chinese community, are not taking Ai Ai’s talents for granted either. Amused at the comedienne’s regular tribute to them in their shows, they are a strong presence in Ai Ai’s acts, boosting her marketability, assuring her of jobs, and offers to perform in venues big and small.
So touched is Ai Ai at the Chinese community’s gesture of support she recently opened a restaurant called Ai-Tsa-Rap at the heart of Novaliches. The restaurant, located along a busy commercial area, services Chinese cuisine and has a caricature of its owner clad in a cheongsam, her eyes sparkling, lips parting in a wide smile.
That cheery, what-me-worry look best describes Ai Ai today, alone, maybe, but up on her feet and literally laughing all the way to the bank.