Good vibes with Kim Idol

MANILA, Philippines - He is called by many names  Kim Dinosaur, Manok na Bata and Kim Idol  yet the effect is one and the same. Kim puts everyone in stitches whenever he goes on stage and proceeds to drop “laugh-out-loud bombs” through  skits, song numbers and banter with the audience.

Kim says he decided to concentrate on performing in comedy bars since he left Eat, Bulaga in 2010. It was, indeed, a tough moment for him to no longer appear in the daily afternoon show that served as an avenue to be easily recognized by the public. “My work doubled that time, dumami ang mga raket (sideline) ko and I admit that Eat, Bulaga was a big help but sometimes you have to decide according to what your body could only bear.”

During his Bulaga days, Kim still had to attend to his nightly gigs in comedy bars where the fun usually starts around 9 p.m. and lasts until the wee hours of the following morning. To provide a clearer picture of his routine then, Kim reveals, “Let’s start with Monday (schedule). I wake up at 8 a.m. to ready myself for a 10 a.m. call time in Eat, Bulaga to prepare for the 12 noon show which ends at 3 p.m. Then, I will head back home to rest and take a nap at 6 p.m. then I wake at 8 p.m. for my 9 p.m. show that lasts until 3 a.m. I reach home at 5 a.m., sleep at 6 a.m. and wake up again at 8 a.m. to be in Eat, Bulaga at 10 a.m. again. So everyday ganyan; Sundays lang ako nakakabuo ng tulog.”

His lack of sleep resulted in his becoming too sickly. “I was a jester in Bulaga the year before appearing on-cam in 2008. My body could not stand my schedule so I chose to focus instead on doing comedy bars.”

These days, Kim devotes his time as a regular performer at Klownz Quezon Avenue and Zirkoh Tomas Morato, both partly owned by his friend Allan K. “In-absorb lahat ni Allan yung schedule ko sa ibang bar,” shares Kim who is assigned to entertain Klownz regulars every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday while he ascends the Zirkoh stage to tickle funny bones on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. He, too, is busy preparing for his European tour with Ate Gay in May. On TV, he will soon be seen in a show on PTV 4.

“Comedy is my passion. It’s the reason why I enjoy what I am doing now. I love making people happy and there’s this sense of fulfillment whenever I see them laugh,” he says. “I’m thankful that up to now I am able to bring happiness to people; masarap yung feeling na nakalimutan nila yung problema nila at nawala yung stress nila dahil sa yo.”

But Kim never then imagined that his knack for comedy would bring food to the table. He was working as a telemarketer somewhere in Ortigas before he was discovered by The Library top honcho Andrew de Real during a gay beauty pageant in Puerto Galera years ago. “Nag-patawa ako sa pageant and he liked it and so when we met again in Malate, Mamu (as how Andrew is popularly called) got me to perform in his bar.”

He admits to having his share of carefree days to the point of wasting his hard-earned money with abandon. “It didn’t enter my mind to save kasi araw-araw alam ko may pera ako until I realized that there’s no one I can turn to but myself when Milenyo hit our country. Isang linggong walang pasok nun and I had no money so from that time on I promised myself to save because it was really hard not having any single centavo in your pocket.”

Fast forward to 2014. It is Backroom, Inc. that has been managing his career for four years now and Kim can’t thank enough how the talent management company takes good care of him. A reason why Kim is all the more bent on improving his comedic skills this new year. Kim is aware how stiff competition is in the entertainment circle.

“This year, I will be more spontaneous on stage and I will take extra effort to slim down para iba naman ang look ko. Mas magagandang jokes din dapat to bring more laughter so our worries will fade away. GGV lang tayo as in puro good vibes lang.”