Live shows are K Brosas’ ‘passion’

A lot of performers dream of being on television or being given a break in the movies, but for a rare few, being onstage, in front of a live audience, can be just as challenging.

K Brosas is one such artist. While K enjoys mainstream success  —her last TV outing was Maria La del Barrio while her last movie was Pokwang’s Call Center Girl — she finds equal satisfaction whenever she does stand-up gigs, corporate shows or travels outside the country to perform in front of live audiences. Last November, she toured Scandinavia and the United Kingdom to do a total of 13 shows. She even extended her stay in the UK by two days so she could catch the stage musical version of The Bodyguard, which used the same songs as they did in the Hollywood film of the same title that starred Kevin Costner and the late Whitney Houston. K was so touched by the songs that she found herself crying, the only one in the predominantly British audience to do so.

“Yon ang passion ko, mga live shows kasi alam n’yo naman, doon ako nagsimula,” says K, who, as everyone knows, started as a singer-host in comedy bars. This year, she marks her 14th year in the business. Up to now, she still gets her kicks performing regularly in places like Zirkoh and Klownz on a weekly basis. She has become used to the routine, and artistically, she craves for it. “Iba kasi talaga ang live audience. You feed off their energy,” she says.

K has a unique approach to her live shows. Except when she’s doing corporate shows for which she has to stick to a prescribed repertoire, she does not go in with a script; the only thing she comes prepared with is her opening number. She wings the rest, paying more attention to what her audience wants to hear. For the skits, K also does not follow a script; she likes to think of herself as more spontaneous when it comes to comedy. As for the music part of her shows, K always has new songs ready — like Katy Perry’s Roar or Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball — if she’s called on to perform in front of a predominantly young audience, or if the crowd asks for them, which is often the case. “Hindi lang ‘yung comedy mo ang i-u-update mo, dapat ‘yung mga piyesa din,” says the singer-actress and comedienne. “Ang tao mo minsan, mga bagets kaya dapat kung ano ang mga request nila, may nakahanda ka lagi. Yon ang kagandahan ng live show; as an artist, bilang isang performer, it keeps you on your toes.”

It’s another reason that she enjoys theater. People may not know it, but K started in theater, appearing in plays when she was in her early teens. One of her best career highlights was playing the title role in the fifth run of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah: Ze Musical based on Carlo Vergara’s best-selling book. K would have done the first four runs — in fact she would have opened the musical — but she was doing a teleserye then, and couldn’t find the time. When they decided to re-stage it for the fifth time, she told her road manager, “Gawan natin ng paraan. Kahit abonado pa ako, kailangan ko lang talaga siyang gawin!”

While she would love to do more theater, it is very demanding in terms of time, and now, with her tours abroad and pending projects (which will reportedly include a teleserye, her first in three years) she has to put it on the back burner. Even personal relationships have to wait. For now, she is focusing on work, which is just as well, because she hasn’t been in a relationship for the last eight, going on nine, years. Her last was with an Australian but it didn’t work. Since then, she’s been on her own, concentrating on being a single mom to her 16-year-old daughter. Not that she’s actively looking for love anyway. “Nagtataka na nga rin ako, walang lumalapit, walang textmate man lang,” she laughs. “May mga nakikilala ako sa abroad pero walang ka-chika.”

Besides, she has plenty of work to keep her busy. Aside from corporate shows, she performs regularly at Zirkoh Morato (Mondays) and Klownz Quezon Avenue (Tuesdays). She is also flying to Guam with Pooh end of January and Kuwait (on Feb. 27 and 28). She is also scheduled to have a series of shows in the US and Canada for the comedy revue 4DaLaffs with Pooh, Pokwang and Chokoleit.

All this work is definitely a blessing. “I’m so blessed, ang daming shows abroad, puro tours,” she says. “Nagtataka nga rin ako kung minsan kasi kahit hindi ako nakikita regularly sa TV, malakas pa rin ang hatak ko abroad. Malaki ang market, di ako nawawalan ng trabaho at corporate shows. Overwhelmed ako. Siguro dahil hindi relationship ang priority ko, since hindi ako doon naka-focus, puro trabaho ang binibigay ni Lord.”

Then, she concludes with some amusement, “Mas mabuti na rin ‘yon kasi nganga ‘pag walang trabaho, di ba?”