How RJ Jacinto remembers his good friend Gary Lising

Last April 3, Ramon “RJ” Jacinto produced a concert called Ateneans & Lasallites — United for the Truly Resurrected Gary Lising at his own RJ Bistro and aired live on RJTV (Channel 19 on SkyCable and Channel 28 on Cignal).

“That was actually a repeat of the concert we staged on Nov. 14 and 15 last year which we called The Clash (Ateneo vs La Salle),” recalled RJ, a close friend of the comedian who was found dead at his condo unit in Pasig City by his son Bugsy, 30, last Friday morning after Gary failed to answer calls and text messages. “We staged the show with Jose Mari Chan, Tonyboy Cojuangco, Titus Santiago and some La Salle performers, featuring the ‘resurrected’ Gary who was hibernating and no longer performing due to a stroke years ago. Unfortunately, on the day of that concert, Gary had to be rushed to the ICU.”

Although feeling weak, Gary agreed to show up at the April 3 concert.

“I had a feeling that it was going to be his last show and we all wanted to see him even for the last time,” added RJ. “He was weak but he was still naughty and finished the show like a real showman. That was the last time I saw him. I didn’t have any idea that two months later, he would be gone.”

Gary and son Aaron Gary (nicknamed Bugsy) who found his dad dead at Gary’s condo unit in Pasig City on Friday, May 31. Bugsy rushed to check on his dad when Gary didn’t answer calls and text messages.

RJ had a long history with Gary with whom, every few years, he attended Atenean concerts where Gary made people laugh with his “original jokes.”

“He was so witty and funny,” said RJ who was among the very few people who last saw Gary alive. Before doing other TV shows (Champoy, etc.), Gary was in RJ’s sister’s show Sta. Zita and Mary Rose in the ’60s, cast as a houseboy. Directed by Fr. James Reuter and starring Zeneida Amador, Baby Barredo and Tommy Abuel, the show taught good values among house helpers and their employers. “He emceed my 1991 concert at Atlantic City Trump Plaza that also featured his Champoy co-stars Noel Trinidad and Subas Herrero.”

In school, RJ said that Gary had to repeat some years because he was always hanging around the cafeteria joking with students instead of studying. “The running joke was that Gary had seven Silver Jubilees because he flunked seven times so everyone was his classmate.”

In an interview with The STAR’s Ching Alano several years ago, Gary noted with his deadpan style, “Sa Ateneo, mahirap ang mga subjects. Sa La Salle, mahirap ang parking.”

Gary told Ching that what really made him laugh was his son Bugsy who was 12 and in grade school at Ateneo at the time of the interview.

“I was a late bloomer,” confessed Gary. “I didn’t intend to get married until I met my beautiful wife Maris. I’m the best proof of the saying, ‘Love is blind’,” adding still in jest, “I feel fulfilled when I see my son. He’s very handsome. He looks like my driver.” (Gary’s first marriage to Laura Lopez, daughter of  journalist-educator Salvador P. [SP] Lopez, ended in divorce. Gary met Laura in New York and they got married in France. SP Lopez was the Philippine ambassador to the US and the UN at that time. Gary’s second wife Maris Paredes, mother of Aaron Gary/Bugsy, was a member of the Music Making Company group which Gary used to manage.)

“Another time,” Gary related to Ching, “Noel Trinidad, Subas Herrero and I performed at the National Mental Hospital. We were going through our routine when four inmates shouted at us, ‘Mga loko-loko!’”

Gary’s laughter will ring forever through the pages of the several books he has written, one of them How Green is Your Mind?

“To me,” said RJ, “Gary’s greatest contribution alludes to a short story the Jesuits told us about at Ateneo. It was titled All For Fun. When the guy in the story died and he faced God, he said, ‘I lived life just for fun.’ It means that with all the problems of life, you can go through it with an attitude that life can be fun. When you are in your deepest and darkest hour, think of life as a fun ride. So even if Gary’s death has left an empty space in our hearts, we know that he had fun and that is the attitude we must have.”

There will only be one and only Gary Lising.

“God threw away the mold after He made Gary Lising,” RJ is right. “Gary made millions laugh and gave joy to many of us.”

(Gary Lising’s laughter will ring forever through the pages of the several books he had written, one of them titled How Green is Your Mind?, pictured on this page. Gary's remains will be cremated at the Arlington, Araneta Avenue, Quezon City, at 10 o'clock this morning after a Mass at 9 a.m.)

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