MANILA, Philippines - The humor almost failed to rise to the occasion.
Tuesday night, the first taping session for ?LOL (Laugh Out Loud),? a weekly radio talent search for stand-up comics set to premiere on DZMM Teleradyo today, had a birthing that was more painful than funny.
Taped at the Punchline Comedy Bar on Quezon Avenue, QC, the show?s first episode featured four contestants, three of them openly gay. Juanito, the first to go onstage, was very tense. He delivered a monologue about a dishwasher character who wondered aloud whether he could?in a reincarnated state?become Vilma Santos in ?Sister Stella L,? Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Ai Ai de las Alas or Britney Spears. ?Huwag na lang kaya si Britney, kasi adik-adik siya e,? Juanito said, nervously shuffling on his feet.
Sad, sadder
Nary a snicker was heard, even while the production staff and crew were a large-enough audience. Sadder still, people chuckled only after one of the judges, stand-up comedian/TV actress Kitkat, noted Juanito?s missing front teeth: ?Parang fill in the blanks??
Renato, the second aspirant just as reed-thin as Juanito, didn?t escape ridicule, either. But he fared a little better in his rapid-fire story about life in his native Batangas.
Derf, the only straight guy contender, was saddled by gaps and slow pacing, although he had the best jokes that touched on the rice crisis, GMA?s popularity rating, and the country?s population.
JC, the last contestant, sashayed in a colorful, improvised girl costume with knee-high stockings. His biggest asset: the ability to copy the haughty, colegiala cackle of Mariel Rodriguez.
Final test
A Q&A portion likewise failed to bring out the contestants? wit. Puzzlers like, ?Bakit hindi Ilonggo ang Pambansang Wika natin?? and ?Kung ikaw si Manuel L. Quezon, saang pera mo gustong maimprenta ang mukha mo?? elicited only lame answers from Juanito and Derf.
The final test, a freewheeling exchange called ?Bara-Bara, Bay,? had Juanito and Renato disappointingly insulting each other, but with the audience loving it when JC committed the verbal affront.
The next day, Inquirer asked Peter Musngi, ABS-CBN VP for Manila Radio Division, on how his team intends to proceed with the show. ?We haven?t used a lot of promotional avenues to attract talents,? he explained. ?Our post-production assessment is that we should really exhaust the means to look for potential comedians... We will post announcements in the Internet, in our publishing arm, the comedy bars...?
A little scary
Musngi added that the initial auditions turned out to be ?nakakatuwa na nakakasindak, like for instance a couple of guys from Ateneo who knew a lot about stand-up comedy pero medyo American ang dating...?
Although he acknowledged that stand-up comedy is Western in nature and origin, Musngi said ?LOL? is looking for people who can churn out an act with distinctly Pinoy humor.
?The goal is two-fold,? he said. ?First is to have a show with comedians as stars. Second, to find potential writers among the contestants, those who can think of good jokes and gags about the burning issues of the day. So the program is not an end in itself.?
Relevance
Musngi said he felt that radio ?lacks humor? especially in times of crisis, and that he wanted to form a pool of writers who would like to learn more about the craft that has helped the likes of Ted Failon, Neil Ocampo and Anthony Taberna gain lots of listeners.
?We want talents who can develop comedy material with depth and relevance... that can make comments about what?s happening in the country,? Musngi stressed.
The next round of auditions is on Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the ABS-CBN studios.
At stake are a contract to work in DZMM, P100,000 cash prize and a livelihood package.
