No, not Tribbiani, but de Leon. The Joey de Leon of Tito Vic & Joey fame. Anyone born in the 70s would’ve grown up with noontime show Eat Bulaga over lunch, and therefore would remember the Vic Sotto and Coney Reyes relationship, would know of how Aiza Seguerra was the cutest thing on Little Miss Philippines, would watch as Tito Sotto disappeared to run for and win a seat in the Senate. We would see the barkada growing to include late Master Rapper Francis Magalona and Joey’s son Keempee, the name being shortened to EB, and the show creating a family, that might include us who have grown up with them after all. We would see countless rival noontime shows being born and dying in the face of Eat Bulaga.
To the joy of Tito Vic & Joey (TVJ), but most obviously to the pride of Joey, who will defend the show to his last breath, get into fights about decency and kabastusan with Willie Revillame from the rival show – the one that has survived Eat Bulaga the longest. Joey, who delivers jokes cum sexual innuendoes daily, would be calling the kettle black, except that really, Revillame is not just bastos, he’s also … crass.
Which does allow Joey an amount of class, one that shines through whenever he’s forced to explain himself and his kind of humor, as he proves that he knows what he’s doing, he is not just a dirty-minded guy. In fact, Joey educated comedy knows that when he disrespects a belief or a kind of conservatism, it is with a sense of what he’s up against, and what he deems a mature enough audience who will take that joke and think, ah, that is funny because it’s so true.
But of course in pseudo-conservative Philippines where censorship exists to save parents from taking care of their kids’ TV viewing, Joey is rarely understood. So when he said that Pokwang from the rival show looks like an aswang, it’s taken out of proportion, as if Pokwang isn’t laughed at for the way she looks in her own network, as if Joey himself doesn’t tease other EB hosts for the way they look: Ruby as baboy (pig) just might be the longest running joke on Eat Bulaga.
And really, Joey said Pokwang looks like an aswang; not that she actually is. Ah, but in the hands of Revillame who will milk it all it’s worth, the story is always bigger and better for his ratings and self-righteousness.
What Revillame forgets is the fact that Joey has longevity, surviving his time with toilet humor, when he was going from one movie to another with Rene Requiestas, who’s better known as Chee-tae (– it is hoped that this is enough to tell you about this brand of toilet humor). But Joey would become more and more credible, becoming host across gag shows, showbiz talkshows (Startalk) and even news and public affairs (Mel and Joey).
Looking at the list of Joey and Rene movies of this time though, it’s clear that there’s more here than just the gross humor. There’s creativity. Because who else would have movies with titles like She-Man: Mistress of the Universe, Tangga and Chos: Beauty Secret Agents, Long Ranger & Tonton: Shooting Stars of the West? It would be interesting to see this study through and actually look at these movies and how it re-creates and reconfigures American characters into Filipino ones, and what this contributes to a collective consciousness about a particular identity that makes fun of American stereotypes.
Not willing to give Joey that? Then we have to give him this: Joey is the one person who dared do a Fernando Po Jr. parody, naming himself Pandoy, the alalay of iconic FPJ character Panday. At the very least, we must give Joey credit for pushing his comedy this far, forcing an audience to mature in the kind of comedy they watch and dish out.
But maybe we’ve got a long way to go as far as dishing it is concerned. After all, we can’t take a joke when it’s particularly on us, and we end up being hurt and offended, failing to see the truth(s) in these jokes. After all, we remain with a censorship board that renders us all immature and unable to deal with the more truthful and better developed stories about our lives, regardless of what kind of movie it is: comedy, drama or horror, commercial or indie.
And in that sense, Joey would seem to be 10 steps ahead of us all, ready to deliver a punchline that we don’t understand, or one that will offend the unprepared for the irreverence. Oh, but what a shame to miss out on the funny, because we choose offense.
And really, if Lolit Solis can handle Joey, why can’t we? ***
Previously published in the now defunct Metakritiko of POC.net, circa 2010.