COMEDY

IN THE PHILIPPINES
 What is COMEDY?
_
HUMOROUS OR AMUSING
 ASPECTS OF
ENTERTAINMENT WITH
DIFFERENT MEDIUMS USING
JOKES AND SATIRICAL LINES,
WITH THE INTENTION TO
MAKE AN AUDIENCE LAUGH.
PHILIPPINE
COMEDY
_
Comedy in the Philippines has a significant
presence in the Philippines culture even before
the Spanish colonization era. Philippine Comedy
has evolved and transformed to reflect the lives of
different Filipino people.
PHILIPPINE
COMEDY
_
According to various surveys, Filipinos are among
the happiest people in the world.

Philippine comedy is very present internationally.

Exaggeration, slapstick, facial expressions, and
comedic sound effects play a big key in local
humor.

In contrast to other foreign comedies, Philippine

comedy has always stood out; It's considered
wholesome or literally straight-to-the-point funny.
HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE
COMEDY
_

PRE-COLONIAL SPANISH AMERICAN MARCOS ERA POST-EDSA

ERA COLONIAL ERA & REVOLUTION
JAPANESE
OCCUPATION
PRE-COLONIAL
ERA
The Philippines already had
an existing, yet
underdeveloped comedy
scheme;
it came in the form of ethnic
ritual dances and jokes.
Ethnic tribes, such as the
Ifugao and Ibaloi created
comedic dances.
SPANISH
COLONIZATION
ERA
When Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521
and the successful conquista of Miguel
Lopez de Legaspi in 1765, started the
dominance of European mediums of
entertainment.

The most comedic of these forms was

the "Moro-moro", a form of anti-Muslim
propaganda from the Spanish colonizer's
history of hatred for the Muslim moors.

Another form with comedic elements was

the Komedya, a three-act play combining
dramatic and comic elements.
AMERICAN
OCCUPATION
The American occupation brought a new
format of comedy to the Philippines,
Vaudeville or what is known as "Bodabil" –
the origin of today's Filipino noontime
variety shows.

Local performers such as

Zarsuelista Atang de la Rama and
singer Katy de la Cruz began joining these
vaudeville acts in the mid 1910s, and in
1920.

Filipino entertainer named Luis Borromeo

"Borromeo Lou" organized what became
the first Filipino bodabil company. 
AMERICAN
OCCUPATION
Bodabil remained a dominant
form of entertainment during
the "pistaym" ("Peacetime")
years before World War
II despite the introduction of
cinema
JAPANESE
OCCUPATION
The Japanese invasion of the Philippines in
1941 led to a halt in film production in the
country.

Bodabil however was allowed, and it became

the predominant form of entertainment in
the country. Many film actors whose careers
had been stalled became regular performers
in bodabil shows.

Many shows during the war incorporated

anti-Japanese and pro-American messages,
such as Pugo and Togo portrayed Japanese
soldiers . They were soon briefly incarcerated
for that spoof.
MARCOS ERA
When Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial
Law in the Philippines, he also ordered
the shutdown of media and performance
venues.

Some radio and television stations were

eventually allowed to return to air, but
these were mostly stations belonging to
the cronies of Ferdinand Marcos.

Comedic performances soon became one

of the few venues through
which Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda
Marcos, and other key figures could be
criticized within the political mainstream.
POST-EDSA
REVOLUTION
Even after the ouster of the late
dictator Ferdinand Marcos, comedy was
used to discuss current events.

Sic O'Clock News, was the first

Philippine political satire program and
became popular for its satirical look on
the issues under the Cory Aquino
administration.

Satire became a big part of comedy

films as well, 
 POLITICAL SATIRE
Comedy, in the form of political satire, was used during
times of repression and censorship to express dissent,
especially during Marcos' martial law and is now widely
used up to this day
PHILIPPINE
COMEDY
_
The prominent use of humor is evident in
documented folkloric forms as the salawikain
(proverb), and oral epics such as Biag ni Lam-ang.
Oral epics notably contain prominent instances of
physical humor, such as the incident of Lam-ang’s
bath in the Amburayan river.
Filipino comedy films that hit
the 500 million mark
other Filipino comedy films
Filipino comedy shows
Filipino comedians
Filipino comedians
Filipino comedians
PHILIPPINE
COMEDY
_
Dr. Maria Rhodora Ancheta of the Department of
Comparative Literature, College of Arts and
Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman , in her
research on humor
entitled “The National Humor of the Philippines:
Defining Filipino Humor in Contemporary Popular
Culture Forms,"
believes that national humor is a potent showcase of
“Filipino-ness”, and is evidence of how Filipinos
maneuver within the frames of their local and
national experiences.
Humor in Philippine pop
culture
HALAKHAK which was also written by Maria Rhodora G.
Ancheta is an examination of how humor is deployed in
Philippine popular cultural forms, a response to the
paucity of studies in which Filipino humor is analyzed.

According to Dr. Ancheta, humor is trivialized and seen

as a topic for entertainment. The reality of humor is that
it is a very serious study to learn about the philippines
culture.

She entered the study by way of popular culture as

these are vehicles in and through which Filipino humor
most widely and most readily appear where humor is
seen mainly and primarily as entertainment and in
Philippine life. The apparent triviality of studying the
humors coincides with the triviality with which popular
cultural forms are branded.