IJuander: Why do Filipinos love slapstick and toilet humor?

For better or worse, Filipinos' taste in entertainment has evolved over the years. Before the rise of telenovelas (both local and imported from our Asian neighbors), comedies were all the rage on television for a good part of the eighties and nineties. 

 

To mark what would have been Dolphy's 84th birthday on July 25, the GMA News TV program "IJuander" takes a quick look at two comedic genres that have been mainstays in Filipino entertainment—slapstick comedy and toilet humor—and "juanders": why do they make Filipinos laugh?

 

Slapstick comedy  

Though few people would ever outrightly admit it, sometimes it's just amusing to see bad things happen to other people. The Germans summed it up quite nicely in one word, "schadenfreude," which simply means, "pleasure from another's misfortune." In slapstick comedy, actors get hit, tripped, punched, drenched and tricked for the audience's delight.

 

"Andaling intindihin," says film historian Nick Deocampo. "Kapag binatukan mo yung isang tao dahil mali-mali siya, natutuwa tayo diyan."

 

In the seventies and eighties, comedians like Richie D’Horsie, Jimmy Santos, Spanky Rigor and Joey de Leon brought slapstick to the popular gag show, “Television’s Outrageously Delightful All-Stars,” or TODAS.

 

Dolphy also earned the title of Comedy King in the same genre when he starred in the television sitcom “John En Marsha” during the seventies and eighties.

 

Although this style of comedy has been a Filipino staple since the 1940's—way back when comedies were staged in theatres—the appeal of slapstick is also its greatest weakness. Over time, audiences have grown weary of this kind of humor. "Siguro walang bago, and it's a joke that's said often," Deocampo points out. "Visual gags keep on repeating.  It's the same set [of jokes]."

 

Toilet humor  

According to an old comedy anecdote, toilet humor gets its name from jokes that comics invent while doing their business in the bathroom. Funnyman Leo Martinez, who gets people to laugh at what was previously unmentionable in polite society, is one of several comedians who have been credited for popularizing toilet humor. Martinez starred in comedies like “Batangueñong Kabitenyo,” titled not for the province of Cavite, but to imply multiple "kabit" or affairs.

 

"May references siya sa mga ginagawa nating sagrado at pribado sa loob ng toilet," paliwanag ni Deocampo, "so nakakatawa [ang ganitong komedya] kasi taboo siya."

 

Toilet humor finds the funny in taboo topics like excretory or sexual functions of the body. While these jokes can sometimes be crass and distasteful, Brod Pete, a comedian who parodies televangelists on the hit show, "Bubble Gang," says it's all in the delivery. "Depende sa pagkagawa at kung sino [ang] gumagawa," says Brod Pete. "Katulad ni Mang Dolphy: kahit anong gawin nun, 'di mukhang bastos eh."

 

Ingenuity  

In the end, Deocampo says the secret to good comedy, regardless of whether it's slapstick or toilet, is ingenuity. 

 

"Kapag nawala ang inventiveness sa comedy," he shares, "hindi na nakakatawa. Kaya may masasabi nayo na mga 'comic genius' kasi yun ang mga tao na always inventive."—Job de Leon/PF, GMA News "IJuander" airs Monday nights on GMA News TV Channel 11, and is hosted by Cesar Apolinario and Susan Enriquez. Follow the show on Facebook and Twitter.