Likability Increases Laughability

You ever notice Pinoy audiences laugh at the silliest jokes? Sometimes you wonder why they’re even laughing at some joke that you know is too easy. It may be a joke book joke or a text joke, something unoriginal yet the audience roars in delight as the comedian tells it. Most likely it’s another unoriginal play on the whole Filipino accent:

I told da guy, dis is not pride cheeken! I like pride cheeken! What is ap por dat? Pol, you were not kerpol in the swimming pol. Hay naku! Pack dat. Facket priendly frice.

Why do you think Russel Peters makes millions? Or another overused hack joke like this,

I’m on a seafood diet. When I see food, I eat it.

Meanwhile, you’re laboring away writing your avant-garde material that gets a mild snicker from the crowd who seems to be more interested in checking their Instagram for those scantily clad social media stars – not that I would know. So what gives? Why is the love given and yet not given? Likability.

Filipino audiences are unique in a way and they’re not. Like the rest of the world, they are celebrity-driven. Unlike the rest of the world, they don’t care much about the plot. Look at the movies that make it commercially. They’re star-driven. Pinoys tend to patronize movies with stars that they like. The story and writing is secondary. 12 Years a Slave – despite the Oscar awards – will probably not be watched as much as Fast and the Furious Part 8 in Manila.

I find this phenomenon to be true in comedy as well. I think Filipino audiences laugh at performers that they like rather than the material itself. Don’t get me wrong, the material does matter, but not as much as the person delivering it. I say this from personal experience. I’ve had jokes that were “A” material and would work in other countries but would get mild laughter here in the Philippines. On the other hand, I’ve done easy jokes that kill and then made me feel guilty afterwards because of how damn easy it was. I attribute the latter to likability. The crowd wants to know more about you, the performer or the artist rather than the work or material you’re presenting. So you have to be what drives the whole thing. The difference is basically like this. You can say a joke like this (this one is Mitch Hedberg’s):

Escalators can never break down. They can only become stairs.

This is a hilarious joke by all means and the late Mitch Hedgeberg is a genius. But this I predict will not get a big laugh here with the general Pinoys. Now, I’m not condoning joke stealing and you should never perform this joke as if it were yours. I’m just illustrating a point here. This joke on the other hand, gets laughs and is not as good or insightful as Hedberg’s:

If you want to get girls, just talk in Tagalog with a heavy American accent. “Kamustah eekaw? Gustow keetah. Gustow mow? Gustow kow.”

Easy right? Yet it works almost every time. It’s almost like cheating. How do I know? Because the last joke is mine. Now, I’m not particularly proud of it, but when I need it, it always delivers. It has saved me in big shows with drunk people who didn’t really give a shit about comedy. As soon as I pulled this one out, boom! Laughter. Then they started liking me. And I could do no wrong afterwards.

So what am I getting at? I just want you to be aware of the reality of the situation. The market here in the Philippines, although has relatively matured over the last decade, is still not as sophisticated in comedy as the States or other advanced countries. In my opinion, you have to have likability first. Once they like you, then you can go to the avant-garde material you’ve been working hard on.