HUMOR ME

The greatest comedian drives the nation into mourning. Ironic, isn't it?

I'm amazed to read countless         Facebook messages extolling Dolphy and expressing sadness that he passed away. He's probably our longest surviving comedian.

But that's a natural reaction, especially for generations of Filipinos whose dinner plates clattered with Dolphy's unique humor for weeks on end---with TV sitcoms "John and Marsha" and "Home Along the Riles."

We should have a laugh-fest instead!

We're a people anyway known for surviving tragedies, then much later morphing these memories into something to grin and laugh about. Is there any nation like us?  

And while we're momentarily revving up our humor mill, let's run down comedy lane and dig deep into our funny bones' well of fame. Remember the really funny comedians before Dolphy?

Hey baby boomers, didn't we start our rollicking good times inside moviehouses whose rickety benches rocked whenever we laughed en mass?

Then television came and we soon found relief in comedians' antics on a daily basis---in glorious black and white. No special effects involved. Just natural in-born humor and perfectly-timed repartee and graphic body language for slap-stick effect . 

I loved Pugo. He of "Tang-Tarantang" fame who dished out laughable sound bites and got busted---buko lagi!---for his tomfoolery in every episode. 

Bentot, Pugo's overgrown baby in the same show. The bondying son who almost always unknowingly exposed his Tatang's selfish schemes; then the episode ending with Tatang running after him with a yantok or a rod because his evil plan got busted, again. 

How could any one forget Tatang's endearing daughter-in-law in the person of Sylvia la Torre---her soprano sobbing always a cause for laughter.

Do you remember Chichay? She of the toothless and sarcastic witch-like laughter and intertwined sungit (grumpy) brows.

What about Patsy? Pugo's perennial other half. The opinionated and loud-mouth nanay (mother) who always knew it all.

And not to forget Panchito, with his signature humongous nose, droopy eyes and dead-pan counterpoint to Dolphy's smart alecky stance.

I always looked forward to the antics of rotund Oscar Obligacion in "Oras ng Ligaya."

Leroy Salvador. Elizabeth Ramsey. Tugak. Palito. Apeng Daldal. Babalu. Nida Blanca. Balut. Cachupoy. The list goes on and on. Of course, Michael V, Ogie Alcasid and Eugene Domingo dominate the scene today. I'm sure you could add more names to this list.

Admit it, we enjoyed them all even if at times they dished out just corny pedestrian bits. But they definitely mirrored our inner selves---crying on the inside but laughing on the outside?

Because which would we rather indulge in? Laugher or sulking? Joking or complaining?

Comedians continue to provoke our interest because we see in them the common tao, the man on the street who needs to eke out a living---no matter how, as long as it is decent. And being the guy who receives the punches---binabatuk-batukan---or falls into ditches, or gets hit by the plank, maybe a great way to earn dough. That was how most of them started in the business.

Somehow, the humor they create momentarily cushions us---even for one hour or 30 minutes---from the reality which television news (most of them gory nowadays) on the other hand also dumps upon our laps every single day. Are sitcoms escapist? You judge.

By the way, I would rather have the once-upon-a-time Pugo and Bentot brand of humor than today's Hollywood-churned comedy with their love scenes and sexual innuendos. Why couldn't they stick to wholesome family entertainment?

Anyway, what about that laugh fest? It would definitely be good for the soul.

"A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Psalm 126:2).