How Nova keeps the laughter going?

Showbiz observers say no one can step into the shoes of the late Nida Blanca the way Nova Villa can. Azon Kosme of ABS-CBN’s long-running sitcom Home Along Da Riles is funny, witty, and more importantly, the Everywoman in the Pinoy household.

Like the typical Pinay, she gets jealous of her husband Kevin’s (Dolphy) flirtations, errs and makes a fool of herself. But, like any Filipina, she sticks to her husband, come hell or high water.

Nova in real life is Azon in many ways. Her biggest dream is not to attain more fame, but to revert to the simple life with her nonshowbiz husband with whom she shares a big house.

Having been there, done that, Nova has put her three-films-a-year life as a Sampaguita contract star behind her without the slightest regret.

"All I want is to become a simple housewife, an ordinary person who loves to tinker around the house. I miss my sewing machines (she has three), which I’ve never touched for a long time," she sighs.

Nova plans to sell her big house and buy a modest townhome she and her husband can maintain with the help of just one maid. Their only child , a girl who has blessed Nova with three grandchildren (two of them twins), has settled in Los Angeles in the US and has no need of the house.

It is Nova who visits her daughter every year, helping out, not only in taking care of the little ones, but in seeing to their financial needs.

"I send all my savings to my daughter," says Nova, who plans to leave the Philippines on Dec. 14 to spend Christmas with her only child and her family.

If her footsteps invariably bring her back to her family, it is because Nova’s other skills are geared toward the home. She does handicrafts and loves to putter around her almost one-hectare farm in Lubao, Pampanga.

"I have planted carabao mangoes which I don’t sell but give away to friends," she relates.

On non-taping days, Nova packs her bags and hies off to her Lubao sanctuary where she plants trees to her heart’s content.

But on taping days, Nova lets the other side of her personality bloom, the side that caught Dolphy’s attention and prodded him to take her as his leading lady in the 10-year-old top rater.

Effortless in delivering punchlines on TV, Nova admits this was not so on their first taping day 10 years ago.

"I was so nervous. I prayed that God would let me do the role to the best of my ability," the religious Nova recalls.

Her prayers were answered. Nova was a hit by "just acting as naturally as I can."

Today, the rightfully proud Nova keeps all the tapes of each Home Along episode, believing that "this is something I can show off to others years from now."

Tonight, she will be adding one more special tape to her collection as Home Along marks its 10th anniversary with a two-and-a-half hour star-studded special starting 8:30 p.m.

Directed by Johnny Manahan, the special covers 10 years in the life of Kevin Kosme, a widowed father struggling to raise four kids, Bill (Smokey Manaloto), Bob (Gio Alvarez), Bing (Claudine Barretto) and Baldo (Vandolph Quizon, who started in the sitcom when he was still a boy).

Things take a 360-degree turn when Kevin marries his sister-in-law Azon with family and friends like Carding Castro, Dang Cruz, Boy 2 Quizon and Dennis Padilla among others in attendance.

Home Along has given the cast high visibility in the Philippines and abroad. The show reaches the homes of millions of overseas Filipino workers via The Filipino Channel (TFC).

Dennis Padilla, for instance, recently got a text message from a friend in Las Vegas, asking that he (Dennis) greet him on the show. When Dennis did, his friend’s thank you reply came the very next day.

Nova’s shows have been a rousing success abroad, partly because overseas Filipinos watch her weekly in Home Along.

"I’ve done a one-woman stand-up show before 3,000 to 4,000 people, mostly overseas Filipino workers, in Madrid," reveals Nova. With two singers – Leo Valdez and Lourna Pal – as guests, Nova brought the house down with her wacky spiels in various dialects–and for three hours at that!

She hardly expected that rousing reaction from the audience.

"I was praying to the Holy Spirit 21 hours – the duration of my Manila to Madrid trip," Nova says. "Unlike the days of Pugo and Pepot when I had someone to exchange punchlines with, I was alone on stage with my jokes."

As usual, someone up there didn’t let her down.

"I went up on stage and reminded the audience they’re still Visayan or whatever even in a Spanish country. and I spoke in various dialects to prove it," she recalls.

The secret of her durability?

"Comedy is inborn," she muses. Still, she developed this inborn gift. At eight, she mounted stages, singing in town fiestas. She has paid her dues hosting shows in various fiestas, learning the ropes from such venerable funnymen as Pepot, Manok and Pugo.

"That’s what young people lack," she notes. "Many of them want to be comedians but they are too wrapped up on TV, on sitcoms. They find going to town fiestas baduy. Besides, there’s no money in it. But that’s the only way to learn."

Nova has not only learned, she has mastered her craft. Now she leaves the rest to God.

"I used to be impatient when I was struggling for 20 years in supporting roles before Chicks to Chicks (the hit sitcom that first made her a household name) came along. Then, I read in the Bible that things will happen in His time," she shares.

Now, Nova is no longer that harried.

"If He wants me to continue in this business, I will," she promises.

Nova has a strong suspicion that He does.

"I think I still have a mission. Make-up artists seek me when they need advice. I lock the room and talk to them. I also get invited to ultreyas," she explains.

Having a name has also given her the privilege of choosing "shows with values."

It is for this that Nova continues to make people laugh, 39 years after Fernando Poe Jr. discovered her, and, like Dolphy, saw her potential.