Keempee de Leon a shoo-in for Best Comedy Actor

I don’t remember watching regularly any other local sitcom after Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata, Eh Kasi Babae and Palibhasa Lalake.

But now, I’m getting hooked on Bahay Mo Ba ’To?, which is about a feuding brother and sister (Ronaldo Valdez and Tessie Tomas) and how they divided their ancestral house in the middle.

In the story, Tessie has two children: Mike "Pekto" Nacua, who is married to Sherilyn Reyes and Sunshine Dizon, who is still single and available. Ronaldo, on the other hand, has only one child: Wendell Ramos, who is married to Gladys Reyes. Wendell and Gladys have two kids of their own: Bea Binene and Gabriel Roxas.

Adding more fun to this crazy (but oh so hilarious) line-up of characters are their neighbors – the limp-wrist Keempee de Leon and Francine Prieto, the niece of carinderia owner, Tiya Pusit.

Bahay Mo B ‘To? works well as a comedy because the script is basically funny and there is always an inter-cutting of scenes and this makes for a really fast-paced show. The storylines actually are simple, but insane and oftentimes out-of-this-world.

Last week, the story was really out-of-this-world – literally speaking – because they brought in some of the characters from Encantadia and the result was riotously funny.

The other week’s episode was even more hilarious: Marissa Sanchez, playing a schoolteacher, gets unreasonably cranky when her only brother, Boy 2 Quizon, runs away from home with a whole load of cash, which he spends on the women of his dreams, the very much married Sherilyn Reyes.

Boy 2 is very effective here as the generous suitor (he gives Sherilyn a P10,000 load just for one day). But the one who shines brightest is the very talented singer-comedienne Marissa Sanchez. Watching her turn into Godzilla as she terrorizes the only two pupils brave enough to attend her class, you will really laugh your head off because she is so wickedly funny. It’s like watching her do a standup comedy act, except you don’t buy a ticket and you don’t pay any cover charge. And she is so good at delivering her lines and comic punches, I still relish some of these in my head to this day.

On instances when the featured guest stars are not as brilliant as Marissa Sanchez (I guess she’s one of a kind), it’s the regular mainstays who provide the show with laughs (lots of it). For instance, how can you fail with the Queen of Comedy there – Tessie Tomas? Even Ronaldo Valdez has already proven his worth as a funny man a long time ago – portraying straight and gay roles in the movies. (Remember how he scored a grand-slam for playing the father of Aiko Melendez in the light romantic comedy, May Minamahal?) And Tiya Pusit? Oh, I’ve always found her adorable since I first saw her many, many years ago in Eh Kasi Babae.

The younger set of stars also contribute a lot to the success of Bahay Mo Ba ’To as a comedy: Gladys Reyes (good comic timing), Urian winner Wendell Ramos, Pekto, Sunshine Dizon and Sherilyn Reyes, who brings the house down with her Visayan accent. Even the kids – Bea and Gabriel (Junabeth and Julius in the show) are a delight to watch, especially since they deliver their lines like adults.

The current toast of the show, however, is the tandem of Keempee de Leon and Francine Prieto. The chemistry between them is amazing. It’s a dumb beauty that Francine plays here, but I’m telling you, it takes a smart and intelligent person to be able to pull that off and Francine does that effortlessly in Bahay Mo Ba ’To?.

In the case of Keempee de Leon, you already know where he got his talent. Dad, of course, is the great Joey de Leon, while Mom is two-time Urian winner Daria Ramirez.

I’m just so glad that Keempee got this chance to finally display his talent because I’ve always believed in him as a performer. Watching him in Bahay Mo Ba ’To? is always such a joy because he delivers such delicious performances week after week.

This early, I am already predicting his easy victory as Best Comedy Actor in the awards race for television in October.

A Rockin’ Comedy

In the live entertainment scene, one of the few talents I truly admire is Mitch Valdes.

Of course, I first watched Mitch Valdes on TV decades ago – starting in Super Laff-in in the old ABS-CBN. The first time I saw her performing live was during her birthday concert in 1987 in a now-forgotten watering hole in Pasay Road. Well, I may have forgotten the name of the venue, but I still remember how entertained I was with her show. (It was months after a senatorial race and she was spoofing the campaign jingles of both winning and losing candidates to the delight of the audience).

I’ve been to her other live musical/comedy shows and I always come out of there very pleased with her performances.

Starting this weekend, she will begin the run of a new show called Mitch Valdes A Rockin’ Comedy at the Captain’s Bar of the Mandarin Oriental Manila. Show dates are June 24 and 25 and July 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 at 9 p.m.

Musical direction is by Mel Villena, while Koko Jimenez is over-all director. Tickets are priced at P800. For ticket inquiries and reservations, call Ticketworld at 891-5610/891-9999, the Mandarin Oriental at 750-8888 and the Music Museum at 721-0635/7216726.