Vic takes comedy seriously

MANILA, Philippines - There are people who pull off a joke in a deadpan manner — no grin, giggle or smile would indicate a bomb of laughter is about to be dropped. One of them is Vic Sotto who never fails to hit a funny bone even at the slightest hint of a joke. Yet off cam, Vic handles every matter that concerns his work, including comedy, seriously.

“I am the quiet type. I don’t talk unless one starts a conversation. That’s why some (people) thought suplado ako,” Vic says. “My friends Joey (de Leon) and Tito (Sotto, also his brother) are the talkative ones; laging sila ang bangka and they need a good listener, so that’s my role.”

But Vic is not the type who agrees with everything feed to him especially when comedy enters in the picture. He doesn’t rely on script alone for laugh out loud dialogues or wait for a cue when doing a hilarious act. His natural wit often does the trick while creative juices flow whenever the need for another side-splitting concept arises.

“I want to have my own quality control that’s why I got into production,” Vic shares. “And I’m sticking it out with direk Tony Reyes because he is a producer’s director, parang isa lang takbo ng isip namin kaya mas napapaganda at napapadali ang trabaho.”

Okay Ka Fairy Ko and Dobol Trobol were just two of the hit movies that showed how Vic and direk Tony work well together. Of course, they, too, give a listen to various concepts and ideas the production team shares during brainstorming sessions. They discuss everything — from selecting the movie’s theme down to choosing the female lead.

This time in Love On-Line, under OctoArts Films, M-Zet TV and APT Entertainment, Vic is paired with international VJ and model Paula Taylor. And he agreed without second thoughts. Oops, don’t think too fast. Several candidates cropped up in the selection process and Paula fit the role of foreigner chat mate to a T. Thus, Vic says ladylove Pia Guanio has nothing to be jealous about.

“Pia knows everything from the start to pre-production meetings and I often take her suggestions naman,” Vic explains.

And how is it working with Paula?

“Paula is a nice lady, very professional and easy to work with. She had no qualms doing what the role calls for. Cowboy nga e, kahit ano ipakain namin kinakain nya,” Vic replies.

Asked how meticulous he is at work, Vic says going through every little detail is a must. Timing should be perfect and must fit the situation.

“There’s a wrong notion that comedy is easy. It is not because comedy is all about timing and it won’t work if you try too hard. It should come naturally,” he adds.

The story should also go well with modern times, the way LOL was conceptualized. It presents new, refreshing and exciting twists that started through an on-line chat between Tot (Jose Manalo), who pretends to be Samsom (Vic), and Bunny (Manilyn Reynes) to whom Lily (Paula) allows to use her photo in a chatroom.

“There’s no difference doing comedy then and now. We still resort to slapstick because that’s one ingredient of comedy. Charlie Chaplin started out with no talkies (silent) so he had to rely on visuals. And we still use visuals until now. But of course, you can’t have a (comedic) situation na panahon pa ng Hapon. You also have to be in,” Vic clears.

Okay, let’s see how you will laugh out loud, when the movie opens Aug. 19 nationwide.