Wow, Pare. Kakasa ka ba kay Mitch?

One good turn deserves another.

So after her successful show last month, Mitch Valdes (together with The AMP Big Band) is bringing back her Wow Pare! show on Aug. 30 and 31 at Teatrino Promenade (Greenhills, San Juan City).

Now titled Wow Pare! The Repeat (naturally!), the show will feature songs from the ‘70s and promises to be a night not only of great music but also of belly-aching laughter that only Mitch can generate. Songs of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Tower of Power, Mike Hanopol, Pepe Smith and other ’70s artists are featured and, according to Mitch, “Mapapa-wow ka, Pare!”

Funfare asked Mitch to make a list of the 12 comics and singers who have greatly influenced her life and career.

Here’s Mitch in her own words:

1. I’ll have to start with my very first exposure to Charlie Chaplin as a child growing up in Tokyo, Japan. They would regularly feature his movies on television and even then I was fascinated by the sheer athleticism of it all. All the silent film comics. No CGI. No lines, and yet LOL (Laugh Out Loud) scenes. Sometimes they made you cry, too.

2. During the late ‘50s and ‘60s, my dad had records of the club acts of the famous comics in the New York bars and clubs. Bill Cosby, Shelly Berman and the likes.  Very adult humor for a 10-year-old.

3. On TV in the ‘60s, there was The Carol Burnett Show. This was the first time I saw a woman doing comedy sketches, playing different roles every week in full regalia of costumes, sets, props, etcetera. I was blown away! She also sang a heartwarming song at the end. I was in high school and maybe this is where the seed was planted.

4. But I also loved the recordings and TV specials of the Rat Pack’s Las Vegas club acts. Imagine Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davies Jr., Joey Bishop, all excellent singers and performers as solo artists. Then, they’d get together and rip each other apart! The wit of their roasting each other was done so well that it never felt below the belt, just goofing around. I so wanted to be a part of their barkada. They always had a glass of scotch in one hand tinkling with ice. How cool is that.

5. By this time, I was in the Philippines watching local comedy on TV. I loved it! Tang-Tarang-Tang with Pugo and Bentot, and Sylvia La Torre (a classical singer), Leroy Salvador and Rosa Aguirre. See, I remember the situation of their comedy was so comfortable, so familiar, so real that you felt like you were part of their family.

6. There was also Buhay Artista with, of course, the great Dolphy and Panchito. Now these two…no one else like them. Again, such relaxed wit and banter. They made it look so easy but the fact is it took a lot of thought and discipline to make it look that way. And when I joined ABS-CBN in 1970 and got the chance to work with them, I nearly fainted!!! Out-of-body experience. They set the pace and rhythm and you just follow and join the ride. And they were so nice. Soft-spoken. Gentlemen.

7. I had a daily show with the comic performers who came from the last leg of stage show and vaudeville. So lucky. Pugo, who we called Mang Nano who called me iha, was always correcting my kolehiyala Tagalog. Very gently, I learned fast. They didn’t wait for you. Apeng Daldal, Cachupoy, Popoy Dacuycuy, Balut and Tange. My gosh!!! The adlibs were flying fast and furious!!! This was university of improvisation. Again, they were quiet and soft-spoken off stage.

8. In the late ‘70s, I was invited to join a group of admen who moonlighted as comics. They would do shows just for fun and people bought tickets. And why not? They were so funny! Because they were Noel Trinidad, Subas Herrero, Tessie Tomas, Rico Flore, Gary Lising, Ariel Ureta, Ed Gatchalian and Albert Grupe. The show was called Walang Hiya Talaga! This evolved into the hit TV show Champoy. A classic if I may say so. Again, the secret was meetings, food and booze…rehearse and rehearse and rehearse some more. And great friendship.

9. In the ‘80s, I had a beautiful gig with Nanette Inventor that lasted two years! It was called Tit for Tat, written by Jose Javier Reyes and directed by Leo Rialp. I think this was where we played out all the woman roles one could ever imagine. Great chemistry. What I loved the most was the singing with Nanette. I was used to theatrical singing. She practically trained me in pop singing. She made me sound good when we’d harmonize. She could harmonize the leaves off a tree.

10. I love watching Bitoy and Ogie when I catch Bubble Gang. It smacks of the discipline and preparation that all good comics have. They respect the comedy. Of course, did you know they sing, too? Hehehe!

11. My ultimate fantasy…dinner and drinks in one table with David Letterman, Jay Leno, Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld and Billy Crystal. Just shooting the breeze with good food and good wine. Oh God, watta high!

12. I have a new crush. A respected broadcaster, journalist, political analyst Brian Williams. Every time he guests in Late Night with David Letterman, it’s David Letterman who always cracks up and falls apart at his repartee. Now that’s sexy. He’s not bad-looking either. Now with Jon Stewart, who has sacred cows, I want dinner just the two of us.

(Note: Wow Pare! The Repeat is a production of Viva Live, Inc. and Mitch Valdes. The Aug. 30 show is for the benefit of The Edu Manzano Cancer Wing at The Philippine Children’s Medical Center; and the Aug. 31 show is for the benefit of The Philippine Judges Association Legal Defense Fund. For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999, Music Museum at 721-6726 or Tentra, Inc. at 0917-8258970.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)