Wow, Pare: It’s really more fun if you are 62!

Curtain-raisers:

Thank you, Jiggy Manicad, for unwittingly injecting humor into your flash reports. If you didn’t know, Jiggy’s coverage of last week’s pork-barrel protest in Makati went viral when he breathlessly reported, “Nakita natin ang pagdagsa ng mga ta_ (I omitted the “e”) dito sa Makati,” but he promptly clarified, “Ay, sori po!,” that he actually meant tao (with an “o”). In another report about a boy who fell into a river, the TOYM awardee Jiggy said, “Labing-walong oras ang inabot bago natunton ang bangkay ng isang batang pitong taong gulang na nalunod sa Pasig River. Aksidente lang umanong nahulog ang ilog sa bata.” Funny, isn’t it? Here and now, I nominate Jiggy for the Best TV Humorist award.

If that’s not funny enough, here’s the story about a now-retired matinee idol (singer) who had a unique way of pleasing his fans after signing autographs. He would dip into his underwear, pick several strands (of you-know-what) and hand them over to his screaming fans, “O, kayo na ang bahala maghati-hati dyan, ha!”

Fans are happy for (former Bb. Pilipinas-Universe) Miriam Quiambao now that she has found a new love in the person of a businessman whom she’s determined to marry. Miriam’s love story has similarities to that of Pilar Pilapil, another Bb. Pilipinas-Universe title-holder. Both of them married foreigners; that of Miriam lasted almost six years while that of Pilar not even a month (shorter than the month-long marriage of Ai-Ai de las Alas and Jed Salang). Both are having their happily-ever-after with non-celebrities. Two other Binibinis were not as lucky. One broke up with her co/TV-host boyfriend after a brazen PDA (Public Display of Affection) and another one flew all the way to Europe to follow the vocalist of a foreign band, only to come back empty-handed (and a broken heart?). Most beauty queens suffer from bad marriages, or haven’t you noticed?

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If you failed to watch Mitch Valdes’ Wow Pare! show at the Teatrino (in Greenhills, San Juan City) last Aug. 30, you have another chance on Saturday, Oct. 12, when Mitch stages a repeat at the same venue, starting at 8 p.m.

When our group watched it, we went laughing all the way home, with Mitch’s jokes (especially the one-liners aimed at some celebs in the audience) replaying in our minds with her songs from yesteryear as soundtrack.

Mitch turned 62 last August and she made fun of it and of herself, tracing her start in the business with her introduction to it at a tender age while accompanying her father (a performer) on his shows in Japan and other cities. Backstage in those days, recalled Mitch, she had seen men in all their naked glory and that exposed her to exciting reality sans regrets.

She also narrated how it was to study in an exclusive-girls school, good-humoredly apologizing to the nuns (from her school) who were in the audience and how the nuns had a good laugh! The show was spiced up with semi-green jokes and Mitch’s bellyache-causing impersonation of celebrities from all fields (no exception), likewise poking fun at people in the news like, well, you guessed who.

Way past menopause, the never-married (read: childless) Mitch proved that age was not a hindrance to an artist dead set on giving the audience high-octane entertainment, including dancing even while she was struggling with extra poundage.

Oops! Sorry but that’s all I can tell you now about Mitch’s show. I will let you enjoy the rest (the best) of it when you watch it for yourself at the repeat on Oct. 12 at Teatrino.

Friendly “warning:” Be ready to laugh all the way home like we did. In fact, while writing this piece, I was still laughing!

(Wow Pare! also features Mel Villena and the AMP Band. For tickets, call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or Teatrino at 721-2949; or call/text Tentra at 0917-825-8970.)

(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.)