Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Bacolaodiat takes a ride aboard the Kinenkoy Comedy Express
"THE audience's laughter is our song to our god," said Gabby Fernandez, director of the Kinenkoy Comedy Express.
They are slated to take the Chinese New Year with waves of laughter as part of the February 8 Bacolaodiat celebration in a performance area along Bacolod City's 6th Street.
The Kinenkoy Comedy Express is a group of stand up comic players who do sketches, political satire, conceptual dances, and a lot of "live" work that include among many, Stunt Double, the Blank Family, Story-building, a comic opera, all based on audience suggestions.
It is basically an exploration of the medium and a challenge on each one's skills. The act is a first of its kind in the country.
The group was born from Peque Gallaga's Negros Summer Workshops in 2000. It was a product of the Theatre Improvisations module which is basically the same one that gave rise to improvisation groups such as Second City, the training ground for virtually all of the stand up comic geniuses of our time such as Robin Williams, Chevy Chase and John Belushi, among others.
It started out as Tuesdays with Kinenkoy at the Iron Dinosaur Bar. Since then, they have performed in a lot of venues including a three-month stint at the Comfort Room Comedy Bar in Makati, the first venue that solely dedicated to comedy improvisations. For the group, it was and will always be about having fun, playing, breaking new ground and exposing the community to a fairly-new form of theatre.
Fernandez said, "we never really meant Kinenkoy to last this long! We really we're just out to have some fun and earn beer money along the way. What has happened since has really amazed all of us. It has been a wonderful years of playing together, entertaining hundreds of people and drinking a whole lot from the money we earned."
The live performances have had an unbelievably varied audience, from kids to grandparents, from school youths, urban poor, yuppies, artists, etc. It is no small thing for the artists to know that they have made people laugh their hearts out and forget their problems even for just an hour. A final word from Gabby is that "...after doing a show we know with certainty tht we've helped make the world a happier place."
Comedy improvisations is a audience-based show (sketches based on the audience's suggestions for topics) and Kinenkoy hopes to get a lot of Chinese new year-themed suggestions in the Bacolaodiat show. The group will include Eero Martinez, John Arceo, Rhea Sol Hiballes, Jack Trino, and Sonny Cabahug.
