JON SANTOS says Thank You!
| Jon says thank you to his mentors By Leah C. Salterio (The Philippine Star) Updated August 12, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (0)  |
MANILA, Philippines - When one talks about comedians in the local entertainment scene — from comedy king Dolphy and the versatile Joey de Leon to newcomers like Vice Ganda, Pokwang or Eugene Domingo — the name of Jon Santos inevitably crops up.
Since Jon ventured into a solo comic career after doing theater in college for UP Repertory, he has carved a niche for himself. He rules the stage when he does his hundred and one character impersonations which, to this day, remain memorable and sought-after.
Jon attests his longevity in the business wouldn’t have been possible if not for his mentors who have inspired him to do better in his career. That’s why after 25 years, he looks back with fondness and gratitude as he thanks the people who have helped him achieve his esteemed status in the local entertainment scene.
Dolphy – “He taught me that being a funny person and a comedian are two different things. I worked as his sidekick in Gabi ni Dolphy on Channel 9. He is really an entertainer.”
Joey de Leon – “He told me you can practice every day, even when you’re on the road. He can drive from Manila to Baguio, look at every billboard and make a punch line or comic exercise of whatever he sees. He taught me to sharpen my comedy skills by continuously drilling myself.”
Mitch Valdes – “Drinking friendships run deep.”
Tessie Tomas – “Kulang ang three articles to talk about what she taught me. I started with her, from the time I asked for her autograph. Then I did supporting roles in her shows. To this day, I do my shows the same way she taught me how, on index cards with topic outlines. She does a full service script when doing a show, double-checking for moments of self-indulgence. “Rehearsalism” is how she calls it.
“She also taught me how to respect (your) writers and the commitment to the scripted pieces that your do onstage for the paying crowd. Ad-libs are merely icing on the cake. Moreover, she taught me to use glamour in comedy.”
Nanette Inventor – “I’ve been infusing more and more music to my shows because of her encouragement. She influenced me to do characters who sing, like Tita Midz (Armida Siguion-Reyna).”
Willie Nepomuceno – “He emphasized to me the importance of being uncompromising and having the commitment to look the part. He collaborates with the best for his looks. He spends his own money, as long as he gives the best to his audience.
“He would always tell me, ‘Kikitain mo rin ‘yan in another way. But the satisfaction that you give your audience every time you perform will be priceless.’ He really loves his audience.”
Behn Cervantes – “It’s not about the playwright, director or actor. It’s all about the audience. You will always find stage training very handy.”
Martin Nievera – “Every new opportunity to sing the same piece is an opportunity to sing it better. He taught me to love my production and technical staff like family and to give until it hurts.”
Vilma Santos – “You can look gorgeous through any season. For her, walang kapalit ang pakikipag-kapwa tao. I’m a Vilmanian forever and I can say it not just once. She is my eternal favorite.”
Directors Al Quinn and Johnny Manahan – “My TV comedy life was many times in their hands. I learned how to distinguish comedy that is maanghang (sharp, edgy, but feel-good and not sacrificing) and mapait (bitter and angry). They are responsible for making my character cross-over from the lounge crowd to the TV audience.”
The Apo Hiking Society (Jim Paredes, Danny Javier and Buboy Garovillo) – “They taught me how to love my country.”
Redford White – “I learned from him the importance of paying it forward. He was quiet and very unassuming. Very few people knew about his advocacies and support to different foundations.”
Anna Valdes-Lim (artistic director of Metta, resident theater group of Assumption College) – “She is my inspiration in balancing fame and family. She taught me how to handle fame, that it is really a vapor.”
Imbibing all those lessons, Jon arrived at his own style to do comedy, which he applies in all his shows. He headlines another series of one-man comedy acts, 101 Jonjemons: The Pinoy Fower List, which runs Aug. 20, 21, Sept. 16 and 17 at Teatrino in Greenhills.
“It’s time to give something back,” asserts Jon. “There is reason to celebrate. I want to prove that I can do a show even when it’s not election season, Valentine’s or Christmas. After all, audiences continue to go to the lounges all these years.”
Jon works with his long-time friends Enrico Santos and Joel Mercado, who are his writers for the show, directed by Chari Arespacochaga (also the director of the recently staged Legally Blonde).
101 Jonjemons, according to Jon, is a “celebratory journey” for most Filipinos, especially now that the country has a new president. “Unlike my show last year when most Filipinos were anxious about what would happen, we are now celebrating because of the new chapter in our history,” Jon offers. “We are proud to be Pinoy. For a change, I am not doing a show that’s seasonal. This new one has a wider scope, with a little music, showbiz, pop culture but less politics.”
Notwithstanding the fame he enjoys, Jon remains modest and will be eternally grateful to all those who have inspired and helped him all these years. “I don’t always live up to it. I sometimes get stupid in front of my audience and forget my lessons (from my mentors), but hopefully, I make them proud,” he says.
Since Jon ventured into a solo comic career after doing theater in college for UP Repertory, he has carved a niche for himself. He rules the stage when he does his hundred and one character impersonations which, to this day, remain memorable and sought-after.
Jon attests his longevity in the business wouldn’t have been possible if not for his mentors who have inspired him to do better in his career. That’s why after 25 years, he looks back with fondness and gratitude as he thanks the people who have helped him achieve his esteemed status in the local entertainment scene.
Dolphy – “He taught me that being a funny person and a comedian are two different things. I worked as his sidekick in Gabi ni Dolphy on Channel 9. He is really an entertainer.”
Joey de Leon – “He told me you can practice every day, even when you’re on the road. He can drive from Manila to Baguio, look at every billboard and make a punch line or comic exercise of whatever he sees. He taught me to sharpen my comedy skills by continuously drilling myself.”
Mitch Valdes – “Drinking friendships run deep.”
Tessie Tomas – “Kulang ang three articles to talk about what she taught me. I started with her, from the time I asked for her autograph. Then I did supporting roles in her shows. To this day, I do my shows the same way she taught me how, on index cards with topic outlines. She does a full service script when doing a show, double-checking for moments of self-indulgence. “Rehearsalism” is how she calls it.
“She also taught me how to respect (your) writers and the commitment to the scripted pieces that your do onstage for the paying crowd. Ad-libs are merely icing on the cake. Moreover, she taught me to use glamour in comedy.”
Willie Nepomuceno – “He emphasized to me the importance of being uncompromising and having the commitment to look the part. He collaborates with the best for his looks. He spends his own money, as long as he gives the best to his audience.
“He would always tell me, ‘Kikitain mo rin ‘yan in another way. But the satisfaction that you give your audience every time you perform will be priceless.’ He really loves his audience.”
Behn Cervantes – “It’s not about the playwright, director or actor. It’s all about the audience. You will always find stage training very handy.”
Martin Nievera – “Every new opportunity to sing the same piece is an opportunity to sing it better. He taught me to love my production and technical staff like family and to give until it hurts.”
Vilma Santos – “You can look gorgeous through any season. For her, walang kapalit ang pakikipag-kapwa tao. I’m a Vilmanian forever and I can say it not just once. She is my eternal favorite.”
Directors Al Quinn and Johnny Manahan – “My TV comedy life was many times in their hands. I learned how to distinguish comedy that is maanghang (sharp, edgy, but feel-good and not sacrificing) and mapait (bitter and angry). They are responsible for making my character cross-over from the lounge crowd to the TV audience.”
The Apo Hiking Society (Jim Paredes, Danny Javier and Buboy Garovillo) – “They taught me how to love my country.”
Redford White – “I learned from him the importance of paying it forward. He was quiet and very unassuming. Very few people knew about his advocacies and support to different foundations.”
Anna Valdes-Lim (artistic director of Metta, resident theater group of Assumption College) – “She is my inspiration in balancing fame and family. She taught me how to handle fame, that it is really a vapor.”
Imbibing all those lessons, Jon arrived at his own style to do comedy, which he applies in all his shows. He headlines another series of one-man comedy acts, 101 Jonjemons: The Pinoy Fower List, which runs Aug. 20, 21, Sept. 16 and 17 at Teatrino in Greenhills.
“It’s time to give something back,” asserts Jon. “There is reason to celebrate. I want to prove that I can do a show even when it’s not election season, Valentine’s or Christmas. After all, audiences continue to go to the lounges all these years.”
Jon works with his long-time friends Enrico Santos and Joel Mercado, who are his writers for the show, directed by Chari Arespacochaga (also the director of the recently staged Legally Blonde).
101 Jonjemons, according to Jon, is a “celebratory journey” for most Filipinos, especially now that the country has a new president. “Unlike my show last year when most Filipinos were anxious about what would happen, we are now celebrating because of the new chapter in our history,” Jon offers. “We are proud to be Pinoy. For a change, I am not doing a show that’s seasonal. This new one has a wider scope, with a little music, showbiz, pop culture but less politics.”
Notwithstanding the fame he enjoys, Jon remains modest and will be eternally grateful to all those who have inspired and helped him all these years. “I don’t always live up to it. I sometimes get stupid in front of my audience and forget my lessons (from my mentors), but hopefully, I make them proud,” he says.
JON SANTOS is IRMA VEP -- This Time its not an impersonation
by Walter Ang
Philippine Daily Inquirer 8/16/2010
‘I am the eternal rehearsalist,’ he says. The play, directed by Ana Valdes-Lim, returns Aug. 28
JON SANTOS is known for his stand-up comedy shows that highlight his impersonations of popular figures. In the last 19 years, he has collected a trove of characters under his belt, such as Ate Vi, Basana Roces, Armida Sigyon-Makareyna, Sherap Espada, Shawie, Sen. Meeryam.
He will once again attack multiple roles in a single show, but this time, no impersonations. He is in rehearsals for Marie Eugenie Theater of the Assumption’s (Metta) restaging of “The Mystery of Irma Vep.”
One of Off-Broadway’s longest running shows, the comedy is by Charles Ludlam, an American actor, director and playwright, who founded the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City.
The play involves only two performers (either always two actresses or two actors) with four roles each, including a werewolf, a lord and a lady, a maid and a farmhand.
“It really is very, very demanding on a performer,” Santos says. “Especially with the accents and the running and the costume changes and a little bit of singing, too.”
Start in theater
Before his entry into the stand-up comedy circuit, Santos started doing theater work with UP Repertory Company under Behn Cervantes. After college, he joined Tessie Tomas and Willie Nepomuceno, his idols, do the rounds of political-satire shows.
“My journey with the UP theater community extended even after graduation, because Willie and Tessie were both from UP and they both also had a love for theater, and both also had theater backgrounds,” he says.
He was last seen performing in a play for Atlantis Production, “Dogeaters.” In between his shows and occasional forays back to theater, he once ran a comedy club that featured the improvisational group Philippine Playhouse, whose founder, Ana Valdes-Lim, is Metta’s artistic director.
Valdes-Lim got Santos to join “Irma Vep” in its first staging last year.
“I was very honored to have been considered qualified for the role, and I immediately jumped at the chance to join,” says Santos.
The play was chosen partly to service the college’s Theater Arts and Media Education program.
“The play is technically difficult to do, and it is an acting piece for actors,” says Valdes-Lim. “We educate our students and audiences about the importance of having challenging technical and artistic productions. What better way to learn than from difficult pieces?”
Preparation
For the play, Santos is partnered with Philippine Playhouse member JV Katipunan.
“Both are naturals,” says Valdes-Lim. “Although both are mimics, they had to create brand-new characters from scratch without copying.”
While many people assume his satire shows are mostly ad-libbed, Santos reveals the bulk of his shows are “planned, rehearsed, choreographed and directed.” He knows he’s done a good job when people think his scripted lines are ad-libs.
“The ad-libs are actually planned and structured!” he says.
His pride lies in giving audiences “fully scripted shows,” and he actually finds it “very, very hard not to have a full outline and set of scripts and a guide for any performance.”
As such, he is no stranger to the rigors of preparing for a play as taxing as this one.
In fact, the process suits his style just fine. “I am the eternal rehearsalist and I like to prepare and prepare and prepare.”
Santos notes doing “Irma Vep” is a “welcome return to doing theater in a school setting under the supervision of teachers-professionals who have the perspective, the patience, the discipline and the knowledge that I welcome in my work.
“I like this constant return to the academic setting, so I’m always back in a workshop type of situation.” “I’m always stretched a little bit. I’m always reminded that certain good habits have to be worked on all over again—with the voice, the body, with dance, with singing, and, most importantly, with working with a team.”
“The Mystery of Irma Vep” runs Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 11 with 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. shows, at San Lorenzo Blackbox Theater, Assumption College, Makati City. The show comes with a lecture demonstration by Ana Valdes-Lim on Rehearsal Techniques for Directors and Teachers; a question-and-answer forum with the actors; and a backstage tour. Call 817-0757 loc. 1161 to 1163 or 894-2681.
Read article
Philippine Daily Inquirer 8/16/2010
‘I am the eternal rehearsalist,’ he says. The play, directed by Ana Valdes-Lim, returns Aug. 28
JON SANTOS is known for his stand-up comedy shows that highlight his impersonations of popular figures. In the last 19 years, he has collected a trove of characters under his belt, such as Ate Vi, Basana Roces, Armida Sigyon-Makareyna, Sherap Espada, Shawie, Sen. Meeryam.
He will once again attack multiple roles in a single show, but this time, no impersonations. He is in rehearsals for Marie Eugenie Theater of the Assumption’s (Metta) restaging of “The Mystery of Irma Vep.”
One of Off-Broadway’s longest running shows, the comedy is by Charles Ludlam, an American actor, director and playwright, who founded the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City.
The play involves only two performers (either always two actresses or two actors) with four roles each, including a werewolf, a lord and a lady, a maid and a farmhand.
“It really is very, very demanding on a performer,” Santos says. “Especially with the accents and the running and the costume changes and a little bit of singing, too.”
Start in theater
Before his entry into the stand-up comedy circuit, Santos started doing theater work with UP Repertory Company under Behn Cervantes. After college, he joined Tessie Tomas and Willie Nepomuceno, his idols, do the rounds of political-satire shows.
“My journey with the UP theater community extended even after graduation, because Willie and Tessie were both from UP and they both also had a love for theater, and both also had theater backgrounds,” he says.
He was last seen performing in a play for Atlantis Production, “Dogeaters.” In between his shows and occasional forays back to theater, he once ran a comedy club that featured the improvisational group Philippine Playhouse, whose founder, Ana Valdes-Lim, is Metta’s artistic director.
Valdes-Lim got Santos to join “Irma Vep” in its first staging last year.
“I was very honored to have been considered qualified for the role, and I immediately jumped at the chance to join,” says Santos.
The play was chosen partly to service the college’s Theater Arts and Media Education program.
“The play is technically difficult to do, and it is an acting piece for actors,” says Valdes-Lim. “We educate our students and audiences about the importance of having challenging technical and artistic productions. What better way to learn than from difficult pieces?”
Preparation
For the play, Santos is partnered with Philippine Playhouse member JV Katipunan.
“Both are naturals,” says Valdes-Lim. “Although both are mimics, they had to create brand-new characters from scratch without copying.”
While many people assume his satire shows are mostly ad-libbed, Santos reveals the bulk of his shows are “planned, rehearsed, choreographed and directed.” He knows he’s done a good job when people think his scripted lines are ad-libs.
“The ad-libs are actually planned and structured!” he says.
His pride lies in giving audiences “fully scripted shows,” and he actually finds it “very, very hard not to have a full outline and set of scripts and a guide for any performance.”
As such, he is no stranger to the rigors of preparing for a play as taxing as this one.
In fact, the process suits his style just fine. “I am the eternal rehearsalist and I like to prepare and prepare and prepare.”
Santos notes doing “Irma Vep” is a “welcome return to doing theater in a school setting under the supervision of teachers-professionals who have the perspective, the patience, the discipline and the knowledge that I welcome in my work.
“I like this constant return to the academic setting, so I’m always back in a workshop type of situation.” “I’m always stretched a little bit. I’m always reminded that certain good habits have to be worked on all over again—with the voice, the body, with dance, with singing, and, most importantly, with working with a team.”
“The Mystery of Irma Vep” runs Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 11 with 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. shows, at San Lorenzo Blackbox Theater, Assumption College, Makati City. The show comes with a lecture demonstration by Ana Valdes-Lim on Rehearsal Techniques for Directors and Teachers; a question-and-answer forum with the actors; and a backstage tour. Call 817-0757 loc. 1161 to 1163 or 894-2681.
Read article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)