Saving promising comics from themselves

It’s depressing to note that the local comedy scene has become much too strident and cynical of late, with the “rise” of in-your-face female and gay comics who, instead of being genuinely funny, shock viewers into paying attention with their loud and livid behavior.

Many of them adhere to the “comedy of insult” school of entertainment, making up for their lack of looks and real comedic ability with their vile conduct, like brats who won’t shut up until you give them what they want.

Since they haven’t made it as top-level comedians, they make do with supporting or guest appearances, during which they are sometimes subjected to demeaning treatment, which makes them all the more sour, cynical and vicious.

It’s a dismal downward spiral for most of them, but a few are talented enough for us to hope that they can still get out of the rut they’re in. After all, if the likes of Vice Ganda can make it big in the biz, so should some of them.

Even when they’re at their most cynical worst, our heart goes out to them, because we understand  what has brought them down so low.

There’s even a bit of self-loathing to their behavior, due to the cruel way that the biz has treated them, damning them as losers in their own eyes.

Viewers see these unfunny comedians at their lowest when they join  game shows and have to beg and grovel for program hosts to increase their paltry “talent” fees.

We’re outraged by their demeaning, sipsip ploys, and we detest the hosts  for treating them so shabbily.

As for the few “minor comics” who still deserve to be saved from their tacky fate, we hope that they will realize that they don’t need to play it sour and cynical to get ahead in the biz. That’s a dead-end street that only the totally untalented should inhabit.

We urge the promising ones to stop hosting or appearing in tacky shows that nobody watches, which require them to behave at their vilest and worst, thus cynically affirming their dismal prospects.

More positively, we’re heartened to see some “hopeless” talents appearing in more reputable productions, indicating that we aren’t the only ones who think they’re promising—and worth saving.

But, the talents should  first believe in themselves, so they can do the right thing, be more selective, and arrest their own careers’ downward spiral.