Vhong with a bang

Critic Paolo Bertolin, consultant for the Venice International Film Festival, once called Vhong Navarro “a genius of comedy.”

“I’m a big fan,” Bertolin told Inquirer Entertainment. “I regard Erik Matti’s ‘Gagamboy’ and Joyce Bernal’s ‘D’Anothers’ as cult comedies.”

In the Udine film fest website, critic Roger Garcia described Navarro as “masterful … [he] has developed an engaging persona as the innocent, but flawed, hero.”

Navarro knows that his films have been shown in the Udine fest in Italy and that he has built quite a following in Europe.

“‘Mr. Suave’ and ‘Agent X44’ were also shown there. Direk Joyce told me that I’m famous in Udine, that I have lots of female fans there,” Navarro said. “I’d like to go there and meet them. Who knows? I could have half-Italian kids someday!”

He’s only jesting, for sure. Vhong is ABS-CBN’s resident clown. With each new role, he explained, he endeavors to do something different.

“I always update my comedy. I try to create a new character with each new movie,” Navarro said. “As a result, I was able to get away from my old trademark, as the local version of Jim Carrey. It’s always good to experiment and reinvent yourself.”

Navarro confessed that the success of “Showtime” had caught him off-guard. “Even ABS-CBN management was surprised that it did well. We never thought it would go this far.”

The secret of the show’s success? “We don’t upstage one another,” Vhong pointed out. “The real stars are the contestants, the audience, the public.”

Busy as he is, Navarro never forgets his main job, as dad to two growing boys, ages 14 and 12.

“When we go malling, people think they’re just my kabarkada. They’re so tall kasi.”