By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Dressed in matching tankinis, Michael V. and Ogie Alcasid prepare to parody a TV commercial starring Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo.

Bitoy (as Michael is known in show biz) shares with Ogie some ideas on how to cap the sketch, deftly slipping into a jazz routine to stress a point.

Ogie takes it all in, wordlessly. But when the camera starts grinding, both he and Michael are transformed into 1970s dance duo Aldeguer Sisters!

Welcome to a typical working day on the set of GMA 7’s “Bubble Gang.”

* * *

“Bitoy and Ogie [work perfectly together] because they never upstage one another,” co-star Rufa Mae Quinto explains the secret of the gag show that’s celebrating its 12th anniversary this month. “There’s give-and-take.”

Ogie agrees: “For us, what is important is the scene, not our personal triumphs as comedians. In any case, roles are distributed well.”

Egos are set aside — if not altogether shredded to bits. He thinks nothing of being Panchito to Bitoy’s Dolphy.

Bitoy, who is also the show’s creative director, quotes British comic Matt Lucas of “Little Britain” fame: “There’s no vanity in comedy.” To illustrate, he says, “If you have to look ugly to make people laugh… so be it.”

Even the female cast members, all sexy stars, are routinely deglamorized.

Co-star Ara Mina points out that she often plays mom to Ogie and Bitoy here — something she wouldn’t do just now on the big screen. On occasion, she has even donned a gray wig as Armida Siguion-Reyna.

Ogie recalls that when he first dressed in drag as the Pia Guanio clone, Papaya Guano, he looked like a gorilla. “Regine (Velasquez, his girlfriend) said we should work harder on my makeup,” Ogie recounts.

He admits that the objects of their spoofs are not stingy with feedback. “Pia texted me one night: ‘Mga walanghiya kayo!’ [You’re shameless!]”

Bitoy relates that Mike Enriquez, Pia’s co-anchor on the newscast “24 Oras,” offered constructive criticism for his Michael Ricketts character. “He wanted me to copy everything about him.”

Rufa Mae says Mel Tiangco isn’t offended by her Bel Tiongco act. “Tita Mel greeted me on my birthday last year on ‘SOP.’”

She watches all of Mel’s shows, Rufa Mae brags. “I used to have a sketch called ‘Magpa K Man Lang.’”

Clearly, there are no sacred cows for the “Bubble” crew.

Cast members don’t fret when they become targets, Ogie insists. “Sometimes, on ‘Chaka Minute,’ I joke about myself. We hit many people. Why should I be spared?”

Not everyone is laughing, though.

Bitoy says at least one celebrity has complained. “[Singer] LA Lopez sued us. Nothing happened to the case.”

“We’ve been doing spoofs of commercials since the early days,” Bitoy recalls. “We had to stop for a while after a coffee company complained. But then ‘Ispup’ on ABC 5 was freely doing ad spoofs [from 2000 to 2004].”

Bitoy and company fought to have the segment back. “We made our ad spoofs bigger and better.”

Executive producer Camille Hermoso says “creative independence” is valued on the show.

“Only the creative team decides which commercials will be parodied.”

“A sponsor once asked us to spoof its commercial,” Bitoy recounts. Naturally, the sponsor interfered in the process. “Lots of punch lines were disapproved. That’s why we decided to maintain creative control over our material.”

Hermoso says Jet Li’s beer commercial has been the most challenging spoof material so far. “It took us almost six hours — to think, the segment’s running time was only one minute and thirty seconds.”

“That’s because we try to copy the material frame by frame every time,” Bitoy explains.

Bitoy and Ogie’s tandem first made its mark on the ABC 5 gag show “Tropang Trumpo.”

It took a lot of convincing for the duo to make the big move to GMA 7 in 1995, recalls Marivin Arayata, program manager and vice president for Entertainment TV.

“Bitoy was difficult to track down,” she remembers.

Apart from the money, it was the prospect of having more “creative control” that attracted Bitoy and Ogie.

“We were liberated from oppression,” Bitoy jests.

Ogie looks back: “I told Bitoy: We’ve hit the big time. But it was also make-or-break for us—a painful decision.”

Adding to the backstage drama, ABS-CBN made a counter-offer.

“Saling pusa lang kami noon sa ABS-CBN,” Bitoy says. (Apart from the ABC 5 gag show, they had minor hosting gigs at the time on ABS-CBN.)

Unfortunately, the Kapamilya offer was limited to the financial aspect. “I was a bit disappointed,” Bitoy says.

On top of creative freedom, the Kapuso network also offered premium exposure. “We were replacing ‘Vilma’ in the Friday night prime time slot,” says Bitoy. “But that also meant that the pressure was on.”

It was a tough climb to the top, to be sure, but by the late 1990s, it became evident that they were on the right track.

“‘Dating Doon’ (spoof of the religious show “Ang Dating Daan”) put this show on the map,” Ogie opines.

Bitoy relates that bright ideas can come from anyone. “Ara suggested that we spoof Ricky Reyes’ shampoo ads. Antonio Aquitania thought up Sex Balls, our spoof of the Sex Bomb Dancers.”

“When we get text jokes, we share them with the writers,” says Ara.

“Francine [Prieto] never runs out of text jokes. Sometimes she texts us in the early morning hours. That’s why everyone hates her,” Bitoy jests.

Director Uro de la Cruz says “Bubble” is not afraid to embrace new technologies. “Texting has democratized comedy. Now, everyone can be a comedian. As gag show writers, we shouldn’t be threatened. We should always be aware of the latest.”

He points out that the show has churned out spoofs of everything, from MTV (Music Tagalog Version) to YouTube (IyoTube).

But there is also a need to go back to basics, Uro asserts. “I always tell my writers to hang out in public markets, ride jeepneys, go to Quiapo and Sta. Cruz to see what Filipinos are laughing at.”

There’s a science to their craft, says head writer Cesar Cosme.

Each episode is a product of regular brainstorming, relates Cosme, more popularly known as Bro. Willy, sidekick of Brod Pete in “Dating Doon.”

“I meet with Bitoy and seven other writers once a week over lunch in a restaurant,” he says. “We spend hours just shooting the breeze, and get down to business only in the last 30 minutes.”

The show’s 12th anniversary special, “Bubble Gang the Movie for TV,” is the product of one such meeting.

“We came up with an action-musical,” Bitoy quips, “with a gay man as lead.”

Bitoy wrote 11 songs for the two-part special, airing on the last two Fridays of October. “But I left room for Ogie’s suggestions,” he says.

“I heard the songs in the recording studio,” adds Ogie. “I even sang backup on some of the tracks.”

It’s apparent that Ogie has checked in his ego at the door.

“It’s all about making the show better,” Ogie affirms.

Yes, indeed, there’s no vanity in comedy.