UP SAMASKOM lets the Laugh Sticks out and wit in for Live A.I.D.S. 36
UP SAMASKOM lets the Laugh Sticks out and wit in for Live A.I.D.S. 36
Closing number of UP SAMASKOM’s Live A.I.D.S., last running from June 26 to 28 at the IGB-KAL Theater, UP Diliman
QUEZON CITY — UP SAMASKOM’s (Samahan ng mga Mag-aaral sa Komunikasyon) longest-running musical comedy sketch variety show, Live A.I.D.S. (Ang Istoryang Dinebelop ng SAMASKOM) ran from June 26 to June 28 at the IGB-KAL Theater, UP Diliman.
Coinciding with the year's Pride celebration, the organization premiered five shows across three days. Comedy stars like Vice Ganda, the other half of the Dogshow Divas, Baus Rufo, and UP SAMASKOM alum Jervi Wrightson were among the attendees.
With the theme ‘Let There Be Laughs’, Live A.I.D.S. kicked off their concert-esque show with color-blocking, sparkly outfits, and the addition of ‘Laugh Sticks’ this year. Inspired by true concert fashion, each member of the audience was given their very own lightstick, bearing the organization’s logo — elevating the experience by adding more interactivity to the crowd for the first time.
UP alumni Jervi Wrightson and box-office comedy star Vice Ganda sitting beside each other during the closing show of Live A.I.D.S. 36 last June 28.
Besides its eponymous live performance acts, improvisations, dances, and songs, UP SAMASKOM’s annual showcase of talent and creativity has been beyond the glitz and glamour of comedy and punchy jokes.
Its middle act centered on a debut showcase of an 8-member P-pop girl group, JoyRide, reminiscent of the legendary SexBomb girl group of the 2000s, complete with full performances and parodies of the group’s songs about the recent transportation crisis in the country and oil shortage in the globe amid the US-Israel-Iran war earlier this year.
Left: Curtains close as UP SAMASKOM’s female-powered octet JoyRide exits the stage. Right: Two Laugh Sticks on sync during the show.
At its core, the show is a triumphant three-hour show full of performances tasked to cater to the humor of different ages and generations by throwing slapstick references from Pinoy pop culture while giving spotlight to sociopolitical issues and current events.
The 36th iteration of the show stayed true to this essence, even as far as criticizing its very own University. Its opening sketch, ‘Diliman Darlings,’ poked around notorious and questionable politicians who are alumni of the premier university.
UP SAMASKOM performed this sketch once again at their home college’s graduation rites at the UP College of Media and Communication a week after, on July 6.
A segment called ‘Bulacan-Bulacan’, consisting of the whole organization’s ensemble of all-rounders, portrayed how corruption in smaller communities of barangays extends to the larger context as it seeps through the whole country and part of the culture — nodding to the corruption-riddled province flooded with ghost infrastructure projects.
“Ending fairy pose” of the ‘Diliman Darlings’ sketch during the closing show of Live A.I.D.S. 36.
Other skits in Live A.I.D.S. 36 touched upon a spoof of the popular BL series ‘Heated Rivalry’, a sketch about criticizing the toxic hypermasculine culture of the country’s military corps reserve, a parody of ‘Born to Be Wild’ series underscoring environmental issues, and the show’s head writer Waxee Galang’s monologue as ‘Michelle Lyn’.
Dedicated to their late alumni Ador Cuntapay, UP SAMASKOM’s Live A.I.D.S. 36 sold out five days before its first showing. And the organization will surely do so again next year.
SINEGANG.ph is an official media partner of this year’s UP SAMASKOM LIVE A.I.D.S. 36: Let There Be Laughs.
