"Mad Max" at the Spicy Fingers

We've known about the comedy shows at Greenbelt's Spicy Fingers for a while now. We've been wanting to go. Jojo and I had even called to reserve once -- only to cancel it hours before. Something always gets in the way. And it didn't exactly help that all of these shows are scheduled only on Mondays.

Somehow, things worked out and we were able to go just last Monday. We reserved days before and came to Greenbelt quite early. The show doesn't start until 8 pm. But we had planned to come to Spicy Fingers early so that we could have dinner there and reserve good seats too. But when we dropped by the restaurant, not one person was inside. We found out from their waiters that the seats were reserved beforehand anyway. I guess the promoters (E-Circle) choose the seats for you depending on the number of people in your group.

We decided to have dinner elsewhere and at exactly 7:30, we were right at the door of Spicy Fingers. We paid for our tickets at the entrance (P150 each) and looked for the table which had my name on it. I guess it doesn't really matter where you end up sitting. It's a small and intimate place and any seat can assure you of a good view. Ours happened to be in the center -- second row from the front. We were so close that we didn't need to zoom to take pictures. ;-) My only beef was how packed the place got come show time. It's really best to take the trip to the bathroom before the place fills up. Because there's really no way to get around when all the chairs are occupied.

As expected, the show didn't start until 8:45ish. That's 45 minutes late! The performers were ready. They could have started on time if they wanted to. With "Filipino" time in effect, there were only 3 tables occupied when it got to 8:00. That's only 6 or 7 audience members. I can understand why they had to start late. I just wish it didn't have to be so. Uggghhhh.

All this was forgiven and forgotten right after the first act. The show was sooo packed! There were about 6 or 7 (I've lost count!) acts. And the topics and jokes ranged from school rivalries, married life, to living as a Chinese, local/international transport, to maid foibles, and the like. It's really all about finding comedy in the most everyday, mundane things. From the laughter and applause, you can easily tell that yes, everyone can relate! ;-)

Of the 6 or 7, I have two favorites. I absolutely LOVED Mike Unson and Alex Calleja. Mike Unson's thoughts on our MRT system left me in absolute stitches. ;-) Alex Calleja, seemingly a more experienced and "senior" one, also had a lot of interesting (and oh so very true and factual!) things to say about marriage. ;-) It's obvious that he has given all this a lot of thought. ;-) He even gave the married ladies in the crowd a foolproof way of finding out whether your husband is cheating on you. Just hilarious!!!

The other 4 or 5 had their moments too. But it really was Mike and Alex that stood out the most. To get a taste of their comedy, click the links below. These are short video excerpts of their spiel taken from Youtube.





You may also click this link to find out about their upcoming shows. I know I'm going to the April 27 one for sure. Maybe I'll see you there? ;-)