Top 100 Cebuano Personalities: Teban ug Guliat

CEBU, Philippines —  Like stories, legends and poetry, you can add jokes to the gems passed on from one generation to another. And boy, did Teban and Goliat make lots of them.

To this day, many of us are familiar with the dynamic goofball duo of Teban and Goliat. While the rest of the world had Laurel and Hardy, Holmes and Watson, Bonnie and Clyde, and even macaroni and cheese, Cebu has their very own Teban and Goliat combo.

Known for their banter and punch lines, the tandem’s raucous laughter has been heard on airwaves, eliciting joy on listeners who snickered along with them.

It is this tandem that built a new brand of entertainment and comedy, a legacy that would remain strongly felt today.

Radio personalities Julian Daan and Allan Nacorda first brought fictional brothers Teban and Goliat, respectively, to life in the 80s through the popular TV series “Si Goot da Wanderpol” which was about a goat who defecated money. Fondly known as a Cebuanovela, the fantasy-comedy which also added drama to the mix, was a ballsy move in a television industry that was just starting to find its bearings.

Tagalog and Mexican telenovelas dominated the small screen, and characters Teban and Goliat represented the rest of the non-Tagalog speaking population with a show that was a level of their own.

“Si Goot da Wanderpol” became such a hit that it spurred more Cebuano productions like “Milyonaryong Mini” and “Ang Manok ni San Pedro.” It also made celebrities out of relatively average Joes, Daan and Nacorda.

Their jokes can still be heard on the radio, published in newspapers, passed around in group messages, and enjoyed by grown-ups and children alike.

These jokes could start with a question, sometimes present a situation – all boiling down to a punch line they somehow pulled out of nowhere.

The duo also dabbled in music, mixing comedy and song.

Teban and Goliat have performed in and out of Cebu, sharing their brand of comedy and mischief elsewhere.

Recently, they were honored with an Excellence, Recognition and Gratitude (ERG) award at last year’s Cebu Pop Music Festival, the competition’s 38th edition. Also in 2018, they graced the very first Bisaya Music Festival.

So great has been Teban and Goliat’s influence that you need not tune in to radio programs to hear their jokes. Their wisecracks have been compiled in VCRs and cassette tapes, and eventually uploaded on YouTube.

The icons that they are, you can mention Teban and Goliat without context and people would know what you’re talking about, the two being solid references to comedy.

After all these years, we still have to find the next Teban and Goliat, the originals still very much peerless.

While considered old school, one can’t deny that Teban and Goliat have been among the few who had the courage to represent Cebuano talent and artistry in a society that stereotyped, caricaturized, and dismissed the Bisaya masses as second-class citizens.