Blending the funny and the serious

Some political satires are so in-your-face you want to ask — no, demand — that the director stop his preaching the minute the curtain rises. You want to tell him he has no right to assume the holier-than-thou stance, that he’d better climb down his ivory tower.

But those who saw the recent political satire Where Da Truth Lies (Musikalokahan) at the Teatrino, featuring the quartet of Dyords Javier, Nolyn Cabahug, Eric Cruz and Lisa Cabahug did nothing of that sort. They laughed their hearts out, clapped their hands, roared their approval.

The political satire took potshots at government and even the church all right. But you don’t hear anyone in the jampacked audience saying “Ouch!” No, you didn’t see a single long face in the crowd, which included Lea Navarro and June Keithley.

Instead, you see faces breaking into smiles, then laughter. How can you fault Eric, for instance, for hitting senators and other top government officials in his full-bodied tenor when Dyords follows it up with the lines, ”May naghihintay sa ‘yo sa labas, (number) one ang plate number”?

Past gods in government are not spared. That means all is fair in criticism and tongue-in-cheek grilling.

“The satire is not offensive. It even makes you laugh, which is just what you need in these tough times,” a well-dressed lady beside me says.

Her friend adds, “I thought the show is a serious one, since it was billed as a political satire. Turns out it’s fun.”

Especially when the stars of the show themselves poke fun on each other. Dyords points at Eric’s high-tech wheelchair and calls it “motor.” Eric orders Dyords to sing and stop chattering with the audience. Dyords storms off the stage, but not without waving to the camera trained on him.

But before he does, he lapses into a “Dyords Groban” song (a pun on Josh Groban, got it?), You Raise Me Up. Except that this time, the supposedly inspirational song is drastically changed into something about anything and everything under the sun: Spiders, horse races, etc.

The audience lapped it up.

For all its wisecracks and funny punch lines, Where Da Truth Lies knows how to sober up. The show did precisely that shortly before it wrapped up.

Eric took the solo spotlight and talked about “our mother — the Philippines.” The way he went on, you feel so guilty even thinking about leaving the country for greener pastures abroad.

You’ll feel more sober when you learn that the show is for a cause. All proceeds went to the Nova Foundation for the Differently-Abled.

How’s that for blending the funny and the serious without skipping a beat? One good show deserves another. Won’t you mount another show of this kind, Mr. Cruz?