MUKHANG may nangangamoy na isyu sa pagitan ng Filipino-American stand-up comedians na sina Rex Navarrete at Jo Koy.
Tila nagkaroon kasi ng pasaring si Rex sa nakaraang press conference during the grand media opening ng bagong homebase ng Comedy Manila sa Taguig City, ang Brick Wall BGC.
Ang kanyang patama kay Jo Koy ay matapos siyang tanungin ng entertainment press kung anong advice ang maibibigay niya para sa mga Pinoy aspiring stand-up comedians.
Simple lang ang naging sagot diyan ni Rex: “Just find your own voice.”
Kwento niya, “I’ve been following that advice for so many years now. You have to be honest on your own voice and that is your style.”
Baka Bet Mo: #SerbisyoBandera: Margie de Leon inspirasyon ng kababaihan sa mundo ng ‘comedy’
“That’s why I encourage the next generation to find your voice and stick with it because that’s gonna be your brand and it’s gonna be difficult to steal your brand and your style because you’ve made it so difficult for everyone to steal, except for Jo Koy,” dagdag niya at biglang natawa ang mga nasa venue.
Hugot pa ni Rex, “Anyway, I’m glad he found my voice.”
Kasunod niyan, nabanggit ng batikang komedyante na siya ay may pahintulot na kunin ang titulong “pioneer” bilang Filipino-American stand-up comedian.
“Because I got permission from my mentors because no one else was going Filipino-American stand-up and they let me take the title and the burden of being a pioneer,” paliwanag niya.
Wika pa niya, “I can be a smart ass for people stealing my material, but I will inspire anyone else who is inspired by my material.”
“Yeah, find your voice. That’s it. Just stick with it, otherwise you will be busted by your colleagues,” advice niya.
Chika pa ng Fil-Am comedian, “We take our form seriously. And we protect it seriously and if we have to do the old way, we’ll find you out back. But this is what we do. This is our life blood. And this represents not just our voice but maybe the voice of our family because this is where the stories come from.”
“It’s a serious business, this comedy thing. This is very serious and it affects people’s livelihoods,” giit pa niya.
Sa huli, inamin ni Rex na very happy siya na nakauwi siya sa ating bansa upang makapag-perform sa harap ng Pinoy audience at Pinoy fans.
Nitong January lamang, nag-react si Rex sa isang post ng American entertainment online news na ang caption ay, “#CriticsChoiceAwards host Chelsea Handler put her ex Jo Koy in the hot seat after his widely-criticized performance as #GoldenGlobes host.”
Mababasa pa sa artcard nito ang quote mula kay Chelsea na ang sabi: “Thank you for laughing at that, my writers wrote it.”
Ang caption diyan ng batikang komedyante: “Now this is how you acknowledge your gifted writers! Now if he’d only acknowledge all of us writers who never ever got credit for any of his specials and his Oscar-caliber movie.”
“Asking permission to use our work would’ve been a good start, huh Jo?” mensahe pa niya sa kapwa Fil-Am comedian.
Noong 1980s pa nang magsimula sa kanyang passion sa pagpapatawa si Rex sa United States.
Lalo pa siyang nakilala dahil sa kwelang animated shorts na pinamagatang “Maritess” at “Superfriends and SBC Packers.”
At that time, siya ang tanging Fil-Am comedian na nagkaroon ng apat na audio CDs at tatlong DVDs ng kanyang live performances.