1 month ago
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Jerry Donato - The Philippine Star
February 7, 2025 | 12:00am
As a creative, Alex Calleja wears many hats, from being a comedy actor to a TV-radio host, podcaster and writer. In his Netflix special, titled “Tamang Panahon,” he highlights his stand-up comic persona that has had audiences in stitches during his live local performances. They laugh at him and with him.
“Yes, it’s my first time, but I have movies such as ‘BuyBust’ (on the platform),” said the veteran comedian about his first stand-up comedy show on Netflix in an exclusive chat with The STAR. “Matagal ko ng pangarap na magkaroon ng stand-up comedy sa Netflix (It has been my long-time dream to have a stand-up comedy on Netflix).”
The fulfillment of such a dream is a culmination and product of determination, hard work and talent. According to Alex, there are two ways for content to make it to the streaming platform. It’s either they produce it or a creative like him produces it for them. Alex opted for the latter and followed the technical requirements laid out by the global, popular platform.
“Ang ginawa ko sinabay ko yun sa birthday show ko (what I did was I started the work for the Netflix show while I was doing my birthday show),” shared Alex about the source of materials for “Tamang Panahon.”
The comedian had a two-night, sold-out show at the 500-seater Maybank Theater. His audience knew that the event was recorded for a special but had no idea where it was going to be broadcast.
“Para mas authentic yung tawa (so that the laughter was authentic),” said he. “It was a very good show. I recorded it, following the technical requirements. We edited the materials and showed them to (Netflix) and fortunately, pumasa (the content got accepted and the greenlight).”
And now, “Tamang Panahon,” described by Netflix as “witty, irreverent,” is now streaming on the platform, in which Alex delivers “hilarious takes on gossip, gender and the differences between the rich and poor,” said the brief note about the show.
He said that the material he curated for Netflix had been tested in his live bar shows.
“Yung materyal ko na ginamit ko sa Netflix, tinest ko muna yan sa mga… may live bar shows ako,” said the veteran comedian. “I would test it little by little. Nung nagiging effective na, nung alam kong maganda na yung material ko, nag-create na ako ng isang parang one-hour show para dun sa Netflix (So when I found it effective and knew that my material was really good, I created it for the one-hour show on Netflix). That was my process for it.”
If that’s his process for that particular stand-up comedy content, everybody is also curious to know about his brand of comedy.
“My approach to my comedy, regardless of the platform, is I always make sure that many people can relate (to it), parang mataas yung percentage that people can relate, can understand and will laugh,” said Alex, “because I will not dwell on a topic that will alienate (people) and will create a controversial (topic).
“So, I’d always choose a topic I know that is relatable to people, very Pinoy or very universal.”
Presented in Tagalog, “Tamang Panahon” primarily caters to Pinoys here and abroad. Since it also has English subtitles, the content can also be appreciated and watched by other nationalities.
In doing stand-up comedy, Alex makes sure that at least 90 percent of the audience will laugh and understand the content. However, there are some who might not get it because of certain reasons, such as they’re going through something at the time of the performance, said he.
Alex also made a comparison between his comedy work for TV and film and the one with a live audience whose response is immediate.
“‘Pag dating sa TV and movies, iba din ang comedy ko, parang i-na-adapt ko sa needs, gusto ko nga, para (sa) relatability (when it comes to movies or TV, I adapt to the needs of the comedy performance such as relatability),” said he, “pero ‘pag dating dito sa stand-up, kapag de-nescribe mo, lagi itong point of view (when it comes to stand-up comedy, I describe it as something about my point of view), my monologue and point of view. I’m talking about my experiences in life.”
“It seems like a point of view, observational type of comedy. It is a type of comedy based on my observations (on things around me),” added Alex.
His gift to make people laugh and cheer them up has to be nurtured to ensure that it is always on point.
“May kasamang aral, may kasamang basa, laging kang updated, parang ganun (You have to couple it with constant learning and reading; you have to stay updated),” said Alex.
“I always reinvent myself. Dapat maging relevant ako para pati ako na-e-excite ako (I should stay relevant to also keep myself excited).
“Meron akong konting dinadagdag palagi o kaya may i-na-approach ako palagi para ma-excite din ako as a person, as a comedian (I always add something or approach it a bit differently to make myself excited as a person and as a comedian),” concluded the artist.
(Watch Alex’s brand of stand-up comedy in “Tamang Panahon” on Netflix.)
