There’s no denying that Filipinos love to laugh—even in times of adversities, we always seem to find something to laugh or be happy about. Which is why it wasn’t too hard for Filipino-American stand-up comedian, Jo Koy, to have 9,000 people laughing out loud during his sold-out show at the Mall of Asia Arena last January 15, 2019.
When you take a glance at the audience of a sold out #JoKoyAtMOAArena 😍😍😍#JustKiddingWorldTourPH @Jokoy pic.twitter.com/hHDwytH1xL
— SM Mall of Asia Arena (@MOAArena) January 16, 2020
Jo Koy brought his “Just Kidding World Tour” to Manila and Cebu, and unlike singers who get to perform in different countries with the same set of songs, he said the challenge for comedians like him is to come up with new jokes for each show. He teased the crowd that Filipinos, in particular, would probably ask for a refund or a discount if he uses an old material from his previous shows featured in Netflix or Comedy Central.
His witty commentaries and observational comedy routine checks in for Pinoys as he opened the show with quips about the horrible traffic in Manila, saying that the LA traffic is no match to the congested roads and gangster attitude of some motorcyclists here (“Motorcycles here don’t give a f**k about cars!”). He also pointed out the Christmas decorations that are still on display and asked the crowd, “how many more months are we going to celebrate Christmas?”
Jo Koy never missed the chance to share hilarious anecdotes about his mother (while reenacting his mom’s “Josep!”) and his life in the US. He relived the time when his mom would always assume that he was kidnapped whenever he goes beyond the time curfew and begged a police officer to send him to prison rather than bring him home to face his mother after he got caught for riding a motorbike illegally.
For nearly two hours, he went on and threw several winning jokes with topics such as: how Filipino mothers are always in pain, the drama in every family gathering (titas ignoring each other), Spaghetti as both dinner and dessert for Pinoys, Manny Pacquiao with the thickest Filipino accent (“That’s what my uncle sounds!”), Filipinos being late all the time and how they’d always carry snacks inside their bag or purse (which prompted to a “bag raid” for some people in the front row and to no surprise, Jo Koy found some who have snacks in a ziplock).
One of the highlights of the show was when his comedy act took a turn and suddenly became a karaoke night as he got everyone singing along to several ’90s R&B hits. Jo Koy played some of his favorite songs to show his son Joe what “real music” sounds like, in contrast to the songs about p**sies that his son listen to nowadays.
He thanked the crowd and said that he really had a great time and didn’t even noticed that he extended his show beyond the allotted time. “I’m coming back, Manila! Thank you so much!”
Thank you Manila. Last night my people came out. Sold Out MOA Arena! I love the Philippines. pic.twitter.com/ihQAVpQ0Wh
— Jo Koy (@Jokoy) January 16, 2020
Jo Koy also performed in Solaire where he reportedly filmed his upcoming Netflix special and shared that it was a “dream come true” for him to finally be able to showcase his “motherland” to the world.
The Manila leg of Jo Koy’s “Just Kidding World Tour” was presented by MMI Live.
