(SPOT.ph) Bodabil was one of the ways Filipinos coped with the challenges of World War II. With its combination of comedy skits, magic acts, and elaborate song and dance numbers, this form of live entertainment kept Filipinos in good spirits amid the pain and suffering of the period—at least for a few hours. At its peak, bodabil was the featured presentation in theaters that lined Manila's streets, each with the kind of queues and bookings that would make the companies of today green with envy.
You might think bodabil has long been extinct, replaced by its modern counterparts —radio, film, TV, and now the internet—but you'd be surprised to know that at least inside the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman, it's alive and well. Every year, with the exception of those years of the pandemic, for more than three decades now, the org UP SAMASKOM stages a show steeped in the essence of this 1940s theater phenomenon: Live A.I.D.S.
And because it's UP, in between the song-and-dance routines, the puns and the physical comedy, there's a no-holds-barred commentary on Philippine politics and society thrown in.
Live A.I.D.S is not your usual student performance—it's a professional stage.
To the uninitiated, UP SAMASKOM's annual variety show Live A.I.D.S (Ang Istoryang Dinebelop ng Samaskom) might seem like any typical student-led gag show poking fun at the latest viral topic and imitating popular figures with a naive, idealistic undertone more seasoned audiences would scoff at—but it's really more than that.Â
Live A.I.D.S. is far from a clumsy college project fueled by naivete and blind optimism. When we dropped by one of their rehearsals, we braced ourselves for the usual collegiate chaos. Instead we walked into a hall with a dedicated theater troupe in training, already halfway to stages where pros perform.
It was less than two weeks before opening night and a manila paper setlist taped to a wall keeps everyone reminded of the show's sequence. Production assistants scurry about keeping everyone on their toes as the director fires off notes. In one area, performers get ready, putting on their own makeup. Later, they nail their cues left and right. Everything's hectic, loud, a little sweaty—yet somehow it all runs like clockwork.Â
Speaking with the Live A.I.D.S. team, we find there's so much more to this organized chaos. Mounting the show takes over 50 people. You've got writers, production crew, performers, choreographers, and many others working on the next show as soon as one is over. While most of them are students, there's a lot of help from returning alumni, whose assistance ranges from providing feedback on skits to actually being part of the show.Â
Clearly, there's camaraderie among the folks here, transcending age groups and student numbers. Students and alumni work side by side, all pros in their own way, working tirelessly to mount the three-night extravaganza always one year in the making.
Why do students volunteer to be part of this show every year? Maybe because Live A.I.D.S. has paved the way for many of its alumni who have since become famous performers and entertainment industry figures. From comedians like Ate Glow, Tuesday Vargas, and KaladKaren (Jervi Wrightson), to singer Raymond Lauchengco and current Star Magic head Laurenti Dyogi, they all started on the Live A.I.D.S. stage—and the reputations they've carved are in part a testament to the rigor and grit they acquired while working on UP's biggest annual comedy production.
But while the possibility of fame and glamour is not lost on its members, it doesn't seem like those are the main driving forces why these kids are here giving their all and toiling after class hours.Â
Live A.I.D.S. is social commentary told through comedy.
Live A.I.D.S. 35 invites audiences to dive deep into the reasons why we laugh. In crafting this year's theme, "A Laugh Story," Live A.I.D.S. 35 director John Kenneth De Leon made it a point to ask: "Is humor just a source of laughter—or is it a bridge to activism, a tool for survival, and a deeper reflection of the world we live in?"
While that may sound heavy and serious, they strive to make the product as lighthearted as possible. As head writer Waxee Galang puts it: "We're not trying to solve World War III, we just want to make people stop and think about what's happening around them through satire and jokes."
This year is pretty special. Unlike previous years where all the team has to work with are the occasional zany internet personalities, everyday curiosities, and juicy and sordid celebrity drama, Live A.I.D.S. 35 finds itself happening at the very height of the 2025 senatorial and local elections, giving it a treasure trove of rich material to mine and play with. Hence there are characters like Camille Bilyay, Benhur Babalos, Abby Benice and Imee Narcos.
The timing—the three-night show plays the very weekend right before Election Day— is no coincidence. For the team behind the production, it's not just about being supplied plenty of content; it's also the perfect time to gather people and get them thinking.Â
"More than just a show, Live A.I.D.S. is a call to action. When you laugh, we want you to think: Why did I laugh? We're not forcing you to believe what we believe, but we want you to think about your decisions, about what you're going to do on election day," says MJ Karaan, production manager for Live A.I.D.S. 35.
"The jokes are just vessels. If they laugh and realize something, we’ve done our job," Galang adds.Â
At its core, Live A.I.D.S. is an unserious, exaggerated look at the mundane and often (coughs, too often) ridiculous reality we live in. It's a reflection of the times, laced with social commentary packaged with pop culture references thrown in, caticatures, and song-and-dance numbers. It's a festival of laughter and creativity, but all its segments and jokes are grounded in truth—quite similar to the bodabil numbers of old that parodied American entertainment.
But unlike the bodabil performers of an earlier time, who had to covertly fight the enemy, their defiance masked in song and dance, Live A.I.D.S. doesn't need to be as subtle. At a time when the news already sounds like satire, what's the point of sugarcoating the punchline? When truth and dissent are out there in the open, why should satire stay in the shadows?Â
Live A.I.D.S 35: A Laugh Story will run from May 9 to 11 at the KAL Theater, Magsaysay Avenue corner Roces Street, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City. Get tickets to Live A.I.D.S. online. For more information about Live A.I.D.S., visit UP SAMASKOM's Facebook page.
Photos by Jilson Tiu.
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