Filipino Migrant News - Year in Review

NEW YEAR 2018. ISSUE 110 | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | FB: Filipino Migrant News | JOBS: www.filipino.kiwi | www.pinoynzlife.nz 05
CHIKA
MUNA
By SHEILA MARIANO
AUCKLAND - In the
opinion of his mainly Kiwi
fans James Roque is the
king of Filipino observational
comedy in New Zealand.
In a recent television documentary
Roque suggested
that perhaps he was the king
by default, because there are
very few Filipino comedians
in this country.
James has been a fixture in
the Auckland’s Comedy
Festival’s annual winter
program and was featured on
several made-for-television
excerpts from this event over
the years. He has also picked
up some comedy awards
along the way.
His first ever appearance
before a Filipino audience
was at the 1st Maginoo at
Binibining Filipino News
Cultural Pageant in 2013 at
the Logan Campbell Centre
in Auckland.
The following year he
received a Filipino-Kiwi
Hero Award from his
The new king of Filipino
observational comedy.
David Correos: The Pinoy ‘Billy T James’
kababayan for his success in
mainstream comedy.
Then, three years later,
along comes David Correos,
23, whose meteoric
rise in the comedy scene has
been nothing short of phenomenal.
“I think my
biggest claim to fame so far
is the stupid Miley Cyrus
costume tutorial video,” he
revealed in an episode of
‘Neighbourhood’ (a documentary
series on diversity
on TV One) that he hosted.
You could say that he
became world famous when
he uploaded that YouTube
video of himself dressed to
imitate Miley Cyrus at the
Video Music Awards show
in 2013. The video went
viral with just under a million
views.
His popular YouTube
channel features a string of
hilarious videos that delight
his fans: How
to attract women.
How to
Vlog. How to
eat healthier.
How to be winter.
Legit
Stuck. Dress as
a Panda. And
more …
Like his
compatriot,
Correos has
also picked up
a couple of
awards. First
up the ‘Comic
Originality’
award at the
2015 Comedy
Guild Awards.
Then the really
big one - the
2016 ‘Billy T
Award’, that
included a
$4,000 cash grant from the
New Zealand Comedy Trust,
the prestigious ‘Yellow
Towel’ and he got to appear
on TV3's ‘7 Days’.
“So, winning the ‘Billy T
Award' was one of the
coolest things to happen in
my life,” he admitted when
FLASHBACK!
This article first appeared in the
March 2017 edition of FMN.
he was the star in an
episode of the compelling
documentary series about
diversity ‘Both Worlds’ on
TV3.
“I’ve gone from being an
amateur comedian who does
this for fun to a professional
comedian who does this for
a living.”
It was also time to take a
closer look at the content of
his material. “When I was
growing up I was the only
Pinoy in school,” he reflected.
“I felt a little bit different.
I remember that I got
bullied quite a bit. But I
learnt quickly that if you can
make them laugh first then
they can’t actually bully
you.
“I am not a normal comedian.
I don’t tell jokes. I am
the joke. It is the only thing
I’m actually good at.
“The next step is to work
on the skills I am not good at
yet. Being silly, being loud,
that’s easy. I’ve done that
my whole life, but being personal
and telling stories that
can surprise people about
genuine things that happen -
that's something I’ve got to
really work on.”