Learning well from his rift with then Rustom Padilla, actor Anjo Yllana said he has since carried one very important lesson in being a funny man; comedy stops when offense sets in.
This realization came after seeing the consequences of a line he was tasked to throw at a rehearsal of a scene from the defunct ‘90s comedy sitcom “Palibhasa Lalake” he was part of. Not knowing it would spark a war between him and the Padilla siblings, Yllana now looks at that controversy as a lesson to guide him in being a better entertainer.
For him, throwing an offending joke has always been a problem for comedians. But comedy has a limit, he said, and he learned it the hard way.
In an interview on entertainment reporter-turned-vlogger Morly Alinio’s vlog, Yllana shared exactly what happened in 1994 and how things were ironed out years later.
As a veteran, Yllana said a comedian has to strike a perfect balance between a clean joke and an offensive taunt.
“To entertain, kailangan mo magpatawa diba? At the same time katulad ng naranasan ko na ‘yun hanggang saan ‘yung limit mo ng magpapatawa na hindi ka nakakasakit ng damdamin ng isang tao. ‘Yun ang dalawang bagay na bina-balance mo,” he said.
Feeling guilty when Rustom came out
Knowing full well that he had offended Rustom when he threw that “Si Rustom ay ba…” line at the rehearsal of the sitcom, Yllana felt guilty rather than being validated when the actor came out.
After never ending rumors, Rustom, the former matinee idol and action star, finally revealed being gay and later on transitioned into being a transwoman now known as BB Gandanghari.
“Nalungkot ako (when he came out), feeling ko na-gui-guilty ako parang kahit papaano nag-add ‘yun or dahil sa nagawa namin sa Palibhasa naging tulay ‘yun para umamin siya,” he said.
Yllana said he could not help but toy around the possibility of things having been different had that fateful rehearsal moment in “Palibhasa Lalake” happened differently.
“Nalungkot ako nun kasi kung hindi kaya nangyari ‘yung gulong ‘yun noon, nag-straight ba siya? May ganun eh,” he said.
While he too took some time to get used to BB, he said he is genuinely happy that she has now found peace.
“Masaya ako para kay BB ngayon,” he said.
