For ‘Wow Mali Doble Tama’ hosts Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola, making people laugh nowadays is no joke. But they continue to do it anyway, especially during this time when mental health has become such an important issue.MANILA, Philippines —
So, what if the joke or prank doesn’t hit the mark? They drop it right away if it doesn’t land, they said. “Iiwan kaagad namin yun,” said Jose. “Pag nakikita namin hindi nagki-click, iwanan mo na!” Both Jose and Wally, who have been a comedic tandem for 24 years now, agreed that it’s no joke to pull off pranks on live TV or even in taped shows nowadays.
“There are advantages and disadvantages of people using their cellphones during our shows. ‘Pag maganda pagkagawa and effective, they film it and post it on social media. Then people react , ‘Ay napanood na namin yan sa TikTok.’ Minsan yun ang disadvantage,” said Wally. Being chosen as the face of the iconic comedy show last year, the first thing they did was to seek the blessing of original “Wow Mali” host and their “Eat Bulaga” mentor Joey de Leon.
“Puro kalokohan lang talaga kami ‘pag nag-uusap kami. Napa-prank ko si Wally. Akala niya tama lahat ng sinasabi ko. Minsan akala niya biro yung sinasabi ko, seryoso na pala,” he said. They also had a prank where one got fake-stabbed in the back. This, however, got them summoned by barangay officials. Jose recalled that they had to apologize and promise not to stage such a prank again.
Wally said that there’s already quality control in the writing process, the result of which goes through several rounds of approval. He added that there are many things that they can no longer play around with and certain things that they can’t prank anymore.