It was only a matter of time, but it finally happened: one of the most prominent names in the Philippine standup scene, Alex Calleja, has now joined Red Ollero as homegrown Pinoy comics who have a Netflix standup special. It is, without a doubt, a cause for celebration.

Unfortunately, a bit of a dark cloud hung over the proceedings when Director Chito Francisco, whom those in need of Katinko right now might best recognize as Brother Jocel from Bubble Gang’s legendary Ang Dating Doon, accused Alex of joke thievery. After receipts were given and legal threats were made, Direk Chito issued a public apology which Alex accepted. All’s well that ends well, right?

Well, yes and no. We still need to talk about the special and the implications of joke thievery in general, considering how the public clearly doesn’t get what the big deal is. So let’s talk about it.

8. This was a high-octane comedy special

Alex is known for his high rate of laughs per minute as he excels at delivering his material in a rapid-fire approach. Unlike Red’s storytelling approach in his special Alex tends to pepper even his attempts at stories with little punchlines here and there to keep the laughs going instead of building up to a big one.

Your mileage may vary, but it only goes to show that there’s a lot of different ways to do standup comedy. There are way more Pinoy performers than just Alex and Red. It’s not hard to imagine that at least one of them would capture your particular tastes in the event neither of the former two appeal to you.

7. This puts us at three prominent standup comedy groups in the country

With Tim Tayag’s original Comedy Cartel, Red’s Comedy Manila, and now, Alex’s Comedy Crew, there are now officially three different comedy groups actively operating in the country.

This is a far cry from when the comedy scene was just starting out and there was barely a single group to even speak of. It’s easy to see that the standup scene has come a long way, and while it’s still not the mainstream attraction the way it is in America, it feels like it’s just a matter of time.

6. Standup comedians technically only have two jobs

The first job is to write your own jokes. The second job is to perform them onstage. Anything else in between is just gravy. Keep track of these two things, because this has key implications on the erstwhile controversy, even if we only paint in generalities.

5. Joke thievery is considered a mortal sin in the industry

“Big deal! It’s all about who performs it the funniest.” No, it’s not.

While we can’t patent jokes, they still fall under intellectual property. And while the legal implications may be muddy, the moral implications are not. If 50% of your job is writing material, then stealing half of your job from someone else is a fundamental betrayal of your duties.

It might not seem like a big deal when outside looking in, but this is people’s livelihoods we’re talking about. This is the equivalent of a magician revealing the secrets to magic tricks in public: it is a huge slap in the face of the art form when it happens.

4. But not every instance of the same joke is joke thievery

The irony of the car wash joke is that it’s one of those jokes that a lot of people could imagine themselves coming up with. This isn’t a knock on the quality of the joke – it’s just a simple premise that anyone could come up with in a vacuum, and it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility for two different people to come up with the exact same premise and punchline independently of each other.

When you consider this, it is also the reason why it is hard to just accuse anyone of stealing a joke. We all have the capacity to observe and to play with words. If we ever had a president with the surname of Andaya, how many similar jokes do you think people would be making over a name like that? 

3. Let’s celebrate the success, but remain vigilant

If there’s anything the whole brouhaha over Neil Gaiman has taught us, it’s that we really have to be careful about the people we look up to. Which isn’t to say that we need to side-eye everything, but it’s pretty important that as Pinoy standup continues to grow in prominence, we keep looking out for bad actors who might end up doing more harm than good. 

2. Yes, you can still make jokes about anything

Ever notice that the guys complaining about being censored are telling their jokes while being paid millions to do them onstage? How exactly are they being censored?

The challenge in 2025 isn’t to be politically sensitive – it’s to be funny. And yes, you can be wildly offensive while still being funny. The problem is, some people confuse being wildly offensive with already being funny.

Nope. It takes more than just dropping the “N” word to write a good joke. You want to make a joke about a sensitive topic without getting canceled? Well, then hunker down and write a good one. 

1. Watch the special and find out what the whole hoopla is about

Ultimately, you be the judge if this comedy special is worth your time or not. Give it a watch, and see if you have fun!

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