SPIT on the streets: Today, Paco market – tomorrow, the world

In a studio known by a different name but transforms into 'Yes, And...' when the Silly People's Improv Theater (SPIT) performs, the improv group experiments with new games and riskier skits.

The group had its genesis in June 2002 after founder Gabe Mercado attended a workshop under legendary Second City alumni Paul Sills the year before. Since then, excepting very short breaks, the group has had a gig almost every week.

Just this Thursday, the famous Three-Headed Oracle—a staple in every SPIT show—was joined by a new segment called The Three Muses in order to decide if chocolate cake was better than cheesecake.

“[Every] second Thursday dito sa 'Yes, And...' studio is always dedicated to riskier stuff na not necessarily commercially viable. But you do it for yourself!” laughed Mercado.

He continued. “You have to allow yourself opportunities to fail. Otherwise, you'll stop growing.”

The Three Muses skit was not the only addition to the SPIT line-up. The Three-Way-Dub, where three members voiced each other, and the angst choir, where the group moaned about regrets suggested by the audience, are some of the other skits in the first half of the show.


The second half featured long-form improv, which resembles a one-act musical in structure. Three scenarios, constructed from a suggestion from the audience, unfolded in three 'acts' and were broken up only by 'palette cleansers' ranging from sollipsisms to symphonic noises.

Part of the reason behind their new pieces is to prepare for the 2014 New York and Chicago Improv festivals, in both of which SPIT will participate.

'Olympics of improv'

Mercado described both events as “the Olympics of improv.”

“We're gearing up for those two festivals—ang expectation talaga kasi nila from the Philippines is 'Wow! Anong exotic, new improv contribution nila sa mundo?' So kailangan may dala kami na never pa nilang nakikita before,” Mercado enthused.

In the group's long history, they've participated in the Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Beijing improv festivals.

“We're very confident about our art and how we measure up against the Asian improv groups, so we want to see how we fare versus the best of the world,” said Mercado.

He added, “Think of it like a sport talaga, parang Gilas na nagpakitang-gilas na sa Asia, we want to try the world, because how else can you get better unless you measure yourself against the best.”

The improv troupe has had stints at some recent, memorable events, one of which was LOVENot: This is Not Yet a Musical. The latter was an exploratory theater piece by the Sipat Lawin Ensemble (SLE) featured on Saksi on Sept. 4. Each run of the show had at least four members of SPIT on hand.


#LOVENot and the Million People March

SPIT and SLE share some deep roots—they even share some members, fondly called SPIT Lawin.

“It started first—malalim yun eh—the very first exposure we had to them was eight years ago,” Mercado explained. “Wala pa talaga yung Sipat Lawin Ensemble as it is today, but SPIT gave a workshop in Makiling [High School]... years later, we found out na they were already doing mind-blowing theatrical productions...Turns out that a lot of them [SLE] also attended the improv workshop we gave in Makiling years before, so parang talagang naghaluan na rin ng members.”

“For us, it's sheer admiration for the artistic audacity that they do at ang galing nila, grabe. And that's why whenever there's an opportunity na hinihingi nila na sumama kami sa kanila, we do it,” he added.

While SLE is known for its evocative political pieces like Battalia Royale, which SPIT also participated in, the improv troupe is not unfamiliar with working with social concerns.

In Aug. 26, SPIT performed at Luneta Park during the Million People March. While their performance was in line with the march's "no placards,' 'no political speeches,' 'no pa-epal" (in Mercado's words) tone of the protest, its drive to humor did not aim to misplace the backdrop issue of the march.

“We thought that a dose of a little humor would help because it's not that humor pushes the issue under the rug; but sometimes, humor is the way that people process experiences. It's not always na porket pinagtatawanan mo, binabalewala mo. Hindi eh. Ibang tao, ganon ang pag-digest nila ng isang bagay,” explained Mercado, who also said that one of their members, Kenneth Keng, was among the 'hidden' organizers of the march.

Paco Market Improvisational Group

Another social effort SPIT spearheaded was the creation of a community-based imrprovisational group. SPIT teamed up with the group running the historical Paco Market and created a series of events to encourage local youth to try out improv. The market already has an active cultural calendar and a choral group.


SPIT hopes to shed the perception of improv comedy belonging only to the 'A-B' crowd.

“Kiliting-kiliti kami sa notion na [magkakaroon ng grupo doon] for two reasons: One, hindi pang-matalino ang improv, anyone can do it. And what better place to do it than in a public market, in one of the oldest public markets pa nga in Paco,” said Mercado.

He said that SPIT's tour with the Cultural Center of the Philippines made the group aware of how responsive the masa audiences were to their performances.

The second reason why they did it was the opportunity to create a community-based theater troupe composed of youths.

“Imaginin mo yung the kind of theater that we can come up with from the experiences of the teens and the kids in the Paco district. Parang ang yaman-yaman noon! Nakaka-excite makita because improv is not just comedy... [improv] is a spontaneous expression of their experience in life so nakaka-intriga kung anong lumabas,” explained Mercado.


“We're going to do improvisational theater performances once a month, and then magwo-workshops na kami for them,” he said, and explained that teenagers and children couldn't be expected to be immediately interested in improv without seeing what it was in person.

A feeding program by Paco Market authorities will be held during the workshops.

“We've been doing improvisational theater for 11 years now, and we like what we're doing, and we really really like want na mas marami ang makasubok nito,” said Mercado

The first of the test shows in Paco Market will be held on Sept. 28 at 10 a.m. — VC, GMA News