Being humorous a serious job, Mi'ing claims<\/p>\n
By Emmy Fitri Hastuti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Being a comedian is more than just being a
\nclown, says Tubagus Dedi Suwandi Gumelar, whose stage name is
\nMi'ing. The name undoubtedly conjures up recollections of savvy,
\ncritical and smart jokes.<\/p>\n
\"The philosophy of comedy, I think, lies beyond the serious.
\nWe cannot just go on stage and successfully make jokes unless we
\nknow how to act well,\" said Mi'ing, 42.<\/p>\n
Noted humorist Arwah Setiawan once said that humorists or
\ncomedians are those who can reverse the logical into something
\nillogical.<\/p>\n
Mi'ing's humor works as a satire of the real world and the
\nwitty jokes are aimed at those who are informed, those who read
\nnewspapers and understand what is really going on. A lot of
\npeople laugh when they hear his jokes but only a few really
\ncomprehend what is behind them.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of people consume my jokes without digesting what lies
\nbehind them,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"My jokes are not cynical, they are critical,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The cleverness of Mi'ing's humor touches on almost all aspects
\nof life and current affairs, and includes criticism of top
\nfigures ranging from Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and Amien Rais to
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
He recently commented on President Abdurrahman's statements
\nafter installing Baihaki Hakim as the chief of the state
\nenterprise oil company Pertamina.<\/p>\n
The President said that the criteria for the candidates, among
\nother things, was that they had to be honest and not have any
\nrecord of corruption, nepotism or collusion, locally known as
\nKKN, as the country should not have to suffer from their wrong
\ndoings.<\/p>\n
\"So he does not want a BUMN (state enterprise) chief to cause
\nfinancial wounds to the country. It is (people at) the level of
\nthe President's masseur who cause this kind of infliction,\" he
\nsaid, clearly referring to Suwondo, the President's masseur who
\nremains at large after taking Rp 35 billion from the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog).<\/p>\n
Once in a television show, Mi'ing depicted a character who
\nreceived fake bank notes but was reluctant to report it to the
\nlaw enforcers. He did not want to be questioned as a witness
\nbecause dealing with the police would only bring him trouble. He
\nclaimed that once the police realized they could not find the
\nculprit, then he would surely be named as the suspect. The act
\nwas a clear reflection of the country's poor law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Mi'ing has been carving out a profession in comedy for almost
\n22 years. Definitely not an easy road but he's made it
\nnonetheless. He has paid his dues, entering one comedy
\ncompetition after another and it was not uncommon for him to be
\nbooed by a hostile audience.<\/p>\n
Along with his younger brother Didin Abidin, he established
\nthe Bagito group in 1978. Another comedian, Yanto, joined the
\ngroup but was later replaced by Unang, alias Hadi Prabowo.<\/p>\n
Bagito is now the leading comedy group in the country and
\nusually accepts only high-profile invitations, not to mention
\nregular high-rating television shows.<\/p>\n
Mi'ing earns personally around Rp 15 million for single
\nperformance while his group can be booked for Rp 35 million a
\nshow.<\/p>\n
But things do not always run smoothly.<\/p>\n
Late last year, the group had to visit the executives of the
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization, to give an
\napology after one of their jokes, told on television, fueled
\nstrong protests from NU members.<\/p>\n
On the weekly Gebyar BCA variety show, broadcast live by
\nIndosiar on a Saturday evening, the trio depicted a character
\nsimilar to the weak and partially blind President Abdurrahman
\nWahid, who led the NU for years until his election in October
\n1999.<\/p>\n
\"That was a valuable lesson but you have to look at the
\nmotives behind it (the performance). If we criticize a figure it
\nmeans that we love him or her,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the show, even the television station made an
\napology. The Bagito group was also temporarily suspended from
\nappearing on the variety show.<\/p>\n
According to Mi'ing, life is a series of choices and he has
\nmade the choice of being a comedian. But it is a path that
\nrequires earnest studying and learning.<\/p>\n
\"Everything around us is potential material for running a
\ncomedy business. We always need to study and in my profession
\neverything should be learnt,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Born in the small village of Leuwidamar in Banten, West Java
\non April 27, 1958, Mi'ing believes that to become a good
\ncomedian, you should not just learn how to make jokes on the
\nstage. Instead, he stresses, you need to know what to make jokes
\nabout. Consequently, he reads a lot of books from philosophy to
\nmarketing strategies, just to enrich the content of his critical
\nmaterial.<\/p>\n
He once attended a course on management simply because he felt
\nthat he didn't know anything about it. To him, it is sad to see
\nso many people unaware of how little they know.<\/p>\n
\"It's better if we realize how much we don't know and then try
\nto find out what it's all about.\"<\/p>\n
Graduating in 1978 from a technical high school in Jakarta,
\nMi'ing and his group have now defined their target audience as
\nrecommended in one of the marketing theories.<\/p>\n
\"The strategy does not mean that we are shaped by our audience
\nbut that we shape ourselves for a certain audience and target our
\nsection of the market,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mi'ing believes that almost 80 percent of comedians are born
\nwith natural talent but some fail to nurture these abilities.<\/p>\n
He also believes that hard work is always fruitful.<\/p>\n
The wheel of fortune started to turn for his group when they
\nhosted a program on the now-defunct Suara Kejayaan radio station
\nin early 1980s.<\/p>\n
In 1991, the trio established an entertainment company, PT
\nBagjacipta Kreasindo (B-Enterprise), which Mi'ing has been
\ndirecting until now.<\/p>\n
In the same year, he married Diah Mulyasari and now he is the
\nfather of Tb. Deni Sunardi and Rt. Annisa Qurratuain.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the well-known comedy group, Warkop, whose
\nmembers are all graduates of the University of Indonesia, he said
\nthe group, who were popular in the late 1970s and 1980s, could
\nhave shone more brightly than Bagito.<\/p>\n
\"But they got trapped in the wave of industrialization,\" he
\ncriticizes.<\/p>\n
He compares his group with the leading daily Kompas which does
\nnot bother with the giant markets of other big publications like
\nPos Kota, whose target audience is mostly in the mass low-income
\nbracket.<\/p>\n
\"The market is more clear for Kompas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, Mi'ing, who is the seventh son of Edy Syadeli, often
\ngets invitations for solo performances, or what he terms
\nmonologue, and frequently performs as a master of ceremonies
\n(MC), or a mediator in more serious seminars on law and political
\nissues.<\/p>\n
The Bagito group has no competitors, Mi'ing boasted. He said
\nthat he regularly studies the demands of his audience and
\nrealized that other comedy groups have been left behind. He
\ntherefore regards the audience as the biggest inspiration for
\nthem to keep improving their jokes and critical routines.<\/p>\n
As a popular figure, he understands that he can be a magnet to
\nconsolidate the masses. He has received a number of requests to
\nformally join political parties, but has turned them all down.<\/p>\n
\"I don't have to necessarily be involved in a political party
\nin order to help them develop or improve,\" he says.<\/p>\n
He is, however, an active member of the Indonesian Muslim
\nIntellectual Association (ICMI) which he joined in 1995.<\/p>\n
The association was established by former president B.J.
\nHabibie during the administration of the then president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Mi'ing realizes that, for some, ICMI is regarded as a vehicle
\nfor certain persons with political aspirations. But, he said:
\n\"I'm a Muslim and if somebody offers you a chance to develop
\nIslam in the country, can you turn that down? That's my intention
\nin joining ICMI.\"<\/p>",
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