Being humorous a serious job, Mi'ing claims

By Emmy Fitri Hastuti

JAKARTA (JP): Being a comedian is more than just being a clown, says Tubagus Dedi Suwandi Gumelar, whose stage name is Mi'ing. The name undoubtedly conjures up recollections of savvy, critical and smart jokes.

"The philosophy of comedy, I think, lies beyond the serious. We cannot just go on stage and successfully make jokes unless we know how to act well," said Mi'ing, 42.

Noted humorist Arwah Setiawan once said that humorists or comedians are those who can reverse the logical into something illogical.

Mi'ing's humor works as a satire of the real world and the witty jokes are aimed at those who are informed, those who read newspapers and understand what is really going on. A lot of people laugh when they hear his jokes but only a few really comprehend what is behind them.

"A lot of people consume my jokes without digesting what lies behind them," he said.

"My jokes are not cynical, they are critical," he added.

The cleverness of Mi'ing's humor touches on almost all aspects of life and current affairs, and includes criticism of top figures ranging from Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and Amien Rais to President Abdurrahman Wahid.

He recently commented on President Abdurrahman's statements after installing Baihaki Hakim as the chief of the state enterprise oil company Pertamina.

The President said that the criteria for the candidates, among other things, was that they had to be honest and not have any record of corruption, nepotism or collusion, locally known as KKN, as the country should not have to suffer from their wrong doings.

"So he does not want a BUMN (state enterprise) chief to cause financial wounds to the country. It is (people at) the level of the President's masseur who cause this kind of infliction," he said, clearly referring to Suwondo, the President's masseur who remains at large after taking Rp 35 billion from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Once in a television show, Mi'ing depicted a character who received fake bank notes but was reluctant to report it to the law enforcers. He did not want to be questioned as a witness because dealing with the police would only bring him trouble. He claimed that once the police realized they could not find the culprit, then he would surely be named as the suspect. The act was a clear reflection of the country's poor law enforcement.

Mi'ing has been carving out a profession in comedy for almost 22 years. Definitely not an easy road but he's made it nonetheless. He has paid his dues, entering one comedy competition after another and it was not uncommon for him to be booed by a hostile audience.

Along with his younger brother Didin Abidin, he established the Bagito group in 1978. Another comedian, Yanto, joined the group but was later replaced by Unang, alias Hadi Prabowo.

Bagito is now the leading comedy group in the country and usually accepts only high-profile invitations, not to mention regular high-rating television shows.

Mi'ing earns personally around Rp 15 million for single performance while his group can be booked for Rp 35 million a show.

But things do not always run smoothly.

Late last year, the group had to visit the executives of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization, to give an apology after one of their jokes, told on television, fueled strong protests from NU members.

On the weekly Gebyar BCA variety show, broadcast live by Indosiar on a Saturday evening, the trio depicted a character similar to the weak and partially blind President Abdurrahman Wahid, who led the NU for years until his election in October 1999.

"That was a valuable lesson but you have to look at the motives behind it (the performance). If we criticize a figure it means that we love him or her," he said.

Shortly after the show, even the television station made an apology. The Bagito group was also temporarily suspended from appearing on the variety show.

According to Mi'ing, life is a series of choices and he has made the choice of being a comedian. But it is a path that requires earnest studying and learning.

"Everything around us is potential material for running a comedy business. We always need to study and in my profession everything should be learnt," he said.

Born in the small village of Leuwidamar in Banten, West Java on April 27, 1958, Mi'ing believes that to become a good comedian, you should not just learn how to make jokes on the stage. Instead, he stresses, you need to know what to make jokes about. Consequently, he reads a lot of books from philosophy to marketing strategies, just to enrich the content of his critical material.

He once attended a course on management simply because he felt that he didn't know anything about it. To him, it is sad to see so many people unaware of how little they know.

"It's better if we realize how much we don't know and then try to find out what it's all about."

Graduating in 1978 from a technical high school in Jakarta, Mi'ing and his group have now defined their target audience as recommended in one of the marketing theories.

"The strategy does not mean that we are shaped by our audience but that we shape ourselves for a certain audience and target our section of the market," he said.

Mi'ing believes that almost 80 percent of comedians are born with natural talent but some fail to nurture these abilities.

He also believes that hard work is always fruitful.

The wheel of fortune started to turn for his group when they hosted a program on the now-defunct Suara Kejayaan radio station in early 1980s.

In 1991, the trio established an entertainment company, PT Bagjacipta Kreasindo (B-Enterprise), which Mi'ing has been directing until now.

In the same year, he married Diah Mulyasari and now he is the father of Tb. Deni Sunardi and Rt. Annisa Qurratuain.

Commenting on the well-known comedy group, Warkop, whose members are all graduates of the University of Indonesia, he said the group, who were popular in the late 1970s and 1980s, could have shone more brightly than Bagito.

"But they got trapped in the wave of industrialization," he criticizes.

He compares his group with the leading daily Kompas which does not bother with the giant markets of other big publications like Pos Kota, whose target audience is mostly in the mass low-income bracket.

"The market is more clear for Kompas," he said.

Nowadays, Mi'ing, who is the seventh son of Edy Syadeli, often gets invitations for solo performances, or what he terms monologue, and frequently performs as a master of ceremonies (MC), or a mediator in more serious seminars on law and political issues.

The Bagito group has no competitors, Mi'ing boasted. He said that he regularly studies the demands of his audience and realized that other comedy groups have been left behind. He therefore regards the audience as the biggest inspiration for them to keep improving their jokes and critical routines.

As a popular figure, he understands that he can be a magnet to consolidate the masses. He has received a number of requests to formally join political parties, but has turned them all down.

"I don't have to necessarily be involved in a political party in order to help them develop or improve," he says.

He is, however, an active member of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (ICMI) which he joined in 1995.

The association was established by former president B.J. Habibie during the administration of the then president Soeharto.

Mi'ing realizes that, for some, ICMI is regarded as a vehicle for certain persons with political aspirations. But, he said: "I'm a Muslim and if somebody offers you a chance to develop Islam in the country, can you turn that down? That's my intention in joining ICMI."