Comedian Eko has a way with words

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A bunch of excited young women, mostly high school students, streams into Studio 3 at private station TPI's headquarters in Pondok Gede, East Jakarta.

They are the studio audience for the shooting of Ngelaba, the weekly show which has made stars of comedy trio Patrio Group. Like most of the show's topics, this week's focuses on a current issue, the increase in electricity rates.

Notable guest actors include actress Jihan Fahira, as a materialistic wife who just wants her AC and VCD, singer Sarwah, hamming it up as a Makassar student who runs amok when the electricity cuts out, and child entertainer Mega, the token precocious kid (granted, she acts better than most of her cutesy peers).

The regulars, with one notable absence, are Parto, a quiet, rather subdued presence until he switches into a heavy does of physical humor as a hapless vacuum cleaner salesman, and Eko, better known as Eko Patrio, as Jihan's long-suffering hubby trying to fulfill her every grasping wish.

It's the extroverted Eko who is really the center of attention, and he keeps his fans happy by showing his classic bag of verbal tricks. He serves up a quick repartee of one-liners and his famous quotable quotes, most notably catat ("make a note of that") as the storyline reaches its conclusion.

But the final moments of the shoot, with a fuse box exploding after the electricity system is overloaded, is a reminder that October has been no ordinary month for Eko and the rest of Patrio Group.

Eko and Akri, the third member of Patrio, were injured when a bamboo torch flared up and burned them while they were filming a TV commercial. Eko sustained minor injuries to his arms, but Akri was more seriously hurt and remains hospitalized.

"All months are precious for me, but, yes, October has been particularly special, because there has been so much going on," Eko said during a break from rehearsal for the show on Tuesday. "On October 1, I suffered a misfortune, when Akri and I were burned, and then on October 12, I had my marriage ceremony. On the 26th, we will have our reception."

He says work is now "busier" in the absence of Akri, who is expected to take about two months to recuperate, but he does not see any omens in the accident.

"For me, what happened could happen to anyone, a misfortune is simply that, misfortune. Before I got married, I was pickpocketed in April, in February my car was broken into. But, maybe, we just have to be a bit more careful."

Accidents or not, Eko has good reason to be happy. Aside from his popularity with Patrio Group, he has also made a successful career for himself as a TV personality, first as the host of KISS on Indosiar, taking over from Indra Safera and making the gossip show his own, and now cohosting a breakfast TV program with comedian Ulfa Dwiyanti.

Tellingly, when the girls arrive in the studio, and also when they try to sneak into the dressing room, it's Eko, not Parto, who they make a beeline for.

Born Eko Hendro Purnomo in Surabaya 30 years ago, he grew up in Bandung (hence his distinctive Sundanese accent), in a military family. He says his family was "serious", but he loved making people laugh from the time he was a kid.

"For me, being humorous is actually from something I wish for, not from natural talent," Eko said. "Talent, for me, is 10 percent of it, the desire to succeed 90 percent. So, the desire makes up for the rest, with socializing with friends, reading, looking for materials."

Eko's comic idols were Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, and from Indonesia the late Benyamin S.

"For me, being a comedian is not just about getting laughs ... it's about how the person can adjust himself to what's needed. For instance, if we are performing for the advertising community, then we have to know how they write an ad. If we are performing for doctors, then we have to know what they know. It's about managing our humor, and also managing your time."

He calls himself a "professional" who is selling a service. A comedian, he believes, must always be a little ahead of the audience. There are lots of funny people in the world, he notes, from the wisecracking guy on the street to the office cutup, but they don't know how to channel that humor.

"I have a motto. When people are still thinking, I've already taken a step. When they take a step, I'm already on my second run. So, we're always out in front. That's why I always have jokes, like catat, which the public can latch onto."

Patrio Group has been going since 1988, when the group began on the radio and Eko was still in university. They landed the series on TPI in 1994. Each member has a particular flair: Parto with his physical humor and Akri his cheeky rib-pulling.

Eko acknowledges his own bread and butter is his way with words, his quick ability to take a sentence or word, turn it around and provide it with a whole new meaning through an inflection here or change of tone there.

"For me, I always use words, it's all about verbal language, playing with words. If I use some physical stuff, it's only a little, and then it's mimicry."

There is room for all types of comedy, he says, but he draws his own personal line at "SARAP" when it comes to topics. The acronym is taken from the old New Order regime dictate against irreverent discussion of ethnic groups, religion, race and societal groups. He also includes pornography on the list.

"We can draw on so many things without going into them. What's more, stuff that is pornographic, vulgar, that's the easiest thing to resort to."

In the future, Eko wants to produce a TV comedy quiz show.

"It won't be like Patrio Group, but at least I want to get five smiles and one laugh from the audience," Eko said in parting, taking the "smile" line from the Indonesian government's nutritional advice. Naturally, it's a play on words.