Going for laughs is a drag for 'Tessy'

Going for laughs is a drag for 'Tessy'

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

On stage, it's the Hell's Angels look -- all leather from the
boots to the hat, and metal chains worn as accessories. The twist
is that he acts like a "she", a shrewd, shrill coquette who will
do anything to get a man's attention.

The full, grandiose, breath-taking stage name is Tessy Wahyuni
Riwayati Hartati Kabul, but almost everyone knows him simply as
Tessy.

In real life, the cross-dressing, lisping Tessy is Kabul
Basuki, a father of three and grandfather of six, a down-to-earth
Javanese man whose main objective is to raise his offspring and
make sure they lead comfortable lives.

Many have credited the transvestite character of Tessy,
accompanied by her annoying bag of tricks, with breathing life
back into the traditional comedy group Srimulat, now a prime-time
staple every Friday on the private TV station Indosiar after
several dark years when it was in danger of being eclipsed by
younger comedians.

Kabul said that it was working as a team that kept the
audience in their seats and had them coming back for more.

"I need my team, whether the team works or not, it is the
audience who judges us," he said.

Kabul did not pluck his stage name out of the air.

"It came about spontaneously when I found the character and
the identity. The name just came into my head. In fact, it's my
daughter's name," said the 58-year-old Kabul.

It was in 1980, a year after he joined the popular comedy
group, in Surabaya, East Java, that he decided by himself who
Tessy would be.

"I found it (the character) myself without first consulting
the director because I knew if I consulted him, he would never
allow me to try it," said Kabul.

He was to play a hansip (civilian guard) but before his scene,
Kabul snuck into an old bathroom where he applied his make-up.

"I hid in the bathroom until I was called on stage. The
audience applauded and my director was stunned," he said.

"One can find any kind of character in Srimulat, from the
transvestite figure to the smart-looking character. As I've
decided to devote myself totally to this profession, I had to
think what I could do to be noticed."

The successful debut of the stage Tessy, owing much to the
ludruk transvestite performer tradition of East Java, was
slightly costly on a personal level as his daughter, five years
old at the time, did not want to go to school because she was so
ashamed by her namesake.

Today, the grown-up Tessy is proud of her father.

"If we go out together and someone calls out Tessy, we turn
around together," Kabul said.

He explained that he chose a life on stage simply to feed his
family, but he had displayed no special talent as an entertainer
when growing up. He said determination helped him succeed.

Born into a poor family in Banyuwangi, East Java, Kabul said
he had no option after finishing school but to join the Navy.

"That was probably in my blood from my father," said Kabul,
who was born shortly after his soldier father died.

He was sent to Surabaya to live with his uncle and work in the
city, but he realized that he did not have much to offer a
workplace with his limited educational background.

And he could only stand the discipline of the military for two
years.

"I didn't know what to do and at the same time I still had to
eat, so I had to act," he said.

In 1963 he joined a theater group in Surabaya, at a starting
salary of Rp 75.

He became part of Srimulat in 1979, working with veteran
comedians and competing with them to survive.

Srimulat and Kabul have experienced their ups and downs. After
its heyday in the 1980s, Srimulat found itself losing out to a
new breed of comedy groups. The debut of private TV stations in
the early 1990s also took away some of their audience, but
Srimulat rebounded by moving from its traditional arena of
amusement parks to the lucrative world of television.

Kabul and his alter ego have become successful, but he remains
surprisingly simple, except for the huge rings he wears on stage
and at public appearances.

He lives in Kampung Makassar, East Jakarta, and continues to
do his own cooking and laundry. He feels he has gained more than
enough from his career, but he jokes that being famous can
sometimes be a drag.

"I had a bad experience dining out. Once I went to a warteg
(inexpensive food stall) near my house because I was so hungry.
After ordering the food, I couldn't eat it when it was served
because a lot of people came up to talk to me. I think it's
better to eat with a bit of salt at home than starving at the
food stall!"

What brings him satisfaction in life is the knowledge that he
has done his best for his family.

"I sent them to school, married them off and built their
homes. The three of them have their degrees now. That's what I am
most proud of.

"I can die anytime knowing I haven't left any loans for my
children. I've paid them.

"The stage has fed me and my family, I have to love it."

But will there come a time when he will have to put away
Tessy's rouge and lipstick for retirement?

"I know when to stop. Being an artist is like driving a car.
If one of our tires is flat, we can sense it and know when to
stop."

And success for an artist is like winning the lottery, he
says. One should know when the prize money will be gone.

"Frankly, I don't want to be abandoned by my audience. I want
to leave them once my time comes," he said.