| | |  Entertainment | August 2008 
Comedians' Satire Strong in Mexican Theater
 Sergio Solache - The Arizona Republic
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| | Comedian Raquel Pankowsky (esmas.com) | | |
On a darkened stage in a smoky cabaret in Mexico City, comedian Raquel Pankowsky winked at her audience and began to rattle off the "achievements" of ex-President Vicente Fox and his administration.
"Take our agriculture secretary," she said on a recent Saturday night. "Under him, the Mexican countryside exported more than it ever has. Mainly people!"
Across the Mexican capital, a half-dozen comedy troupes were dishing out similar political satire, giving Mexicans a way to blow off steam about their newfound democracy and political events that have bordered on the outrageous lately.
This Mexican brand of satire, usually involving impersonators in a series of loosely related skits, evolved during 71 years of virtual one-party rule, when the Mexican government controlled the mass media and only live theater could escape censorship. Though the airwaves are now freer, the theater shows live on.
"We (Mexicans) make the best of how screwed-up we are," comedian Alberto Rojas said. "We're a country with a tradition of making fun of our bad luck."
Satirists turned to live theater during the 1929-2000 rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, when Mexicans did not enjoy the same freedom of speech as Americans, who tune in to programs like "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report."
Before 2000, the Mexican government's Center for Production of Informative and Special Programs, or CEPROPIE, monitored all broadcasting in the country. It would threaten to take away advertising or broadcast licenses if broadcasters strayed from the government line.
The government could even cut off newspapers' paper supply through its newsprint monopoly.
But theater was harder to control, partly because of the sheer number of theaters, especially in the capital.
Central Mexico City, an area of 8.7 million people, has 125 theaters and dozens of smaller venues, according to the city government. About 1.9 million theater tickets were sold in the city in 2005, according to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information Processing.
To get around the censors, producers offered sketch comedies about the news of the day, changing the scripts and renaming them frequently.
"The authorities didn't like it at all," said Jose Antonio Cordero, the director of Cooperate or Die, a comedy about foreign trade and other current affairs.
One of the most notorious actors, Jesus "Toothpick" Martinez, was arrested repeatedly during the 1950s for his anti-government shows.
Things changed with the election of Vicente Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive from the opposition National Action Party.
During his 2000 campaign, Fox appeared on "Otro Rollo," a variety show hosted by Adal Ramones, and pledged to allow comedians to mock him. It was a watershed moment, comedians said.
"Before, CEPROPIE showed you the image they wanted and nothing else," Pankowsky said. "Not now. Now you see the reality."
Fox's successor, Felipe Calderon, has continued the policy of tolerance.
Even Televisa, the TV giant that for years was the government's mouthpiece, has joined in the teasing.
In 2005, Televisa's comedy show, "The Parody," began to air short sketches of impersonators who mocked Fox and other politicians. The sketches became a full-length show, "The Privilege of Ruling," that lasted until the 2006 elections.
"The program helped people get informed and be a little more concerned about events," said Manuel Ajenjo, a writer for the show.
Pankowsky played Fox's wife, Marta Sahagun, on "The Privilege of Ruling." She impersonates the former first lady again in her one-woman stage show, "Gone With the Ranch," which parodies the final days of Fox's presidency.
She and other comedians say they have an endless source of jokes, thanks to Mexico's overheated politics.
In just the past year, Mexican legislators came to blows during a presidential inauguration, a candidate named himself "Legitimate President of Mexico" after losing the 2006 election, and anti-government protesters lived undisturbed in the middle of Mexico City's main boulevard for six weeks.
The Mexico-U.S. relationship is a frequent theme in the theater shows. In his play, "Little Felipe Puts on the Green," Rojas and fellow actors ridicule Calderon for his militant stance against U.S. plans to build fences along the border.
"Put barriers in our way, we're going to jump them anyway!" chants an actor dressed as Calderon in army fatigues, shortly before ordering Mexican soldiers to emigrate over the border fence.
"Mom, I'm not kidding, I'm in a war here!" one soldier says into a cellphone. "If you want to become a gringo, you've got to put your butt to the fire!"
One comedy musical group, the News Improvisation, has risen from Mexico City nightclubs to become a frequent guest on TV and radio shows.
"George Bush is a dirty bully, he won't get off our cases, he tosses bombs on Arabs while making goofy faces!" the group sings in its song Globalicumbia.
Some shows go on to tour Guadalajara, Monterrey and other Mexican cities - often with changes to keep the jokes fresh. As long as there are politicians, there will always be new material, comedians said.
"It's saying truths that we all know, then turning the screws and looking for the joke," Pankowsky said. |
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