My words from the page to the stage at the New York City Fringe
I’m in New York City for my one-man show “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”
There are some purposeful misspellings in that title. But you won’t know it unless you see the show. You may be like the wet and soggy tourists who on Wednesday looked up in Times Square in New York and saw this image.
Inquirer USA columnist Emil Guillermo is holding a one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad,” in New York City. CONTRIBUTED
And then you’d say, not bad, but “wily” is misspelled. And so is “Transdad. “
What kind of illiterate ignoramus would put that up on a digital billboard in Times Square?
Me—as part of the New York City Fringe Festival, my first show Friday, with four shows through April 21.
Get tickets to see it live in New York, or livestream it from your home.
Now back to the spelling. It’s “Wiley” not “Wily” as a double homage first to Steve Martin who back in the late ‘90s wrote a New Yorker essay on the “Wily Filipino.” It was a satire but I didn’t get the joke. I get it now. Of course back then, Filipinos were still relatively invisible that any mention that had a hint of negativity (wily is like calling Asians “inscrutable,” only worse. One presumes a certain deceitfulness, or cunning. Someone is tricking us).
So now that I’m not as severely politically correct, I retract any criticisms I may have had of Martin’s essay 20 some years ago. He was actually making fun of those who find us wily, because the character in the essay cannot find one.
To make amends, I realize that my dad was a “wily” Filipino, but I spell it the way it is used, not as an adjective but in the proper names of people—“wiley.”
My dad was actually a “Willie,” but had to be a certain kind of cunning in order to survive the 1920s and 1930s in America. He was brought to the US, a Filipino yes, but labeled an American national, colonized. No papers needed.
It was a step better than slave, a labor replacement, and not a citizen. He couldn’t vote, own property, or marry freely.
Specifically, if he was seen with a white woman he could be killed.
He had to be some kind of wily to survive.
The second word that is misspelled is Transdad. Does it mean I am trans who is a father? Literally trans and dad. Or am I father of a trans? A dad of a trans? But aren’t I transitioning too?
We are so hung-up with pronouns that we haven’t gotten too critical about these descriptors. I am saying it’s time we do.
Come see the show to get my reasoning.
https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:625/
Filipinos seem trans friendly, judging from all the gay and drag groups that exist in the community. But that may not necessarily be true when the story gets personal. Real personal.
I’ll tell you my story in “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”
‘Perfidious Trump’ not alone in his perfidy
I was already thinking about the term “wily,” when I got an email labeled “Perfidious Trump.”
First name and adjective?
If you don’t know the term “perfidious,” don’t worry. Neither did I. I’m sure Trump doesn’t know what it means either. Let’s appeal to his ego and tell him it’s like a Greek god’s name, Prometheus.
But that may be America’s problem. If we don’t know what “perfidious” means, our country could very well elect Trump again.
The word means “deceitful and untrustworthy.”
It’s a $100 dollar SAT word for liar.
The root is “perfidy,” a term to describe the war crime of putting up a white flag indicating surrender and luring in your opponent, only to shoot them dead as they approach. It’s dirty. Immoral.
Americans were perfidious in the Philippines when during the war no one likes to talk about, the Philippine-American War, General Frederick Funston disguised American soldiers as prisoners of war. It was the bait to lure Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine leader of the first democracy in Asia and leader of the so-called “insurrectionists.” Funston captured Aguinaldo and American colonialism was underway.
The lesson? Perfidy shouldn’t be on a sliding scale. But the tickets to my show are.
My Filipino American history show
The consequence of Aguinaldo’s capture meant my father was born under the American flag. That plays a big part in my life story on the stage, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”
One reviewer said the show “exposes America’s ugly colonization of the Philippines, along with other comical and often profound observations.” Which is to say there is fun in pain, and there will not be a test.
Some may wonder why I as a career journalist have taken to the stage at this point in time. Just look at the recent Radio City Music Hall event with the Democrats raising millions in funds. The person interviewing the three presidents wasn’t a journalist, it was a comedian who plays one, Steven Colbert. The emcee wasn’t a news person, it was Mindy Kaling.
News can be a strait jacket. In “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…” I take it off.
Five shows only from April 5-April 21st at the New York City Fringe Festival. See it live, or stream it from home. Pay what you want. Sliding scale.
https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:625/
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He writes a column for INQUIRER.net’s USA Channel. See his micro-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1
