Jose Marie Borja Viceral, known professionally as Vice Ganda, is a Filipino comedian, television presenter, actor, and singer. He was a regular host-judge on ABS-CBN's noontime variety show It's Showtime, and has starred in several films, eight of which are considered to be the highest-grossing in Philippine cinema. Viceral is best known for his stand-up routines, in which he uses observational comedy, situational irony and sarcasm in pertaining to Filipino culture and human sexuality. He is also the first openly gay endorser for Globe Telecom.
Early life
Before coming out as gay to his family and loved ones, Vice Ganda was known as "Tutoy", which was his nickname as a young boy. The youngest of five children, Viceral grew up in the neighbourhood along José Abád Santos Street in Manuguit, Tondo, Manila. His father, a native of Taysan, Batangas and a barangay captain in Tondo, Manila, was murdered when he was young, prompting his mother, an Ilocana from San Juan, La Union, to leave the children for work abroad as a caregiver. He studied political science at Far Eastern University.
Personal life
Vice Ganda underwent depression, which made him want to stop doing what he does/loves to do and eventually give up on them. However, after speaking with two of his friends, Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid, he realized that it's "the devil" that was "playing" with his mind, so that it will bring him down and make him think negative. Since then, he fought and decided to always stay positive. Ganda is in a relationship with Ion Perez, a member of the supporting cast on It's Showtime.
Career
Stand-up comedy
Viceral started out as a singer, then as a comedian for Punchline and The Library, whose owner Andrew de Real gave him the stage name "Vice Ganda". There he spent several years developing his material in the comedy clubs. Viceral's career began to build after appearances on television and reviews from tabloid columns. He works alongside fellow comedians Chokoleit, Pooh, John Lapus and Rey Kilay.
Television
Viceral appeared in several television series and sitcoms such as Dyosa, under the direction of Wenn V. Deramas. He also had another supporting role in the drama series . In 2009, Viceral became part of Showtime, a talent search program where he eventually gained his present role as a regular presenter/judge. His life story of being bullied as a young, closeted homosexual has also been featured in the drama anthology, Maalaala Mo Kaya. Aside from Showtime, he is currently hosting his own Sunday talk show, the consistently top rated Gandang Gabi, Vice!. Currently, Viceral is under the management of ABS-CBN, and handling him is business unit head Deo Endrinal after being managed for four years by local entertainment columnist/host Ogie Diaz. In 2016, he became one of the judges in Pilipinas Got Talent.
Film
Before venturing into mainstream movies, Viceral starred in minor roles in independent films such as, Condo with Coco Martin and In My Life, where he appeared alongside Vilma Santos and John Lloyd Cruz. In 2010, Viceral starred in a remake of the comedy film, Petrang Kabayo, which was an instant hit at its release. The following year, he starred in Praybeyt Benjamin with Derek Ramsay, directed by Wenn V. Deramas. The movie became the first local film to reach 300 million pesos in ticket sales, and proved to be an even greater box office success than Petrang Kabayo. In 2012, Viceral starred in the Filipino comedy film This Guy's in Love with U Mare! under Star Cinema and Viva Films, alongside Luis Manzano and Toni Gonzaga, directed by Wenn V. Deramas. In 2013, he made another movie called Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy. In 2014, Star Cinema released a movie called The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin an official entry for the MMFF 2014. Viceral participated alongside actress Alex Gonzaga, and actors Richard Yap and James "Bimby" Aquino-Yap. The film was directed by Wenn V. Deramas. In 2015, Star Cinema released Beauty and the Bestie, an official entry for the MMFF 2015, directed by Wenn V. Deramas. Viceral participated alongside actor Coco Martin, Kapamilya loveteam James Reid and Nadine Lustre, actors Marco Masa and Alonzo Muhlach, and comedians MC Calaquian and Lassy Marquez. Vice Ganda has a new, upcoming movie called "Fantastica" and it is set to premiere on December 25, 2018 nationwide. Viceral is presently under contract with VIVA Films.
Music
In 2011, Viceral released his first studio album, Lakas Tama under Vicor Music. It features mostly pop and novelty songs, including "Palong Palo", written by Callalily frontman Kean Cipriano. He is also included in the compilation album of Showtime, released by Star Records. In 2013, he released his 2nd album, self-titled, and debut album under Star Records. In 2014, Viceral released his 3rd album, entitled #Trending, which featured the song Boom Panes and Push Mo Yan Teh!
Book
On July 16, 2016, Viceral launched his first book titled President Vice: Ang Bagong Panggulo ng Pilipinas, a parody about how he would deal with problems of the Filipinos in case he was elected the next president of the Philippines.
Cosmetics
In 2017, Vice Ganda launched his own beauty products for the purpose of wanting women to feel beautiful and loved. Also, the story behind his makeup line is that as a young boy, he would accidentally break his mother's lipsticks and realized how expensive they were. Therefore, he made his dream come true by creating Vice Cosmetics and making them affordable for anyone and everyone.
Inspirations
One of Vice Ganda's biggest inspirations is his teacher who told him to always follow his dreams no matter how big or wild they are.
Public reception
Viceral's brand of humor has been viewed as polarizing. Much of his comedy style is sarcasm, making fun of current events, and picking on the physical appearance or social status of other people. The latter has been met with criticism from some Filipino audiences, viewing it as a denigrating form of insult comedy or off-color humor at the expense of those mocked by the comedian.
In May 2013, Viceral was widely criticized for making several jokes about gang rape during his I-Vice Ganda Mo Ko! comedy concert show. One of them was directed towards respected news anchor Jessica Soho, whom he mentioned in a joke regarding several personalities starring in a hypothetical adult movie. Philippine women's rights group GABRIELA condemned the joke as being distasteful in light of rape victims. GMA reporter Arnold Clavio, a colleague of Soho, defended the news anchor and expressed his disapproval of Viceral's body-shaming remark in one of the former's radio programs. Although Viceral, initially defended his stance, saying that the brand of humor he uses is based on his roots doing stand-up in comedy bars and karaoke lounges, the comedian eventually issued an apology over the issue during an episode of It's Showtime.
Noted actress Nora Aunor also took umbrage at Viceral's style of humor when she pulled out of her appearance as a special guest judge for the Tawag ng Tanghalangrand finals at the last minute. Aunor believed Viceral's brand of insult comedy was against her moral beliefs, and was perturbed with the idea of being on the show alongside Viceral.
Following the performance by Gian Magdangal on, Viceral launched a joke about the earthquakes in Mindanao, Viceral made a challenge against Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ to stop Ang Probinsyano and it's traffic in EDSA. Despite being a joke, the members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ expressed their dismay to Viceral. Radio broadcaster and SMNI anchor, Mike Abe, a friend of Quiboloy, defended the founder and launched his foul-mouthed tirade on Viceral about the controversial "stop" joke on Quiboloy. Two days after the joke, Quiboloy accepts Viceral's challenge and he threatened to shut down ABS-CBN within 4 months, which originally expires on March 30, 2020, but it was changed to May 4, 2020 based on Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra's speech during the Senate hearing on alleged violations made by ABS-CBN. Two weeks after the shutdown of ABS-CBN, Quiboloy delievered the message to Viceral on his show, Powerline, that he prophesized the network, Ang Probinsyano to be stopped.
Rodante Marcoleta
On May 26, during the 1st hearing of ABS-CBN's new 25-year franchise, Sagip Partylist Representative and Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta presented its videos, showing Viceral starting a joke to Quiboloy to stop Ang Probinsyano, it's traffic in EDSA and Quiboloy's response to shut the network. Marcoleta warned ABS-CBN, that has posed it's challenge and the challenge was accepted, after the hearing, Viceral fires back on Marcoleta on his Twitter post, claiming that was a joke.
Cultural impact
As cited by Bautista, researchers from University of San-Jose Recoletos studied the role of sarcasm and criticism on Filipino humor. Half of 100 participants stated that they gain more confidence from mimicking Viceral's style of humor, while 64% of the respondents said that they usually imitate Viceral's sarcasm during conversations.
