Vice
Ganda, or Jose Marie Borja-Viceral in real life, is a well-known Filipino
comedian, stand up actor, television host and novelty singer. He was born on
the 31st of March in 1976 and grew up in the Manuguit, Tondo area of
Manila along
with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. His mother relocated and worked in the United
States to support the family after his father
was killed in a shooting incident when he was only 13 years old. In college, he
took Political Science at the Far Eastern University. He kept his sexuality
hidden from his parents because he did not want to disappoint them. By the time
he openly came out, his family had pretty much reconciled with his gender
preference. Vice is openly gay as are his two other brothers.
Managed
presently by Ogie Diaz, another popular comedian and columnist, Vice began his
now-famous career doing bit roles in television soaps for various networks. He
first appeared on television in 1999 for the Judy Ann Drama Special while also
performing regular comedy stand up routines at The Library. He has also hosted
other shows in different comedy bars during this time.
It
was in 2007 when his career really started to bloom. Vice landed more roles in
television and also in movies. This trend continued for the better part of
2009. His potential as a bankable star was soon acknowledged by media network
ABS-CBN and it was in the year 2009 when he was given hosting status for the
ABS-CBN talent show Showtime. Vice’s popularity rose with the show, what with his
witty “may nagtext” remarks and a funny sarcastic humor. His improvs were timed
just right and it matched perfectly with what was happening on stage that
viewers automatically picked up on his style of comedy. This became so popular
that people anywhere would imitate him when trying to sarcastically comment on
things in a funny way. Vice’s appeal to the masses was such that ABS-CBN also
gave him his own show, Gandang Gabi Vice.
More recently, Vice Ganda has
achieved more box office successes with the movie hits Petrang Kabayo (2010)
and Praybeyt Benjamin (2011). He was also given the Bert Marcelo Memorial Award
and the Most Stylish Comedian recognition by two award-giving bodies in
separate events last 2010. He has also had 2 major concerts already, both of
which were held the Araneta
Center to sold out
crowds. He is the first Filipino celebrity to reach 1,000,000 fans in Facebook
and the number continues to increase with the current figure at above
4,000,000. To learn more and to get updates for his upcoming projects, you can
follow Vice on his Twitter account @vicegandako.
