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Banker turned comedian: Meet the guy in that funny insurance ad

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/life/05/20/comedian-2017-051917.jpg?ext=.jpg"/></figure></div><p>Standing on stage to crack jokes for a living is no laughing matter — especially when you come from a family of lawyers and doctors.</p><p>But Victor Anastacio, the stand-up comedian in that funny insurance ad that has gone viral, has opted to make fun of his unique standing in the family.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uFhfpN_td2I" width="560"></iframe></figure><p>Like in the commercial, Victor&#x27;s parents are both doctors — his dad is a surgeon and his mom a pediatrician. His elder brother is also a surgeon, his younger brother is a lawyer, while his younger sister is pursuing a Master&#x27;s degree in Psychology.</p><p>Victor, the second eldest in the brood of four, left his 9-to-5 corporate desk job in 2011 to pursue his passion in comedy.</p><p>&quot;Our family is complete. You can have a doctor&#x27;s appointment, a lawyer&#x27;s appointment, and we also have a disappointment,&quot; has become one of Victor&#x27;s trademark one-liners he jovially delivers during his comedy gigs.</p><p>But the 30-year-old comedian said he can make fun of the situation because he was fortunate that his entire family has always been supportive of his career as a funnyman.</p><p>&quot;Supportive sila, nanonood silang buong pamilya kapag may big show,&quot; Victor told ABS-CBN News in an interview.</p><p>&quot;Naging concerned iyong mom ko pero pareho silang (ni dad na) supportive. (Sa mga kapatid ko) wala namang bearing sa kanila iyon kasi may baon pa rin naman sila nun,&quot; he said in jest.</p><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158975529860713&amp;set=a.10153052084055713.1073741831.658570712&amp;type=3" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Victor&#x27;s comedy gigs started as sideline jobs while he was still pursuing his management degree at Ateneo de Manila University in 2007.</p><p>&quot;I started when I was in third-year college. I joined and won JackTV&#x27;s comedy contest Laffapalooza. From there, tuloy-tuloy na iyong comedy shows,&quot; he said.</p><p>After four years learning stand-up comedy with Comedy Manila, Victor left his job at a local bank&#x27;s treasury department to crack more jokes before a live audience.</p><p>&quot;Tinry ko pa mag real estate. Basta hindi na lang sa office . . . Na-enjoy ko naman kaso fickle lang ako masyado siguro . . . Parang mas gusto kong mag-try ng iba-ibang bagay at saka flexi-time.&quot;</p><p>After three years living off his college savings and his salary as a stand-up comedian, as well as some free lodging from his parents, Victor landed a job as host of the late-night &quot;O Shopping&quot; program.</p><p>&quot;Pina-audition ako. Sabi lang may shopping na show. Ang pinagawa, ibenta iyong pan . . . Ginawa kong parang comedy. Iyong mga Koreano na boss, hindi sila nakakaintindi ng Tagalog o English. So tawa ng tawa si sir Johnny (Delos Santos), so siguro sa utak nila, &#x27;Oh, he must be funny,&#x27; &quot; Victor said chuckling at the memory.</p><p>&quot;Nung nagte-tape na iyong &#x27;O Shopping,&#x27; hinahanap nila iyong ganung kalog. Ako naman, baka naman hindi naman bumili iyong mga tao kung masyado mong lokohin. So saktong balance lang.&quot;</p><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/oshoppingph/videos/1886771548203694/" data-width="auto"> </div><p>The entertainer, who strongly resembles cager Kiefer Ravena, figured he&#x27;d draw more income-generating gigs with his talent, so he started taking jobs related to comedy.</p><p>Besides his work on TV and hosting events, Victor earns extra from writing on gag shows &quot;Goin&#x27; Bulilit&quot; and &quot;Funny Ka Pare Ko.&quot;</p><p>Victor said he does not plan to stop working in the comedy industry anytime soon. He wants to land a role in sitcoms, and write his own comedy flick featuring colleagues from Comedy Manila. He also hopes to deliver his jokes before a full house.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="7" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:37.5% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BSWV6BpBS7p/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Victor Anastacio (@victoranastacio)</a> on <time dateTime="2017-04-01T16:16:03+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Apr 1, 2017 at 9:16am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>&quot; &#x27;Pag puno na iyong shows ng Comedy Manila tapos ikaw iyong headliner, &#x27;ke nasa TV ka o radio ka or wala, iyon na iyong measure ng success,&quot; he said.</p><p>Though being a comedian is both fun and funny, Victor said he does not advise other aspiring humorists to take the same route he took.</p><p>&quot;Matagal akong tengga sa bahay, tapos puro stand-up (gigs) lang ako . . . Ten years bago ako nabigyan ng Manulife (commercial),&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Kung walang nangyari (na break) &#x27;edi okay lang naman maging pulubi, diba? May libre kang food,&quot; he added in jest.</p><p>Victor said he made sure he had enough savings before resigning from his corporate jobs.</p><p>&quot;Ilokano kasi parehong parents ko so naturuan akong mag-ipon talaga. Noong nag-resign ako, marami na akong ipon,&quot; Victor said.</p><p>&quot;Kung mag-reresign iyong millennials, dapat meron talaga silang ipon and options... para wag nila ako sisihin,&quot; he added laughing.</p><p>But the banker-turned-comedian said he will also cheer for other humorous dreamers who are stubborn enough to forge their own ways into the comedy scene despite his warnings.</p><p>As expected from a veteran comedian, Victor&#x27;s piece of advise for aspiring comedians is another piece of joke: &quot;Practice lang talaga. Practice para maging makapal yung mukha mo.&quot; </p>

<p>Standing on stage to crack jokes for a living is no laughing matter — especially when you come from a family of lawyers and doctors.</p>

Standing on stage to crack jokes for a living is no laughing matter — especially when you come from a family of lawyers and doctors.

Banker turned comedian: Meet the guy in that funny insurance ad

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Banker turned comedian: Meet the guy in that funny insurance ad

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 20, 2017 02:10 AM PHT

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Victor Anastacio

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