Frank De Lima celebrates Mother’s Day with annual comedy show

His mother had a fine sense of humor, as did his father, but Frank De Lima’s family didn’t raise him to be a comedian.

Comedy just came naturally, in reaction to De Lima’s surroundings in multi-ethnic Hawaii, at Catholic school and at home, where his mother could be somewhat “slapstick” and his father, Frank Sr., was a deadpan master of the one-line zinger.

De Lima was 3 when he started “talking jibberish Chinese” in imitation of his Chinese babysitter and her aunt. He picked up faux-Japanese listening to a neighbor’s television, learned “a lot of Filipino words” from another neighbor, and acquired Korean-accented English from a third.

At parish events, he recalled seeing both his father and mother dress as members of the opposite sex in skits, for a laugh.

De Lima’s stock of “Portagee” jokes came from the Portuguese emcees he met at carnivals and other community events.

“I didn’t do it to see if they’d laugh or not. I just did it — and they laughed. Before you know it, the neighborhood has garage parties and they want me to be the entertainer, and I’m only 10 years old. And then in (Catholic) high school the brothers saw that I was very talented, so they put me as the emcee for the student assemblies, so I was getting practice without even knowing that I would be a comedian.”

Not just a comedian, but one of the most popular local comedians in Waikiki entertainment history. De Lima was a full-time Waikiki entertainer for years, but as Waikiki’s showroom scene downsized, he did too. The rarity of his public performances now makes each one a date to circle on the entertainment calendar.

That makes Sunday prime time for De Lima fans as he presents his annual Mother’s Day Show — “Three Gifts for Mom” — in the C’est Si Bon Showroom at the Pagoda Hotel.

De Lima has been doing Mother’s Day shows for more than 35 years. In the last two decades they’ve become reunions for people who used to go see him in Waikiki.

On Sunday, De Lima promises a big entrance and several songs by Aunty Mary Tunta, one of his most visible costume characters.

Versatile Chinese magician Fu Ling Yu (sound it out!) will host a game show with audience members as contestants, and the ever-popular sumotori Lolobono will dance to a parody of Bruno Mars’ mega-hit, “24K.”

DE LIMA grew up in Hawaii at a time when jokes about cultural differences could be made in fun, he said. He publicly identifies as Portuguese — both of his parents were half Portuguese — but he is also of Chinese, English, Hawaiian, Irish, Scottish and Spanish ancestry.

“It was part of us,” he said. “We knew everybody’s idiosyncrasies, everybody’s cultural things, everybody’s religious practices, ‘cause we hung out with all these different ethnics on our street. There was seven different ethnic groups in our gang.”

De Lima’s jokes are about the ethnic groups he grew up with. He acknowledges that there are probably funny things about the traditions or English accents of groups that have come to Hawaii more recently, but he doesn’t have enough contact with them to work up jokes or characters that would be funny but authentic.

“It’s not like growing up with people and experiencing when they do,” he notes. “Like the time my friend took me to a Filipino party and served me something — I thought it was kalua pig, I had two servings — and then he told me, ‘You just ate bow wow!’”

De Lima made his debut as a Waikiki entertainer in 1975. He partnered early with writer Patrick Downes and went on to make local history.

For most of the 1980s De Lima released an album each year on his personal record label, Pocholinga Productions. They included “Don’t Sneeze When You Eat Saimin,” “Please Buy This Album,” “Local Anesthesia” and “Da Year of Da Moke” — the latter album a reference to the year 1987 having been proclaimed as “the Year of the Hawaiian” by the state. De Lima received nine Na Hoku Hanohano Awards between 1982 and 2008, and the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Downes won a Hoku in 1980 as songwriter of De Lima’s noncomedy hit single, “Waimea Lullaby.”

FANS WILL recognize his backing musicians, guitarist Robert “Bobby” Nishida and keyboardist David Kauahikaua, who occasionally step into the on-stage action.

Nishida was on stage with De Lima the night that Imelda Marcos — controversial former first lady of the Philippines — came to see a show. De Lima didn’t have to be told why she was there — his full-costume impression of Marcos was one of his most popular, if not notorious.

Jim Nabors and Doris Duke, famous fans and friends of De Lima’s, were responsible. “They did the same thing they did when Carol Burnett came — they didn’t tell me they were bringing her,” De Lima remembered.

In the bit, De Lima/Imelda wore sunglasses, a green plus-size Philippine terno (gown), and a wig that exaggerated Marcos’ instantly recognized hairstyle, and bemoan Imelda’s existence in Hawaii and singing of better days to come.

One of “Imelda’s” most memorable numbers was a parody of Tony Bennett’s signature hit, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

“I left my shoes in my Manila, I left my bras and my pahnties,” De Lima/Imelda would sing forlornly, a reference to the thousand of pairs of shoes left behind when Marcos, her husband, former President Ferdinand Marcos, their children and retainers abruptly fled the Philippines for sanctuary in Hawaii, after the People Power Revolution toppled the Marcos government in 1986.

De Lima’s impression also portrayed Imelda as a survivor. The song ended on a big and triumphant note, with a promise to the people of the Philippines that turned out to be prophetic:

“When I come home to you, Filipinos, I’ll wear my shoes, and walk all over you!”

Most people thought De Lima’s impression of Imelda was hilarious, but others positioned themselves as Marcos spokespeople, and defended the couple in the local media.

Imelda was known for her outspoken, imperious manner. How would she react?

“Imelda was put in the front row, and the Noodle Shop was small,” De Lima said.

“When I walked out her eyes got big — and then she busted out laughing. And when it came to the shoes I just blasted it. The shoes are funny.

“After the show she said she can’t believe I looked so much like her.”

IN RECENT years De Lima has stopped releasing traditional full-length CDs — “They don’t sell,” he says frankly. Now he releases songs as individual download-only singles when a subject strikes him as interesting and timely. Subjects have included the 2010 tsunami scare, the Super Ferry, the Pokemon Go craze, the success of Marcus Mariota, and the controversy over Oahu’s infamous “rail” project.

Earlier this year he released “Stayin’ Alive,” a parody of the Bee Gees’ hit, which he and Kauahikaua recorded after the infamous false report of a North Korean missile attack on Hawaii in January.

De Lima has been releasing his singles as free downloads on his website, with the request for a token donation of 99 cents to the Frank De Lima Student Enrichment Program. The program is in its 38th year, and De Lima expects to visit around 150 schools in 2018. De Lima donates his time; downloads help cover his travel costs.

“Most of them just go, ‘Free!’” and don’t pay anything,” he said. “I do the songs mostly for myself.”

Make donations at frankdelima.com.