Jo Koy: In His Elements

Philippines...

are you ready?

Ladies and gentlemen,

give it up for Jo Koy!

Hey.

Yes!

I love you! I love you! I love you!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Man, this is amazing, you guys.

I'm so damn excited. I don't even know how to express how excited I am.

I'm sorry if I keep repeating myself, but that's genuinely how I feel.

I'm so excited.

This is the highlight of my career, man. I swear to God.

Everyone has bucket lists. This is my bucket list moment right here.

I brought Netflix to the Philippines, man. Are you kidding me?

It's a beautiful moment 'cause tonight I'm going to show you my history

while we make history.

We're gonna showcase Filipino culture to the world tonight, you guys.

That's what we're gonna do.

We're representing the Philippines to the world.

I'm gonna show you music, performers, food.

Every element of this show is Filipino.

Everyone... Look.

Everyone inside here is Filipino. This casino's owned by a Filipino.

This fucking cameraman is a Filipino.

And I just found out that we're related. That's also my uncle. He's my uncle.

I'm gonna ask the world right now, have you ever met a Filipino?

If you've been to a hospital, then the answer is yes.

Every nurse can sing, every nurse can dance,

and there's always one comedian in the emergency room.

That's what Filipinos do. They sing, they dance, and they laugh.

And they take your blood pressure.

And if you're sitting at home, and you're watching this,

you're gonna love this show because we're gonna give you

an all-expense-paid, first-class ticket to the Philippines,

and Netflix is paying for it.

Here's a fun fact for you. I know a lot of people don't know this,

but the Philippines is separated by 7,000 islands.

Seven thousand islands.

And they speak about 187 languages.

One hundred and eighty-seven languages!

-Did you get that in your head? - Yes!

But there's one language you all speak fluently.

Karaoke. And that's fucking Japanese!

So I guess it's 188 languages.

Entertainment is in our blood. My sister sang and I danced.

I know what you guys are thinking. "You danced?"

Yes, I used to dance.

I'm an OG B-boy from the '80s, man.

I still remember back in the day when I used to do the moonwalk at talent shows.

And when my mom found out I could impersonate Michael Jackson,

it was the best day and the worst day of my life.

Best day, because my mom was like, "Oh! You have talent."

It was the worst day 'cause my mom was like,

"Oh! You have talent."

And when she found out I could dance like Michael Jackson,

she made me do it every time someone came to the house.

Every time. It didn't matter who was at the house.

"Your auntie is here. Do the Michael Jackson.

Joseph, your uncle is here. Do the Michael Jackson.

And not just one time like that, oh.

Joseph, my friends from work are here. Do the Michael Jackson one time, Joseph."

She made me do Michael Jackson my whole life

and then it just got to the point where I was done.

I'm not gonna do the Michael Jackson anymore.

I remember that day.

"My coworkers are here. Do the Michael Jackson for me, Joseph."

I was like, "No, I'm not doing it. I'm done. No more.

Stop telling people I can do that."

"But I told all my coworkers and...

Look, they're waiting. Just...

Come on, Joseph. Just do like-- Come on.

Just one, Joseph."

"No, Mom. Stop telling people I can do Michael Jackson. I'm not doing it anymore.

I'm done. I'm not gonna do it."

"I told my coworkers. That's why they're here.

They want you to do the Michael Jackson,

and you're not going to do it? That's embarrassing me.

Why don't you want to do the Michael Jackson?

Tell me why. Huh. Why?

Tell me why you don't want to do the Michael Jackson, Joseph. Why?"

And I was like,"'Cause I'm 33."

And she was like, "Then move out." I was like, "Fuck that."

[imitates Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean"]

This is amazing, man.

This is what I love about this show, you guys.

I get to bring some of my friends,

my Filipino friends that are killing it in the business

back to Manila to see where it all started.

This next dude I'm bringing up

is one of the best break-dancers in the world, man.

He's representing the United States in the Olympics, Paris, France,

in break-dancing.

Check this out.

What's up, y'all? We're here in The Tenement,

and I'm feeling really blessed and honored to be here.

You know the locals don't have much here, but what they do have

is the love for dance.

And this is a big part of the Filipino culture,

and I'm gonna get the opportunity to teach a masterclass here.

Music! We do it one time all together.

All right. Are you ready?

Here we go.

I'm gonna watch this one.

Five, six, seven, eight. Go.

Wah.

Ba, ha.

Ah.

Ah. Ah.

Six, eight. And boom, boom, ba.

Four.

Eight.

Two. Nice.

- All right. -This is what it's all about. Right here.

I've known Ronnie 20 years.

Two kids in Vegas and now look at us.

Yes. It's kind of like a clumsy run.

Instead of running this way, you're running this way.

One more time. Let's do it.

[upbeat break dancing music continues to play]

Yeah! Ha-ha!

Let's take a little break.

Just giving feedback,

just think about all the moves you do as a picture.

That's how you know if you're clean.

When people rush their moves, you don't see what they're doing.

You think you're hitting it, but, you know, when you start getting tired,

you're not exaggerating these movements, so when I'm saying double knee boom...

grab your head.

Grab your chest. Foot. Foot.

So pay attention to those details,

'cause that's what makes these moments count.

I feel privileged and honored to be here. You guys learn fast, you guys pick it up,

and you guys have that style, which is dope.

Filipino B-boys, we're all about style, right, and intricacy.

And having original moves.

And I can see that in every single one of you guys. Shit's tight.

Props.

Hats off to you guys. You guys killed it.

About to see some real cypher. This is a real cypher.

They're all coming out running. This is how they claim it.

This is how you get your name in the B-boy world,

coming after someone like Ronnie.

Watch this.

Get that shit.

Killed it, bro. Killed it.

-I’m B-boy representing Paranaque -Okay.

I live here in the Philippines.

I’m a poor B-boy. I live in a jeepney.

-I also teach the kids to not use drugs. -Yeah.

-Yeah. -I teach the kids to change their lives.

That's amazing, man.

-I got you, bro. -I'm a B-boy representing Paranaque.

Woo-hoo! Smooth.

Get it, Mouse.

This is real fucking B-boy shit right here.

Hey, let's go!

Whoa. Oh, my God.

Yeah!

-It's real, yo. -That's what I'm talking about.

This is unexpected. I did not expect that many dancers to show up.

It was crazy.

Some of them were actually from the city where my family's from. From Iloilo.

From Pangasinan.

It's humbling to know that they came all the way out here for this workshop.

You weren't expecting that?

-Not at all. -They were amazing.

And they were killing it.

My favorite story from the cypher is this one B-boy came out,

and he was like, "I live in a jeepney, but this is what I do.

I B-boy. I teach kids to B-boy and keep them off drugs.

And now I'm battling Ronnie."

Like, he's seen you on YouTube

and that inspires him to try and get other kids to stay off drugs

and dance. That's deep.

-Humbling. - It's what you do.

I mean... I have family that lives in Tenement.

-And I've visited them. - Yeah.

And to be here, it's like...

-I know. -This is where we're from, man.

-This is our bloodline. -Yeah. 100%.

It's humbling. It's a big honor to be here.

Look at this environment.

-This will humble you. -Yep.

This goes to show you can do anything.

No matter what your situation is, you can do it.

Yes!

Yes!

Are you kidding me? Right there, that's Ronnie.

I want everyone to know I've known Ronnie since he was 17.

I used to book comedy shows, and he used to perform at my comedy shows.

So it's just fucking crazy that two Filipinos from 20 years ago

are now doing the same thing that they love to do

right here in the motherland, in the Philippines, man.

How crazy is that?

This is what's even more crazy. That we were in The Tenement

and these kids actually knew Ronnie from the Internet.