Ebe Dancel Always Wanted to Be a Comedian

People recognize Ebe Dancel as the singer-songwriter behind songs such as “Prom,” “Mariposa,” “Kwarto,” and “Burnout.” Listening to the songs he wrote and performed with his former band Sugarfree is almost always guaranteed to stir some long dormant emotion from within. Many of these songs pertain to matters of the heart and the plight of the heartbroken. 

So when Dancel announces that he once wanted to be a comedian, it may come as a big surprise.

“My one great frustration in life is that I really wanted to be a stand-up comic at some point in my life,” he revealed at the online media roundtable for his concert, Sa Wakas: The Repeat.

“Pero masyado kasi akong seryoso for my own good,” he continues, in an effort to explain why he was not able to pursue his other dream. “Tapos pag nagjo-joke ako, yung mag kaibigan ko, hindi nila alam kung kelan ako seryoso o nagpapatawa. So kailangan ko lagi i-explain yung sarili ko.”

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The frustrated-comic-turned-hitmaker has only good words to say about stand-up comedian Red Ollero. Ebe personally requested to have Red as one of the performers in his upcoming concert.

“Red has his own magic. I think he’s a fantastic person. Sometimes, what I do all morning, when the blues come in, I just go to his page and I watch his videos. Then I laugh. Then I feel like, ‘you don’t have to take life too seriously.’”

The faint smile on Dancel’s face turns into a wide grin. “Chill lang. Just enjoy life.”

Aside from funny guy Ollero, Sandwich will also be part of the second show’s lineup.

Having Sandwich perform was—again—Dancel’s idea. “Sandwich will always be one of my favorite bands,” he said. He then recalls a time when neither he nor Sugarfree, his former band, weren’t nearly as well-known as they are today.

“When we were starting out—when Sugarfree was starting out—Sandwich yung laging nagsasabing, ‘halikayo, tugtog kayo, sama kayo sa amin. So, parang malaking karangalan na andun sila at pumayag sila at may oras sila.’”

Photo by Jill Tan Radovan.

Manila String Machine will also be part of the new lineup. The group performed with Dancel during his last pre-pandemic concert in 2020. They were both performers at a wedding recently, and the quartet volunteered to join Dancel on his forthcoming concert—for which the singer-songwriter is grateful.

Since there will be fewer performers, Dancel and his band, which includes Sugarfree’s original drummer Mitch Singson, will be playing a total of 22 songs, instead of 17—which was the number of songs he played during the first show.

The concert will also be a fundraiser for a friend of Dancel who has cancer. The artist hinted at a surprise that will be unraveled during the concert, but he refused to discuss further.

“There’s going to be comedy. There’s going to be music. There’s going to be me, which is a mix of comedy and music,” he said.

Due to insistent popular demand, particularly from fans who missed the first 20th anniversary show of Sugarfree’s groundbreaking debut album, Sa Wakas: The Repeat will be held on Friday, March 31 at 123 Block, Mandala Park, Mandaluyong City. Tickets are available here: bit.ly/sawakas20.