How did these American college students learn to speak Bisaya so fluently? Doing missionary work for two years. They will be back in Cebu or a weekend run of the Youtube hit “Hey, Joe Show”.
Five young missionaries met in the Visayas and fell in love with the people and their culture.
They learned the Visayan language and eventually became fluent which pleasantly surprised many of the locals.
On YouTube, Connor, Davis, Jake, Tylan and Sumner are online sensations as their videos feature the Cebuano-speaking Americans in comedy skits.
The ‘Hey Joe Show’ has so far posted 15 videos since their first one was released on Oct. 1, 2014. Some videos reached more than 800,000 views.
The five Americans are coming back to the Philippines over the weekend for a series of shows in the cities of Dumaguete, Cebu and Tagbilaran in the Visayas and Cagayan de Oro and Davao cities in Mindanao.
In an e-mail interview with the Inquirer, Jake said all five of them came from different parts of the US and have different backgrounds.
However, they declined to give their last names and ages except to say that they are attending college at a school in the state of Utah.
Jake said he, Davis, Tylan, Sumner and Connor met while serving their two-year mission in the Visayas, particularly in Bohol, Cebu and Negros Oriental.
“We didn’t know each other before, but we quickly became very close friends,” said Jake.
There was one thing they all shared – their love for Philippine culture and language.
“As we served, we fell in love with the Filipino culture and the general way of life in the Philippines. Filipinos are always so happy and full of love,” said Tylan.
While teaching about Jesus Christ, the five also wanted to learn to speak Cebuano which is spoken in Negros Oriental, Bohol and Cebuano.
They learned basic Bisaya words in about three to five months and later, new words, expression and phrases.
Although they also got tips from the more experienced missionaries, they learned Bisaya through practice – by speaking to locals.
Connor said that they would talk to children on the street because they were afraid people their age would laugh at them.
“As we got more confident, we would talk to mga nanay and mga tatay who were always so kind,” he said.
“Before long, the locals started to react to our skills in Bisaya. ‘Hala, kamao lagi ka magbinisaya! (Hey, you know how to speak Cebuano!),’” he added.
“We think it’s the most enjoyable language to speak, and are very proud that we had the opportunity to learn it,” said Connor.
They then thought of making a video that “celebrated” Filipino culture once they returned to the US.
After their two-year missionary service ended, Connor, Davis, Jake, Tylan and Sumner did just that and named their group “Hey Joe Show.”
Tylan recalled that children would usually say “Hey, Joe” – when they walked by.
“We loved it, and thought it was a great idea for the title of the show! Even Americans think it’s a clever name and easy to remember,” he said.
Tylan explained that they wanted to create “clean and wholesome entertainment” and to continue speaking Bisaya.
Their first video –“Amerikanong Bisaya” was posted on YouTube on Oct. 1, 2014 where they introduced themselves in Cebuano while being funny.
Davis said it was intended to entertain their friends in the Philippines who could give feedback on how to improve their Bisaya.
The four-minute and four-second video became viral. It had 825,252 hits on YouTube and was shared several times on other social media sites. “Hundreds of messages started coming in asking how we knew Bisaya,” said Davis.
“None of us ever expected it to get this big, but we are so grateful that we can connect with Filipinos who we have never even met and put a smile on their faces,” he added.
Sumner said the response to their 15 videos has been “amazing.”
All five are involved in making the video. Jake does all the editing while everyone tosses in new ideas and take turns in filming.
They usually talk and exchange text messages to put their ideas together. They said it was always an effort not to laugh while filming, which is done during their free time.
“We always finish within a couple hours, so most of our videos are first takes,” said Sumner.
He said that last week, Jake had an idea about making a video on “Signs You’re a Filipino.”
The video was posted last Friday and had already 16,626 views as of 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Davis said that since doing the ‘Hey Joe Show’, they’ve wanted to return to Philippines.
But since they are all college students, the cost of the trip is way beyond their budget, said Davis.
“We started raising funds so that we could return to the Philippines,” he said.
He said they were grateful that many people had opened their hearts and their wallets so they could go back to the country they had learned to love.
They willl stay only two weeks in the Philippines , visiting five cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
They will be in Dumaguete on April 25, Cebu on May 1 and Tagbilaran on May 4. These are the cities where they lived while they were missionaries.
They will also be in Cagayan de Oro City on April 30 and Davao City on May 2 because they have a fan base there.
Jake promised that their shows will be fun, not just for them but for their fans.
“We want people coming up on stage and joining us as we sing, dance, and have lots of fun,” he said.
Aside from meeting them, he added, their fans may just be featured in some of their videos.
The group intends to meet several people and continue doing their videos.
They plan to incorporate Filipino food in their videos as well.
“There is nothing quite like Filipino adobo, sinigang, and of course, lechon!” said Sumner whose favorites include tortang talong (stuffed fried eggplant), bulad (dried fish) and monggos with baboy (mongo beans with pork).
He said Davis loves ampalaya (bitter gourd) and gulay (vegetables) as well as mango float.
“We are so excited to be back in the Philippines. It feels like home to us.
We think the Filipinos are the happiest and friendliest people in the world, so we want to spend our time with them and see more of their beautiful country,” said Connor. / Connie E. Fernandez, Inquirer Visayas Bureau Chief