Comedian Rex Navarette goes for another round of laughs

Roil Soil Clothing owner Shayne Villanueva and G Van Gils are inviting the community to see comedian Rex Navarette live on Nov. 3 as he performs in two shows–at 5pm and 9pm—at the Hyatt Regency Saipan ballroom (formerly The Sandcastle). (Bea Cabrera)

Comedian Rex Navarrete is returning to Saipan for two back-to-back shows on Nov. 3—one at 5pm and another at 9pm—at the Hyatt Regency Saipan Ballroom to give his fans another dose of his comedy.

Navarrete’s last show on island was 10 years ago, according to Roil Soil Clothing owner Shayne Villanueva, the company that is bringing Navarette back. “Rex is pretty popular and tickets have been selling really fast: VIP tickets go for $35 and general admission ticket go for $20. Our 9pm VIP seats are now sold out. Maybe one factor that we sold those early is that these people didn’t make it to the last show 10 years ago,” he said. “The show will last about two and half hours. The reason we chose Hyatt is because the ballroom is meant for this…theater-scene show. Whether you sit in the front or back, you will still be able to see the show and it feels like every seat is good.”

Food and drinks will be available for purchase and Hyatt executive sous chef Zen Tomokane will come up with a special menu.

Villanueva said that Navarette has prepared a good show. “He’s doing shows in Manila and around Asia and that’s how we were able to pick him up… I knew of him when he did a show for my friend 15 years ago in San Diego and that’s how we reached out and got that connection.”

“Personally, I’ve been a big fan of Rex and I’ve been doing his impersonations for a long time. …I used to watch him,” he added.

Another highlight of the show is that local resident and funny guy G Van Gils will open the show for Navarette. “I really love performing comedy because it is the scariest thing that I do… I am also excited because when we bring in excellent talented professional comedians like Rex Navarette, I get to learn a lot from them because I get to see them perform more than once and I get to learn from them in a way that’s really exciting,” he said.

“I also think that people like Rex, if they spend more time on Saipan, would find lots of hilarious things about this place. As the local opener, I get to point out all of the funny local things that we know about… Comedy is like live art, so Rex will come up to perform some of his classics and some of his new ones, stuff that nobody has ever heard. He will be developing and improving materials in each show so it’s never going to be the same twice, that’s why I advise people to buy tickets for both shows,” he added.

Villanueva said the community can expect more events from Roil Soil Clothing. “We work on so many things in many levels. We do marketing, enhance a company’s social media, production and charity events. We [like] creating events for people so Saipan isn’t boring. We want everyone to show up and have a good time. We want to showcase our local talents, Hyatt, and that we are just not here for the money because our projects are borne out of passion. We want to continue to do this show and more for Saipan,” he added.

There will be a meet-and-greet with Rex Navarette at 7:30pm and people below 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The show will be hosted by Big Boy Santi and tickets are available at Tribe Marianas located at the D. Torres Building on Middle Road.