Malafunkshun Boys, Rios rock Saipan

Despite the steady drizzle across the island Saturday night, Dai-Ichi’s Hibiscus Hall still rang with the laughter of over 400 people who braved the weather to see the 4 Choice Comedy Show, featuring the Malafunkshun Boyz and Guam’s amateur comedy champion, Frank Rios.

Laughter covered the room at the start of the show to finish, interspersed with the Malafunkshun Boys—Chris Barnett, Andi Wheeler, and Julius Santos—performing several of their hilarious songs from their CDs I Like Your Barbecue and Pugua.

The boys put together a terrific performance and their irreverent sense of humor had the crowd calling them back for more.

The Malafunkshun Boys are the DJ’s of Guam’s Hot 94 FM. Through their regular repartee and on-air spiels that combine humor with political commentary, they make people aware of the current issues facing the community.

“We get ideas from the newspaper and just people around. Then we all get together and brainstorm and come up with more ideas for our show,” said Andi. “We started with spam jokes, zori jokes and now we added political jokes. We have a lot of influence, reaching thousands of listeners. It increases a lot of awareness, the information we put out there. We try to reach kids to older adults. We present facts in an easier way for people to understand.”

“I think what sets us apart is that we aren’t afraid to question our officials. We’re not negative to them, but you have to question what our leaders are doing,” he added.

On hand with the boys was Budweiser representative, Nathan Sablan. “We did a comedy show last year. Comedy hasn’t been done out here for a while so we brought it back last year and a lot of people liked it, asking when’s the next one going to happen. It’s always nice to liven up the island a little bit [with] something different,” said Sablan.

Rios, a talent that is now known throughout Guam, said he has been doing the comedy circuit for a couple of years now. “The big thing I like doing is making people laugh. It’s all about just having fun,” said Rios.

A licensed contractor and a part-time motorcycle racer, Rios spends his spare time performing in parties and special functions.

“I come in strong feeling very confident. There’s a plus to everything you know. The biggest thing you can’t do is think about bumming. You know you just can’t. If you think about bumming you might as well not go up,” said Rios.

Budweiser, Dai-Ichi Hotel, Coca Cola, and Budget Rent-a-Car sponsored the 4 Choice Comedy Show.