Analysis — Bob Ong and RJ Ledesma

As expected of the two authors, the humor displayed in both texts is razor-sharp and has got me quickly exhaling air out from my nose to actually laughing out loud at some points. The most noteworthy being this tidbit from Bob Ong:

Tingin ko meron pa ‘kong ayaw sa deodorant na yon. Pero di ko masabi kung ano dahil sa sobrang bilis ng pagpanaw nito. Babalik na lang ako sa dati kong brand. Vicks.

And this one from RJ Ledesma:

At eight years old, my dream was to become a superhero. When I was a teenager, my dream was to become a bomba (naked) star. When I was in my twenties, my dream was to become filthy rich. When I hit my thirties, I wanted to keep my dreams simple. So I wanted to become a filthy rich superhero bomba star.

Both authors are exceedingly humorous in their writing, utilizing astute observations of everyday happenings (in Ong’s case) and the days before, during and after marriage (in Ledesma’s). The key difference in how they write appears to be that while both tell rather personal stories, Bob Ong, humor stems from how weird all these seemingly innocuous things we encounter in our day-to-day lives are when you really think about it. What’s more, is that many of his observations come from his place as a writer and how being one has impacted how he interacts with people and the world at large. Ledesma’s on the other hand takes the intimacy of his own wedding story and puts it in a way that’s both very relatable to the reader who is presumably also married. The text gives the reader a heartwarming glimpse into his pre-married life and what he had to do and endure for the sake of their marriage. All this is presented quite lightheartedly and the reader really gets the feeling that this was written as a heartfelt letter to Ledesma’s wife.