Andy Bumatai "Prince of Local Stand-Up"

Andy Jackson Bumatai, December 24, 1953 born in Germany, who is a Hawaii Legend in the evolution of local humor and entertainment along the greats like Frank De Lima and Rap Reiplinger. He is Hawaii raised, comedian, actor, and storyteller who is known for his sharp observations and deep connection to "local style" life. 

Service: In Germany, Andy's Father was in the service and his Mother was a warbride and came over to become a naturalized citizen. A warbride at that time was a women who married military personnel from other countries, so in this case it was a german lady marrying a filipino Hawaiian man in the US Military. The family moved from California- San Francisco, then Washington - Seattle, before moving to Hawaii - Kalihi and then ultimately home would be Waianae. 

California: In San Francisco, Andy's Mother was really into 1950's-1960's mainland comedy and she liked: Dick Gregory and his socially aware humor in American Politics, Lenny Bruce who was the outlaw comic who tackled taboo subjects, Rusty Warren a trailblazer of female adult sexual comedy, and Bob Newart who delivered absurdist monologues to set a new standard in observational comedy. These were all on these comedy albums that people would gather around the Old High Fidelity Radio (aka.Hi-Fi) that had better speakers, record player, and tube amplifiers. They would listen to them in groups like Andy's mother who had four other friends where they would laugh and smile to get a break from real life for a moment in time. That ingrained in andy that he wanted to make people happy. 

"The only time I ever saw my mother have fun and enjoy herself was when she was listening to the comedy albums." -Andy Bumatai

Language: Language German was his first language, then second language was English where he was accused of speaking Haole-English, but growing up he also was learning Hawaiian Language (Olelo), so his third language would be Hawaiian pidgin-english from being exposed to Haole-English and Hawaiian-Olelo at the same time.

Local Standup: Bumatai helped shape a uniquely Hawaiian comedic voice, balancing cultural pride, wit, and real talk, making sure there were stories to each and every joke and bit where there was significant to those in the know. It was about the "Haa Haa" and those who were in opposition to this took things a bit too intense and were taking things into a negative direction, but not taking part in solving the problem, but calling comedians that are a reflection of what's going on in the modern time as the problem.

Hawaii (1957): From Kalihi to Waianae, by this time Andy came to Hawaii in 4th grade Waianae Elementary (9yo), Waianae Intermediate (11yo), and then Waianae High school "Sea Riders" (14yo).

Early Career: In 1974 Andy Bumatai (21yo) went all-in and dropped his sales job to actively go around checking out and visiting as many places as possible with the purpose of getting a gig using his experience in sales. He had to stop getting a pretty good income that allowed him to get luxury cars to chase after a dream of stand-up comedy. The technique he used he learned from sales was something called "Canvassing". What Canvassing is described as is when people are going door-to-door with casual-conversations that help build a low-key network and knowledge through self-promotion in the local-circuit. Andy was burnt out from place-after-place rejecting him, until he reached his last stop the Waikiki Sand Villa Hotel where a young Frank De Lima (25yo) was doing his show "The Noodle Shop with Frank De Lima" (1971-1977). He was given a chance from Nilly to fill in for Frank on his weekend-breaks on Saturday and Sunday for 10$ a set (2025. $65x2=$130). He was about to quit and another legendary entertainer, industry veteran, Melveen Leed crossed his path as he was walking off and told a young Andy to not give up.

"You know what, you not that funny, but you got balls. You goin be alright. Don't Quit" -Melveen Leed (31yo)

Booga Booga: Rap Reiplinger left Booga Booga in 1978 for a solo career and Kaahea and Benton, looking for someone to replace him, saw Bumatai performing in De Lima’s Noodle Shop. They offered him 100$ a week (2025. $20x5=$649), five shows, two on saturday. So Bumatai went to see the act and he would have to do all of Rap Reiplinger's lines where he worked with the legendary local comedy troupe Booga Booga where he gained a significant amount of his comedy skills in a very short period of time by being thrown into the mix and being put on the spot to adapt quickly to Booga Booga's established comedic style. They all had a shared comedic sensibility that focused on the nuances of island life and the "local experience". Bumatai took this and further developed it into his own comedic voice in less than a year before going back to stand-up on his own.

“Nobody knew who I was, even though I had been with Booga Booga,” Bumatai says. “On Monday nights, I’d get maybe five or six people if I was lucky. After a couple of months of telling jokes to tables and chairs, I did a TV special on KGMB called High School Daze. I watched it on TV but didn’t understand the impact. Monday rolls around and I’m walking to Kojack’s. When I turn the corner I see a long line of people waiting to get in. I think, ‘Damn, Mel gave the night to the band.’ So I turn around and walk home.” -Andy Bumatai

Kojacks: Andy Bumatai (26yo) would find himself back on stage for solo-gig stand up at a place on Young Street at a place called Kojack’s that was owned by Mel Pinzari (comics lover).