“Take pictures. Free of charge. On the house. Put them on the internet. Put them on your blog. Let them know that we are alive.” - Lu maw, Moustache Brother # 2
Lu Maw, explaining how things work (or don't) in Myanmar
Like everywhere else in Burma, Obama’s recent visit was a leitmotif sprinkled throughout the established routine intended to amuse and educate a primarily Western audience. And it did that very well. The show opens with Lu Maw’s audience patter. He asks people where they are from. If we were from the US, he referenced Obama, and also pointed out a poster of Derek Mitchell, the first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, appointed by Obama. If we had been from Italy, as some other audience members were, his response was, "Italy - Dario Fo," naming another outspoken political comedian.
He sprinkles pieces of information about life in Burma under military occupation over the last thirty years throughout the patter, but just to be absolutely clear (he also occasionally spelled words and used placards to drive home points throughout the show), he began with a video of celebrities who shared facts about Burma (Jennifer Aniston, Woody Harrelson, Will Ferrell, Sylvester Stalone - did you know that Rambo V was set in Burma? I didn't. Ric did...). Facts such as that Burma has the highest percentage of child soldiers in the world. Horrific anecdotes (dramatized in Rambo V) about how the government had used civilians to clear landmines before sending soldiers in to raid those same civilians' land. Facts about poverty, wars between ethnicities, internal slavery, and prostitution. This was the shorthand so that while we were enjoying the dancing, we would also understand the suffering that the people of Myanmar had been enduring for the last thirty years. And also so that we would understand signs and Lu Maw's acerbic jokes.