“Rap — Hawaii’s Comic Genius” is a delirious and devoted homage to comedian Rap Reiplinger, who continues to tickle our funny bones 27 years after his death. This flashback to his creative period — the 1970s and ‘80s, when Reiplinger had everybody laughing — shares his ferociously and legendary comedy and style.
We’ve all come to love and adore his outrageous wit and goofy folks he created and inhabited, as a soloist and with the Booga Booga trio he co-founded. You know the gang: Auntie Marialani, Fate Yanagi, Willie Maunawili, Mister Fogarty. And Russell and Wendell, too, all bouncy and batty, punctuated by Reiplinger’s style, cadence, eloquence, espirit and pidgin form.
He saw the fun in everyday people and we still quote his characters today: “Russell, you get pen!” “Not too sweet, not too rancid, but just right.” And he was all over the map, memorializing the tipsy food show cook, the meticulous hotel guest ordering a burger, the local-style political candidate, flight attendant. Of course, you remember ‘em all.
So rejoice — Reiplinger still is makes people bus’ out laughing with this DVD, just like he’d been doing for the past two+ decades. Even if you know punch lines, you gotta agree: No one delivers ‘em the way Rap did.
