{"id":39,"date":"2010-04-12T20:01:38","date_gmt":"2010-04-12T20:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/?p=39"},"modified":"2010-05-17T16:10:01","modified_gmt":"2010-05-17T16:10:01","slug":"the-mustache-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/2010\/04\/the-mustache-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mustache Brothers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Moustache Brothers Lu Zaw, Lu Maw, Par Par Lay (left to right). Photo courtesy of www.traveladventures.org.<\/p><\/div>\n

BY STEPHEN GRAY<\/p>\n

Lu Maw is in pain. A toothache has robbed him of food, sleep and sanity; only a health professional can bring relief. Summoning the last of his strength he escapes across the Burmese border to Thailand, hoping that there he\u2019ll find the treatment he desperately needs. Finally Lu Maw finds a clinic. The dentist is perplexed. “Why have you come this far?\u201d he asks. \u201cSurely they have dentists in Burma.” “Sure they do,” replies Lu Maw, his face stretching to a grin. “But in Burma we’re not allowed to open our mouths”.<\/p>\n

The audience gathered in Lu Maw\u2019s living room erupts into laughter. Relaxed, smiling and carefree, it’s hard to believe that he could be killed for telling these jokes in Burma. On this evening six or seven tourists line a bench seat meters from the small raised platform that serves as his stage. It\u2019s a small group, but crammed as we are between the marionettes that line the walls and the larger than life presence bursting from the stage, it feels like the room is packed.<\/p>\n

Lu Maw belongs to the Mustache Brothers, a comedy troupe that performs a blend of standup comedy and political satire for tourist audiences in Mandalay, Burma\u2019s second city. With his brother Par Par Lay and cousin Lu Zaw, Lu Maw takes to the stage in an obscenely colorful silk costume adorned with small bells that jingle as he leaps around the stage. You\u2019d be forgiven for thinking they were younger than their sixty odd years. Their wispy grey moustaches are so long that they appear to trail behind them as they move.<\/p>\n

The performance this evening shifts between singing, slapstick skits and stand up comedy routines \u2013 each sprinkled with liberal doses of politics and a call for change. Such sentiment can easily lead to a lengthy prison in Burma, but the brothers have little fear about being provocative.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no democracy in the United States,\u201d says Lu Maw. The audience pauses, not sure whether to laugh. \u201cYou wait four years before electing a new president. Even Thailand is more democratic than you,\u201d he continues. \u201cThey\u2019ve had five new Prime Ministers in four years!\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Brothers their authoritarian leaders don\u2019t share their sense of humor. For the past decade the group has been blacklisted by the ruling military regime \u2013 the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – because of their anti-government, pro-change message. After three generations of touring the country and performing on the stage, the family has had their license revoked and is now consigned to performing in their own home.<\/p>\n

A powerful narrative of injustice drives the Mustache Brothers\u2019 humor. “In every house there’s no light, no 24 hour electricity,\u201d says Lu Maw. \u201cThere’s no education for the children. The country has many natural resources…gas, gemstones, teak wood, even opium. Where does all the money go?”<\/p>\n

This is a country where there are no independent newspapers and even song lyrics must pass a censorship board. Those that do speak out can expect a violent backlash. During the 1988 and 2007 uprisings, the military junta has killed thousands of Burmese, including hundreds of the monks that lead the 2007 protests.<\/p>\n

The Brothers have also paid their fair share of dues for speaking out. In 1996 the comedy troupe performed a show for 2000 guests in the grounds of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s home. On that occasion Lu Maw stayed home, \u201cholding the fort…keeping the home fires burning\u201d he says, proud of his idiomatic English. Par Par Lay joins us Lu Maw and I talk. He doesn\u2019t speak English but seems to understand what we are talking about.<\/p>\n

Two days after the show soldiers came and arrested Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw. \u201cTrumped up charges\u201d says Lu Maw. \u201cI began to wonder who the real actors were\u201d he adds, joking almost as if he wasn\u2019t talking about a trial in which his relatives were tortured, sentenced and imprisoned before he could even say goodbye.<\/p>\n

Par Par Lay’s eyes look to the floor as Lu Maw describes how Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw were forced to work in shackles and chains for twelve hours per day, digging up gemstones in the mines of Kachin State. Numb from a combination of exhaustion, disease and malnutrition, Lu Maw describes how one and two inmates died per week.<\/p>\n

Despite the adversity, comedy lived on in prison for his brother and cousin. \u201cThey used to joke with the guards,\u201d says Lu Maw. \u201cHow can we dig up lots of gemstones\u201d, they would say, \u201cif you only feed us dirty rice water?\u201d<\/p>\n

International pressure from United States and British comedians helped win their release after five years. It wasn\u2019t long before they were spreading their message once more, albeit from the confines of their living room. Asked how they keep from getting caught, Lu Maw responds that they must know who is in their audience at all times. At the slightest hint that a potential informant is watching, the Mustache brothers drop the politics in favor of a politically-correct version of their show. So far it\u2019s worked. Lu Maw later confesses that international attention also stops the authorities from locking them up again.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s so risky why do they do it? “Tourists are our Trojan horse” explains Lu Maw. The tourists that visit Burma provide one of the few means of telling their story to the outside world. “We can’t fight the government by ourselves” Lu Maw pleads, a rare moment of solemnity crossing his face. “We need your help”.