Comedians in Myanmar Face Bans

Myanmar comedian Maung Thura known as Zarganar smiles at his home in Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, May 18, 2006. In Myanmar, there's not much to laugh about. Ask some of its most famous comedians. The Mustache Brothers-- known for their jokes about American celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and performance of classical Myanmar dances-- were forced to work with iron bars across their legs for several years after making fun of the country's ruling military generals. Zargana, a former Myanmar dental student turned standup comic, who himself was also barred from a performance in May 2006. (AP Photo) (Str - AP)

YANGON, Myanmar -- In Myanmar, there's not much to laugh about these days. Ask some of its most famous comedians.

Two of the Moustache Brothers, a trio known for jokes about the omnipresent secret service and, curiously, for classical Myanmar dance, were sentenced to five years in jail at hard labor after making fun of the country's ruling military generals.

Although blacklisted from public performances, the aging performers leveraged their cause celebre status _ an Amnesty International campaign helped win their release _ into securing the government's OK to perform, if only at their home for tourists.

Others have not even been as lucky as the "brothers" troupe, actually two brothers and a cousin.

Mg Myit Tar, a comedian and singer, was banned from performing after making a crack on state television about the country's frequently shut-down university system. One woman comedian who made off-color jokes about the generals _ and who shares a name with the junta leader _ was blocked from working after she refused to change her name.

"Most of the jokes in our country satirize the government and its corrupt system so the authorities are afraid of our jokes," said Maung Thura, a dental student turned stand-up comic barred from the stage since May. "It is very difficult to perform nowadays. Most of the comedians are banned."

Myanmar's brand of humor would seem innocuous in most societies, like a joke now making the rounds that Maung Thura told about a chat by an Englishman, an American and a man from Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"Our man who had no legs could climb Mt. Everest," brags the Englishman, and the American shoots back, "Our man sailed across the Pacific with no hands." Then the Burmese chimes in: "That's nothing. Our country has been ruled for 18 years by a group of men who have no heads."

But such cracks are enough to land comedians among Myanmar's more than 1,100 political prisoners, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. The organization says the ruling junta "continues to ban virtually all opposition political activity and to persecute democracy and human rights activists."

Although the regime denies human rights violations, the crackdown on comedians is part of a larger government effort that seemingly scrutinizes everything from obituaries to cartoons for any hint of dissent _ and imposes harsh punishments on supposed offenders.

That hasn't stopped the wisecracking.

In Myanmar, quietly traded jokes run the gamut from the claim that generals' wives acted as bookies during the recent soccer World Cup to the observation that the daily power cuts only give teenagers greater opportunity for hanky-panky in the dark.