A night out with the Boys
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| From boys to men: Tony Toni, Sam YG and Slick Rick of the radio program Boys Night Out on Magic 89.9 are funny, playful, naughty, makulit, and at times manyak. |
We may not be able to do anything about Metro Manila traffic, but a
lot of us have found a solution to make the time spent stuck bumper to
bumper at least more enjoyable. All thanks to Anthony Bueno, Eric
Virata, and Sam Gogna, otherwise known as Tony Toni, Slick Rick and Sam
YG of the radio program Boys Night Out on Magic 89.9. They are funny,
playful, naughty, makulit, and at times manyak, which make them a
favorite of students and yuppies on the road between 6 and 10 p.m. on
weeknights. It has been said that 70 percent of their listeners are
women, but a lot of men call their show to open up about their deepest,
darkest secrets. Whether you listen to them or not, be amused and learn
from the 10 things you should know about the boys of Boys Night Out.
1.
The great thing about their trio is that nobody takes the jokes
personally. “We have to make fun of ourselves first, before we can make
fun of others,” Slick says.
When Tony, Slick, and
Sam got together to host Boys Night Out in 2006, there was no need to
adjust or warm up. Their chemistry was instant. Tony (the more “wild”
one) became a DJ in 1999, Slick (the “boy next door”) in 2001, and Sam
(the mix of both) in 2003. “We had no dead air, walang sapawan, we were
just flowing,” Tony shares about their first few shows together. With
their more than five-year friendship, they have never had a single
serious fight between them, and they attribute that to the respect they
have for one another’s individuality. They admit to knowing most
everything about each other’s lives — though not their love lives. “Who
we sleep with, who we’re dating, who we’re in negotiations with (Tony’s
new term),” they never share about. No names. Don’t ask, don’t tell:
that is their rule.
2. Tony was born and raised in
Canada, and after a series of unlikely events, the last one being a
breakup, he decided to move to Manila in 1999. And he hasn’t had a
girlfriend since.
Tony has been single for 13
years. “I needed a change of lifestyle, I needed to love myself, and I
wanted to be in control of my life,” he says. He came home to the
Philippines not really knowing what he was going to do, but what he did
know was that he wanted to affect the lives of millions of people. From
modeling to being a bar promo boy to being a DJ, he just wanted to
entertain people. When asked why he hasn’t had a relationship since, he
says, “I don’t think I’m ready to be fully responsible.” It’s not you,
it’s him. Literally. “I don’t have the heart to go on air and do what I
do and have a girlfriend. It won’t be fair to the girl.”
3. Slick and his then-girlfriend were all set to get married and move to Florida in 2005. Until he was offered to do BNO.
There
was a point when he felt he had done all he wanted to do in radio, and
his girlfriend wanted to leave the Philippines, so they planned their
wedding. A few months into doing BNO, he enjoyed it and realized that he
wanted to stay. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that his plans had
changed, until one time, she was the one who told him “I know you
changed your mind, there’s something different in you especially when
you’re on the show.” She still moved abroad and Slick stayed, and though
they tried to go the distance, it didn’t work out in the end. Are they
still friends now? “No,” Slick says. “Pati kami! Un-friend-ed sa
Facebook,” Sam says jokingly. Slick still believes he will find that
kind of love again someday, and right now, he is seeing someone.
4.
Sam, along with “Shivaker” (a love guru character on BNO), gives great
love advice. But he can never apply the same love advice to make his own
relationships work.
“When you’re in that
emotional love stage, wala, your wall is down,” Sam shares. He was in a
relationship when BNO started, and after that, he dated a couple of
celebrities including Karylle and Daiana Menezes. He has been single for
more than four years now. “How can you tell a person you love them,
then you say all these things on air?” He says it usually is okay for
the first few months, but at some point, their on-air personas become
too much for the girls to handle. Plus, for the girl to understand their
job is one thing, for the family to accept them is another. All the
love advice he gives on the show is unscripted and spontaneous. “I talk
to a lot of people about their love problems, plus my personal
experience, and then I put it all into perspective.”
5.Tony Toni, Slick Rick, and Sam YG in numbers: 6: Total number of serious relationships between the three of them (two each).
45: Percentage of the audience share that listens to them during their time slot.
7,500:
Number of pesos salary per month on their first job in radio. “You
don’t do radio for the money, you have to do it because you love it,”
Tony explains.
500-plus: Percentage increase in their
income since they started hosting BNO. “It took a long time, it was a
lot of hard work and sleepless nights,” Sam shares.
9.5: Their shoe size. (Yes, they all have the same shoe size, and they all stand between 5’8” and 5’9”.)
6.
Comparing the boys: Most girls who approach: Sam Gets the most girls:
Tony. “Walang wingman required, he will get the job done,” Sam reveals.
Pinaka-”mama’s boy”: “We’re all mama’s boys,” Tony shares.
Cheeziest when in love: Sam
Drives the nicest car: Sam
Most vain: Sam. “Goatee pa lang, 45 minutes na!”
Most
religious: Slick and Sam. “They go to church every Sunday,” Tony says.
Slick replies, “but a lot of people don’t know that Tony is very
spiritual.” Tony goes on a pilgrimage every year.
Most conservative: Tony
Most shy/quiet: Slick. “These two keep talking, so I just want to listen!”
Goes home the latest from gimmick: Tony
7.
From the hundreds of callers they’ve talked to, what shocks them most
about women is how many of them commit adultery. What shocks them most
about men is how they are just as emotional as women.
“So
many women are willing to cheat if they can get away with it,” shares
Tony. Sam says it’s unbelievable how many callers are cheating on their
husbands or boyfriends. Slick is quick to point out that “men don’t
realize that women can actually do it (cheat) better, because they lie
better.” The boys always tell their callers that they do not condone
cheating.
They say that men are emotional especially when
it comes to love. “Super!” they all say in unison. It is their ego that
gets in the way, that’s why women don’t get to see how emotional men
really are.
On why people confess their problems and
affairs to the boys on air: “The anonymity. They can’t be seen and they
won’t be known by just their names, they tell their story and we just
listen. It’s therapeutic.”
8. The one “bro” rule
that should never be broken: never get into a relationship with your
barkada’s girlfriend or ex-girlfriend. The one thing girls should never
do to get a guy’s attention: stalk.
“If the girl
is an ex of a really good friend or barkada, wag na,” Tony says about
the bro code. They have all heard one too many stories of friends dating
friends’ exes and how it has ruined friendships. What if you are really
attracted to the person and they just happen to be the ex of a good
friend? “Confront the person first before you do anything, but as much
as possible, just stay away.”
The boys believe women
should never stalk the men they like. “I got home, she was at the foyer
on my floor, and it was four in the morning,” Sam shares. “Online
stalking is okay, I ignore it, but once someone showed up at my front
door, I was so scared,” Tony says.
Slick adds another
thing girls should never do: play stupid or act like a ditz. “If you
have something substantial to say, say it, because guys like smart
girls. Don’t dumb yourself down.”
9. Their top
dating advice: Sam says: Be yourself. “People always try to put up a
front, but when you realize down the road that the person is not like
that, then it all just becomes messy.”
Slick
shares something similar: Don’t put your best foot forward. “The more
you do that, the more the girl will expect. If you gave her this, or
brought her here, then you’re always going to have to outdo the last.
And no one can do that.”
Tony says: Get to know a person
fully, before you commit. “Everyone can do the lovey-dovey texts, the
dinners, movies, DVD nights. You have to get to know them both outside
and inside the home. In the bedroom, domestically, it’s a whole
different story.”
10. They are not afraid of commitment. Instead, it’s an issue of not having time and the fear of committing to the wrong woman.
All
three boys say they are not ready to commit to a relationship right
now. “Hindi pwede yung, ‘okay commit tayo, relationship tayo, but let me
put it on the side ‘cause I’m also busy working,’” 28-year-old Sam
explains. And right now, work takes so much of their time that there
really won’t be any time for a relationship. Thirty-year-old Tony says:
“I’m so into my profession that I will not let love for a woman
interfere with my love for my work.” When I tell him that maybe he just
hasn’t met the “game changer,” he says, “The girl that will love me
because I do what I do, will be the it.” They all would like to have a
family eventually. When asked to give an estimate of what age they would
want to settle down, 31-year-old Slick says that will just come. “If
you put a number on it, you’re putting a deadline on yourself. You’ll
count how many years are left and you’re just going to stress yourself
out.
Do they ever get lonely? “Of course,” the boys say.
“When you want to text someone at 3 a.m.,” Tony shares. “Or when you
just want to have a really good conversation,” Sam says. They all agree
that the happiness you feel with partners you just get physical with or
sleep with can never mask the loneliness of longing for someone. The
key? “You have to be totally in love with yourself and you have to be
totally secure with your being single,” Tony shares. And secure in being
single, these boys totally are.
* * *
The
boys have become so popular because so many people can relate to them. A
group of single friends just having fun, trying to meet people along
the way, and trying to make sense and make fun of it all. It may sound
funny, but it has become the boys’ advocacy to make people laugh with
their naughty brand of humor, and as a result, set aside any possibility
of entering a serious relationship. As animated and happy-go-lucky as
they may seem, they actually have very valuable advice to share.
Slick says, “Some people think they need someone to complete them. No, you need you to complete yourself.”
Sam
says, “It’s going to be a beautiful relationship when two people love
themselves and get together knowing fully their self worth as
individuals.”
Tony says, “It’s only when people go through
a massive breakup or traumatizing experience that they realize they
have to love themselves, but it doesn’t have to get to that point. You
can love yourself right now.
Wise words can also come from the rowdy boys next door.
