Everybody's Playing Jan Ken Po!
July 2001

Lanai Tabura still laughs when he talks about an event he hosted for I-94 eight years ago.

"Andy Bumatai came to me and said, 'Hey, I've got this guy who wants to do some standup. Will you give him five minutes?'" Thanks to the endorsement from Bumatai, Tabura put the guy onstage. "And the guy sucked! He was the worst! I said, 'Don't ever bring him back again!'"

The guy he's talking about is, of course, his partner and best friend Augie Tulba. In the few months after his disastrous debut, Tulba honed his comedic routine and teamed up with Tabura to do a radio show that would become the night's most-listened-to program, with a impressive 27 share and thousands of loyal teenage listeners.

The dynamic duo has found fame and at least a modest sort of fortune. They now host the popular morning show on KDNN, 98.5 FM Island Rhythm; their show is #2 in Hawai`i and #1 among listeners between ages 18 and 34. Their new business venture, Hung Brother Cookies, is catching on. Their Friday show, which used to pack 'em in at the Pagoda, moved to the larger Dole Ballroom and will return from hiatus on the first Friday of July. Tulba does regular comedy gigs on the Mainland and in Guam.

And then, of course, there's Jan Ken Po, Hawai`i's Ultimate Game Show, hosted by the pair and produced by Dirk Fukushima and Carole Kai. The show, which premiered in early April, was first conceived by Kai, Fukushima, Tabura, Tulba, and Mike McCartney, president of PBS Hawai`i.

"It happened in a couple of sitdowns, the rules and the theme and everything," says Tabura. "We sat around and said, 'What could people relate to? How can we make it local?' We came up with the two houses with the porches. It's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Family Feud and Jeopardy, all tied together."

Scissors, Paper, Stone

At this writing, sixteen episodes of Jan Ken Po have been filmed; half of them haven't even aired yet. "The last four shows were the best that we've done," remarks Tulba. "We've worked out the kinks. There's always room for improvement, but considering the way it started and the way it is right now..." Chuckling, he leaves the rest of it up to the imagination.

The filming process was naturally the biggest kink to work through. "The first day, it took us probably two hours to tape a 22-minute show," recalls Tabura. "Now it takes 35 minutes; we fly through it."

Both Tulba and Tabura have defined "roles" on the show. Not surprisingly, these roles echo the characters they've developed for their radio show and standup routines. "I play the straight person, and Augie plays the moke wrangler," chuckles Tabura. "He goes to each family and talks to them, interviews them, gets them excited, even gives them pressure. We're not the stars of the show; it's the families. Sometimes they're a little shy, and Augie's the one to bring them out and make them comfortable."

"I do a lot of fondling," Tulba deadpans, and then he laughs uproariously. "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah! But I don't think I come across as somebody that is harsh. I think people see a laid-back local guy that's Mr. Aloha. You know him, you've seen him, you've met him... He's the guy at the party that goes, 'Heyyyy, howzit? Let's eat!!!' I want to see these people win... I'm there to encourage them!"

Tulba embraces his role as the program's cheerleader. "Except I don't wear a skirt. They get us in pretty nice clothes, which is all new for me... Banana Republic, and Kahala, and Gap... I'm so used to bermudas and tank tops. You see a moke evolving. I'm becoming Contemporary Moke Man!"

For his part, Tabura says he was initially challenged by the visual aspects of the show. "I've been in radio so long! My body language hasn't been used in a while. I do a lot of TV commercials, and we've done six episodes of Baywatch, but they're different because they're recorded and you can tape them over. When you record live to tape, you have to do the whole segment [all at once]."

Fukushima is very pleased with the show's hosts. "In any show, you have a little difficulty with start-up in a production. But Lanai & Augie are incredibly sharp and witty and cooperative, and with Carole Kai leading the way, it's difficult for it not to be successful."

The Kai Connection

"I met Carole probably ten years ago at a gig that I was doing with the Local Boys," says Tabura. "I was doing a mahu song, and she gave me a forty-five minute lecture after I was done, telling me I should take my creative talents and use them in a better way. I had the utmost respect for her, so I sat and I listened to everything she had to say. She hates it, but we kind of look at her as our mom. Me and Augie just love her to death."

The Kai-Fukushima partnership produced Hawai`i Stars for eight years; its Sunday night time slot is now filled by Jan Ken Po. As Hawai`i Stars Productions, Inc., Kai and Fukushima produce Golf Hawai`i on the Golf Channel with Mark Rolfing of NBC Sports, and they also produce three or four island-themed documentaries each year.

As co-producer, Kai is happy in the wings, watching the guys play jan ken po with Hawai`i's kama`aina and wannabes. "When Carole and I get into a project, one of our main purposes is to try to affect peoples' lives and make our state better," says Fukushima. "That was part of the reason why we did Hawai`i Stars - to highlight [local people] and make friends and family proud. It was never about giving someone a recording contract. It was about that Sunday night when the show aired, the nice gathering at your home, and everyone would be so proud of you. That's how we approached this game show."

Fukushima is a huge fan of his partner. "There are a lot of people who produce shows, but there's only one Carole. People don't know how hard she works; she doesn't know the word quit. And I'm proud to be her partner."

Going Forward

As this issue of IS went to press, eight episodes of Jan Ken Po had aired, and it was too early for ratings. "We're keeping our fingers crossed," says Fukushima, who declined to comment on each episode's production budget. "We've been in this business long enough to not even try to guess! But I know people are talking about it, and that's a good sign."

"Everyone calls and says they watch the show, and everyone talks about it," agrees Tabura. "People that work at Windward Mall say it's the most lively they've ever seen the mall! We walk around town and there's not one person who doesn't want to jan ken po with us. But if the ratings come out and show a different story, it's hard to tell who was filling them out, you know?"

In the coming months, several celebrity teams will try their luck at Jan Ken Po. "We haven't figured out what musical teams will participate, but I know we're having a Miss Hawai`i team," confides Fukushima. "They'll either challenge another group of Miss Hawai`is, or it'll be Miss Hawai`i against Miss Hawai`i USA, or we'll get Miss Hawai`is to challenge news anchors."

The program is funded by a variety of sponsors, including American Savings Bank, Schumann Carriage, Pizza Hut/Taco Bell, Aston Hotels, Outrigger Entertainment, Jiffy Lube, Hawai`i Pacific University, Queen's Healthplan, and Body Mint, a product developed by Kai's husband. "It's on the shoulders of the sponsors!" Tulba cracks. "This is for all the advertisers reading this article right now... SHOW US SOME MONEY!"

All three men have a different but complementary vision for the show's future. "I want it to be a show that every household is talking about on Sundays. I want to see local kids knowing more about history. I want it to go longer than Hawai`i Stars did. I want to see me and Lanai in better clothes!" Tulba laughs.

Tabura would like to see the concept go national. "On the mainland they might call it paper, scissors, stone, but everyone loves it. TV Guide has called; an affiliate in Florida has called. It's definitely a concept that could work [on the mainland]. We could do a California Paper Scissors Stone with California trivia. You could do this in Japan... you could do this all over the world, tailored to different locations."

For now, a consulting staff of experts helps compile and verify the show's questions. The entertainment expert is Wayne Harada from the Honolulu Advertiser. Loyal Garner fields the music category. Ron Mizutani from KHON Sports Fox 2 is the sports expert, and Carol Silva from the state archives handles the history questions.

"I'd like to get our questions from students in our community!" enthuses Fukushima. "Level 1 questions would be done by elementary school kids, level 2 by middle school, and level 3 by high school kids. That comes full circle: the kids do the research and learn about Hawai`i, their question gets on the air, they're proud and their family's proud, and the people in the community get to learn what they've researched."

But Fukushima's short-term goal for his exciting new program is very simple. "If I can get one question in there per show where the next morning, people are talking about it over coffee, then I think we've done our job!"

Caroline Wright is a freelance writer. She can be reached via e-mail at c@wrightforyou.com or by phone at 808/622-1077.

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