218MANDALAY & AROUND
MANDALAY
Nightlife
Mandalay has no nightclubs, so if locals
suggest ‘dancing’ they probably mean wit-
nessing a ‘model show’ – a popular local
entertainment where young ladies sing to
a karaoke-style recorded backing tape ac-
companied by the clapping and whooping
of waiters who try to get the mood upbeat.
Generally there’s no cover charge beyond
beer and food costs. Examples include Lake
View (Map p 200 ) beside Kandawgyi Lake and
Yatanaban Restaurant (Map p 204 ; draught
beer K800) beside Yatanaban swimming pool,near Mandalay Hill Resort. Both also have
karaoke; model shows start around 7.30pm. 7 Shopping
Big shopping malls are mushrooming up on
78th St near the train station. Arts & Crafts
Mandalay is a major crafts centre, and prob-
ably the best place in the country for tradi-
tional puppets and hand-woven embroidered
tapestries. Beware: items may be scuff ed up
or weathered to look much older than they
are. Handicraft places will generally have toMOUSTACHE BROTHERS – FROM SLAPSTICK TO SATIREIn Myanmar jokes can get you into serious trouble, as the internationally celebrated Mous-
tache Brothers found out the hard way. In 1996 they performed at an Independence Day
celebration at Aung San Suu Kyi’s Yangon compound, telling politically tinged jokes about
Myanmar generals. For two of the three ‘brothers’ (Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw), the result was
arrest and seven years’ hard labour. In 1997 several Hollywood comedians (including Rob
Reiner and political comedian Bill Maher) wrote to the government in protest. Meanwhile,
the third brother, Lu Maw, kept the Mandalay show going with the help of his wife.
After their release in 2002, the reunited Moustache Brothers remained ‘blacklisted’
from playing at outside events (marriages, funerals, festivals and so on). However, they
played a series of gala performances at home attended – inevitably – by government
agents with video cameras. The regional commander soon summoned Par Par Lay and
told him not to perform at home anymore. When he got home, some Westerners had
already gathered for that night’s show, and he and his family imaginatively decided to
perform without costumes and makeup. Thus the show went on for the tourists (and the
‘KGB’ people – Lu Maw’s nickname for Myanmar’s military intelligence). They explained
they were merely ‘demonstrating’ a performance, since they couldn’t do a ‘real’ one with-
out costumes. Somehow, it worked.
‘They’ve ordered us to stop six times’, Lu Maw told us. ‘It goes in one ear and out the
other. That’s our job!’
Some costumes have since returned, but the job has become exclusively for foreign-
ers: locals who attended would probably be followed by police, but tourists experience no
backlash. Following the September 2007 demonstrations, Par Par Lay suff ered another
month in jail, but the shows have never stopped: they’re still performed in a single room
with just a dozen or so plastic chairs a yard away from the performers.The Show Today
The only English-speaker, Lu Maw, kneels over an antique microphone stand and uses
word-boards to help listeners decipher his thick accent. The hour-long show slithers
between slapstick, political satire, Myanmar history, traditional dance and how to tie up
your longyi. Plenty of material also highlights the troupe’s notoriety, from Lu Maw’s wife
as cover star of an ageing Lonely Planet guide to a video clip from the fi lm About a Boy,
in which Hugh Grant’s character mentions Par Par Lay. Par Par Lay promptly appears on
stage wearing handcuff s – a cameo role to which the former troupe leader has been rel-
egated by his lack of English. The players are undoubtedly courageous, but not all visitors
are bowled over by the show. Some might even agree with Lu Maw’s jocular taunt: ‘Do
show for tourist very easy, just one hour. I rip you off , you are sitting duck’. Some ‘jokes’
are little more than smirking insults, wife-baiting or frequently repeated colloquialisms.
And it all culminates with a shameless T-shirt sales drive. But love it or loathe it, this is a
unique experience and a Mandalay classic.