Who will emerge as the most talented presidential candidate in the country's upcoming elections?

Veteran impersonator Willie Nepomuceno put the question to the test in "Presidentiables Gut Talent," his latest comedy act for the 2010 campaign season.

Nepomuceno plays five of the country's most talked-about presidential aspirants and sets them against each other in a battle of wits and random skills and talents to elicit laughs.

It begins with host Kris opening "Talentadong Pangulo," a talent competition spun-off from a popular local TV reality competition, providing continuity for the whole show.

Then, one by one, the candidates are introduced for their own performance.

Erap, Noynoy and Gibo perform magic tricks, leaving audiences wondering how long it took Nepomuceno himself to learn how to do sleight of hand, or executing tougher illusion numbers like cutting a woman in half or balancing her on swords.

Manny goes hiphop with a rap, while Dick does a ventriloquist act with no less than Bayani as a talking, singing puppet.

Erap a class act

Playing Erap is by now a class act for Nepomuceno, eliciting automatic guffaws.

Take the case of Nepomuceno's spin on Erap's 'broken English': "Erap ang tandaan nyo. E for intelligent, R for articulate, A for empowerment and P for philandering."

In exploring Erap's many talents, Nepomuceno also plays on political undercurrents: "Gusto ko sana disappearing act, kaya lang tinalo na ako ni Ping," before going on to making Erap's other known vices disappear.

But when it comes to impersonation, Nepomuceno does equally well playing Gordon and other new roles, impressively mimicking each candidate's gait, hand and body movements, smirk and other peculiar idiosyncracies.

Daughter Frieda, Fred Panopio

Other candidates who didn't make it into the "talent finals," Nepomuceno brought in via his spiels and audio-visual presentations.

Nepomuceno's daughter Frieda does a splendid and convincing impersonation of popular host Kris Aquino, with Nepomuceno doing an equally convincing job as Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.

Performing group Bagong Dugo also provides a much-needed breather for Nepomuceno's physical transformation between roles, adding welcome breaks to the monologues by reprising popular Filipino ditties with their own political message.

But the performance is not all laughs.

One sad note came with the mention of singer Fred Panopio's passing on Thursday, before Nepomuceno burst into a yodeling number as a special tribute.

Third run at Music Museum

The show was a challenge to those oversensitive about their politics, urging them to toughen-up or loosen-up to appreciate the jokes, as Nepomuceno cast a critical eye on the haves and have-nots of the presidential candidates, poking fun by resorting to a play with names, exagerrating the obvious or what's merely been passed around in social circles, and generally feeding on the pervading silliness of dirty politics and mudslinging.

The show ends with a note of hope for the country's first automated elections, Nepomuceno, as himself, going onstage not to advocate for any particular candidate but rather for an informed choice for the country's future.

"We want to humor ourselves in the middle of all this, take a break from the nasty propaganda." Laughter, after all, as they say, is the best medicine.

After two performances, "Presidentiables Gut Talent" is set for a third run at the Music Museum on April 30, 2010 at 8:30 p.m.