Rap: Hawaii’s Comic Genius

Hawaii Now, KGMB/KHNL, Mountain Apple Co.

It’s been almost 30 years since Rap Reiplinger passed away and, for many, the memories of Hawaii’s best comedian have been distilled down to the all-too-few audio and video recordings he made while alive. Think of Rap, and you picture Auntie Marialani or Willie Maunawili. So this new documentary is a breath of fresh air, giving us new photos, footage and anecdotes with which to round out our memories. He was a precocious kid, we learn, a clean-cut, popular Punahou student, a talented, serious actor in UH Manoa’s theater productions. That local-to-da-max clown we all love was a true part of Rap’s personality, but only a part, it turns out. This DVD is pure hagiography—the drug use and darker times are mostly glossed over in favor of glowing praise from friends and family—but, at this point, we’ll take all the Reiplinger we can get.