THE MOUSTACHE BROTHERS OF MANDALAY

Three prison terms and six years of hard labor couldn't keep Par Par Lay from cracking jokes about the Burmese government. Up until he was admitted to the hospital for kidney disease in July, the 67-year-old comedian could be found each evening at his makeshift theater in Mandalay, waltzing in a papier-mache bear head and making wisecracks at the military's expense.

On August 2, he died at home surrounded by his family, including brother Lu Maw and cousin Lu Zaw. Together, the trio made up The Moustache Brothers, a comedy act that was one part slapstick, one part traditional Burmese dance performance, and one part ridicule of the military regime.

Until recently the Brothers—along with their wives, sister, and two-year-old granddaughter—performed nightly for foreign tourists in the front room of Maw's home in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city. It was a low-key production, with a floral bed sheet draped over a clothesline serving as the backdrop, and Lu Maw sharing his Burmese cheroots with the guests.

The only Brother who is fluent in English, 62-year-old Maw served as the MC for the performance, addressing the audience with rapid-fire idioms—"Are you with me? You catch my drift?"—and alternately blowing a vuvuzela and puffing on cigars. As he narrated, Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw would act out scenes from their own lives and from popular a-nyeint pwe folktales about characters like U Shwe Yoe, a parasol-twirling bachelor looking for love.

A major event in Burmese culture, a pwe (festival) sometimes lasts all night and can include dancing, puppeteering, comedy, and drama. The Moustache Brothers' act is typical of an upbeat holiday program with a focus on dance and slapstick. Lay liked to tell a joke about going to Thailand to get dental work done: "The dentist asked me, 'Why not get your teeth fixed in your own country?' And I told him: 'Because in Myanmar, I'm not allowed to open my mouth!'"

It was at a 1996 performance in Aung San Suu Kyi's home that the family made their first political crack. They drew straws backstage to determine who would take on the riskiest role. Lay, who drew the short straw, made a comic comparison between government officials and thieves and was thereafter imprisoned three times. Both he and Zaw spent six years breaking rocks at a prison camp near the Chinese border.

After Suu Kyi and Amnesty International successfully negotiated their release, the Brothers were banned from performing in Burmese and in public. In adapting the show for tourists, they managed to both skirt the government restrictions and continue to make a living doing what they love.

"As long as the tourists keep coming, the government doesn't bother us," Maw said. "They wouldn't want to upset the foreigners."

Lay, in particular, was an active supporter of the National League for Democracy (the party of Suu Kyi), canvassing in rural areas and encouraging voters not to be afraid of politics. He was hopeful that the 2015 elections will bring real change to Myanmar, and longed for the day when the comedy troupe would again be allowed to take their act on the road for festivals, weddings, and funerals.

"We'll keep campaigning until Myanmar is a complete democracy," he said.

The remaining Brothers have vowed to continue the show, both to earn a living and to honor Lay's memory. The two-man performance began several days after his funeral, as messages of support from foreign tourists continued to appear on the Brothers' Facebook page.

"A big loss," wrote an American visitor who remembered Lay, "He will be missed by his friends all over the world."