Warkop (an abbreviation of Warung Kopi, meaning "coffee stall"), previously Warkop Prambors (1973 - 1986) and Warkop DKI (1986 - 1997) were an Indonesian comedy group that enjoyed success in radio, film and television from 1970s to 2000s. They soon burgeoned as the country's top comedy group, surpassing and Bagito Group. Unlike other comedy groups of its time, Warkop was the only one whose jokes were considered intellectual. Understandably, they were all educated people from renowned universities and actively involved in campus activities, a rarity at the time. Their jokes and witticisms suited the tastes of young people: critical, mischievous, and silly.
History
Early career, audio and stage era In end of September 1973, Kasino Hadiwibowo (Kasino) and Nanu Mulyono (Nanu) performed comedy at the "Perkampungan Universitas Indonesia" (University of Indonesia Villages) a student camp in Cibubur. Their humorous performance caught the attention of Temmy Lesanpura, a University of Indonesia senior who was then head of Prambors Radio. He then invited them to appear on a show with Rudy Badil called "Obrolan Santai di Warung Kopi." This program airs every Thursday night from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm and containing packaged in the form of short student jokes, folklore, and even parody songs.
A year later, Wahjoe Sardono (Dono) joined the show and Indrodjojo Kusumonegoro (Indro) is also joined to this group 3 years later. Warkop Prambors began to appear on television screens through the program Terminal Musikal - Tempat Anak Muda Mangkal, directed by Mus Mualim, on New Year's Eve 1978, from there they often appeared on TVRI. Unfortunately, Rudy Badil decided to stepped down due to stage frige. He later focused to become Kompas journalist until his retirement in 2005, and died on 11 July 2019.
Film era In 1979, Warkop making their film debut entitled . At the time, their personnel are portraying their radio characters respectively (Dono as Slamet, Kasino as Sanwani, Indro as Paijo and Nanu as Poltak). This film successfully gathered an audiences of up to 400,816 viewers. But after one film, Nanu decided to stepped down for academic reason and pursued a solo career. He later appeared in another film, . He died on 22 March 1980 and was buried in Tanah Kusir Cemetery. The remaining members continue to produce most of their work over 1979 – 1995, starring in 34 comedy films and 1 docudrama film. On average, two film titles are released each year ahead of Eid Mubarak and New Year's Eve celebration.
To this day, people still often referring Warkop films as "Dono films." Indro, representing Warkop, investigated this phenomenon by consulting a psychologist. Indro concluded that the word "Dono" is easy to remember because it consists of two syllables and is also placed at the beginning of the acronym "DKI", which is associated with Warkop DKI.
Television era In 1996, Warkop started work on a comedy soap opera called 'Warkop DKI' produced by and broadcast on Indosiar. This soap opera features Warkop DKI with as Dono's sister and Indro's wife and as Kasino's wife. But one year later, Kasino was rarely seen and occasionally appeared wearing a wig (because he wassuffering a brain tumor and undergoing chemotherapy at the time). He died on 18 December 1997.
Without Kasino, they are unable to using Warkop DKI (because DKI stand for Dono, Kasino and Indro) and change their name to Warkop and produced another soap opera called . Contrary to first soap opera, this is more likely to a made-for-television format and directed by a various directors (even Dono himself). On 30 December 2001, Dono died of lung cancer and was buried in Tanah Kusir Cemetery, leaving Indro as a sole member of Warkop. In 2004, producing another soap opera called Warkop (unofficially titled ) and lasted for 14 episodes.
Post Warkop era On 13 March 2019, started a spinoff project called "" and starring a different actors who portrays Dono, Kasino and Indro respectively (Indro himself is not involved along with the character Dono and Kasino, but he is portraying another character and serving as an executive producer). Falcon Pictures can produced this, because Falcon Pictures are also buying some of the Warkop film's copyright (see footnotes for the further explanations).
Discography +YearTitleNote(s)Publisher(s)Ref.1979Cangkir KopiFirst Warkop Album. Recorded live in Palembang. Pramaqua (Prambors and Aquarius)Warung TendaContaining 2 sides. Side A recorded live in Jakarta & Bandung, while side B recorded live in Pontianak. Also contained parody songs for the first time. Warung Kopi & Om PSPRecorded during TVRI's 16th Birthday Celebration. Collaboration with Orkes Moral Pancaran Sinar Petromaks. This is Nanu's last appearance in Warkop.DD Records1980Mana TahanRecorded only 3 members for the first time, after Nanu stepped down (despite Nanu's photo is remain intact in this album, taken from the film Mana Tahaan...)Purnama Records1981Dokter Masuk DesaRecorded with drama comedy radio format for the first time.1982Gerhana AsmaraRecorded live in Jakarta and Solo. Collaboration with Srimulat Group.JAL Records1983Pengen Melek HukumInsan Records1984Semua Bisa DiaturPokoknya Betul1986Sama Juga BohongLast time Warkop using Warkop Prambors name (likely to avoid royalty payment to Prambors.)Sokha1987Makin Tipis Makin AsyikRecorded using Warkop DKI name for the first time (DKI stand for Dono, Kasino and Indro). Also include quote "tertawalah sebelum tertawa itu dilarang" (please laugh before laugh is forbidden) for the first time. Indro explained that this slogan emerged when the personnel felt worried because the comedy they presented was considered dangerous to some parties, especially during New OrderUnion Artist and AD RecordsKunyanyikan JudulkuLast Warkop albumHarpa
Filmography Most Warkop films were unable to be distributed internationally due to copyright infringement concerns. Including the unauthorized or uncredited use of Henry Mancini's The Pink Panther theme song, although the symphony's melody in some films has been altered to avoid a significant similarity.
In 2021, some of the titles were available on Netflix and Disney+. But start from 10 February 2026, some of the titles in Netflix will be deleted from the catalogue. Year TitleProduction CompanyNote(s)Ref. 1979 Bola Dunia FilmFirst Warkop film. The only film to be featured Nanu.1980First Warkop film with 3 remaining members 1981 Parkit FilmFirst time Warkop using their own names instead of radio characters Nusantara FilmThe only Warkop non comedy film Bola Dunia FilmInspired and parodied the 1970s American television series, The Six Million Dollar Man1982Nugraha Mas FilmThe only Warkop comedy horror film.Parkit Film1983 Nugraha Mas FilmInspired and parodied the 1970s and 1980s American television series, CHiPs. Parkit Film1984 Indirect sequel of The only Warkop film using anti piracy advisory before the film begin 1985 1986 Garuda FilmLast time Warkop using Warkop Prambors name First time Warkop using Warkop DKI name 1987 Inspired and parodied the Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Pink Panther and Space Sherriff Gavan1988 In this film, Dono is also a screenwriter (along with Baron Achmadi) Garuda FilmThe only film Warkop in overseas location (Malaysia)1989 1990 First time Warkop using quote "tertawalah sebelum tertawa itu dilarang" (please laugh before laugh is forbidden), but not as an ending scene. First time Warkop film who used "Gadis Lambada" song as a soundtrack. 1991 First time Warkop using sketch comedy during credit title (unlike the previous films, a credit title is appear from start and throughout before the film begin).1992 First time Warkop using quote "tertawalah sebelum tertawa itu dilarang" (please laugh before laugh is forbidden) as ending credit (along with "Gadis Lambada" as a soundtrack) 1993 The only Warkop films (along with Bebas Aturan Main) using "Sekian" (The End) instead of usual ending credit (also appearing thank you note)1994 The only Warkop films (along with Bagi Bagi Dong) using "Sekian" (The End) instead of usual ending credit 1995 Last Warkop film
See also Indonesian comedy Cinema of Indonesia
Footnotes
References