BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PATRONS laughed until they got stitches and some even cried at Black San’ Comedy Night held at the Sandy Point Hard Court, which featured two popular Caribbean comedians, Fatman George and Sprangalang from Grenada and Trinidad, respectively.
People were promised a belly full of laughter which was just what they got and more.
Sprangalang left the stage at about 11:54 p.m. after a performance that lasted for about an hour.
He emerged onstage wearing a red T-shirt and was heckled by some members of the audience for having the wrong colour shirt, claiming it should have been yellow instead.
In response, Sprangalang said he had bought the T-shirt in New York along with three others coloured green, blue and yellow. And in an attempt to appease the patrons, he apologised for wearing the red T-shirt claiming that he just “put on de one dat clean”.
In his presentation, the comedian said Trinidad was thinking about legalising obeah but noted that it could be disastrous. He wittily gave an example where an individual could beat his neighbour to death with a piece of wood and claim that he was getting rid of demons.
He also shared an experience he had after using Viagra. He said that in order for him to be able to handle a "young thing wid d tattoo" at age 63, his 18-year-old ego encouraged him to take "two blue pills" which he could buy from "d boy under the steps". The pills, he was told, could work up to four hours.
He said that he skipped consulting a doctor about the Viagra because "he going tell me to behave", so he took the pills. And a few minutes after taking them his body started vibrating but nothing was happening in a specific area.
He told the audience that his doctor explained that the vibration he felt was akin to a pipe when it does not have enough water and that “you don't have enough blood to do the job you want to do”.
Fatman George's performance also lasted for about an hour and he told the audience that it was his fourth visit to the Federation.
In one of his jokes, Fatman George claimed that he saw a woman backstage with "two iron burns on she face".
The relayed explanation given was that she was ironing her clothes to come to the show and upon hearing her phone ring, instead of picking up the phone she picked up the iron.
Fatman George said he questioned about the other cheek to which the woman replied, "Fatman you know de blasted woman call me back!"
He also touched on topics including infidelity and politics in St. Kitts.
In a joke about "horning", a term used for cheating, some audience members bellowed "biting" so as to inform him what it is referred to in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Chuckling, Fatman George replied, "Biting...that's the name for it here?"
Calypso Reggie was the Master of Ceremonies and, as usual, he kept the audience humorously entertained with his witty material.
In one instance while he returning onstage as the curtains were being manually drawn, he asked, "Well ayu ain’t gon lemme pass?"
Reggie told one of the curtain-drawing guys that he doesn't mind him putting up his hand and asked, "But wha kind a roll on that you wearing?" to which he answered "stay far".
The night was also spiced with local acts that went down well with the audience.
Two such acts were skits with serious underlying messages by the Poinciana Theatre Productions and the Youth Exploring Talent Theatre (YETT).
The skit performed by Poinciana Theatre Productions was entitled 'Bleep', which highlighted the story about a mother who physically and psychologically abused her daughter; a fifth form high school student named Shelly-Ann.
When the mother cursed her child, she enunciated the word 'bleep' as the expletive which sent the audience wild with laughter.
One audience member yelled out "stop bleeping crying" after the mother had physically abused her daughter.
The child, one day, arrived late at school and when approached by the teacher about her tardiness and for her to hand in her SBA, she attempted to leave the classroom but the teacher intervened.
The teacher lightly touched the child on her arm and she retorted, "Mister don't bleeping touch me...wha you tink you be… me bleeping farda?"
The Principal of the school heard the 'bleeps' being used and went immediately to the classroom.
Shelly-Ann was asked to go home by the Principal, who said he was not going to tolerate any disrespectful behaviour in his school. The student was asked not to return to school until she brings her mother.
The crying child fell to her knees and asked, "Me wha?"
Upon going to the school for a meeting with the Principal and the teacher, the two appeared on stage with the mother dragging Shelly-Ann by the hair.
The mother said, “Well teacher, I don't know way me child get that from. It must be de peer pressure...I don't say dem tings in me house", which brought much laughter to the audience.
When the two got home, the mother asked, “Shelly-Ann you trying to bleeping embarrass me?" to which the crying child replied, "No mommy."
In the round two beating, the mother did some warm-up moves before striking Shelly-Ann to all parts of her body. This, too, aroused much laughter from the audience.
Shelly-Ann leaped offstage in attempt to flee from the beating and was chased by her mother. The two ran through the audience bringing the drama a bit like surreal 3-D effects which concluded the skit.
In the first instance when Shelly-Ann was beaten, she was punished for disturbing her mother’s rest because she did not quietly enter the house.
"I ain’t look like a bleeping tired?" was among the series of questions the mother asked using ‘bleeps’.
The YETT’s skit depicted a father of two who had lost his job and who in his worrisome mode, upon sharing the bitter news with a male friend, was encouraged to get into the drug selling business.
His children’s mother encouraged him to remain in the business because of the money he was making. In one scene, she asked him for money to go shopping and ended up getting a whole envelope of cash because what he was giving at first was too small an amount, which made the audience laugh.
In a turn of events, after the mother and children had left the home, the drug dealer who employed him entered his house and asked for the proceeds from the deal. He could not produce it and begged for more time to do so, but the drug dealer said he had to pay the suppliers.
With the money not forthcoming, the drug dealer dealt him some severe blows and shot him before departing.
He did not die but ended up paralysed from the waist down and went home from the hospital in a wheelchair. The children were very emotional while the mother objected to looking after him in that condition.
Sitting in his wheelchair, the man talked about his dilemma and advised young men not to use the trade he chose for a livelihood, while at the same time warning them not to fall prey to covetous women who lust for money.
Other local acts included Khyla Browne, Hot Rod and Ecletic Dancers and Ali One.
Referred to as the "Local Michael Jackson", Hot Rod emerged on stage in a Michael Jackson outfit miming the late 'King of Pop's ‘Billy Jean’ tune.
Hot Rod also superbly mimicked Michael Jackson’s dance moves such as the crutch-grab, splits and moonwalk. He even jumped off the stage and danced at the front, much to the audience’s delight.
The show's after party was held at The Proper Fix Up Avenue, Mount Idle in Sandy Point and music was provided by Unstoppable Chalice, MixKluSiv Int'l, DJ Sixaklak and the Small Axe Band.
