WRINKLES, THE AGED comic character in Celebration Time tent, has received a remarkable response from spectators – and it is his first time on the scene. But, Wrinkles is not as old as he would want people to believe. Under that costume is the youthful Jermaine Gittens, who is seeking to build a successful entertainment career. Gittens described the character, which he himself conceptualised, as “an old guy who is tired and fed up of lending to people who don’t want to return or even share”. During an interview with WE MAGAZINE, the 22-year-old Wesley Hall Primary School teacher said he enjoyed being his character “because Wrinkles creates laughter while he provides comedy on stage and comedy is a part of me”.
“Through the song Not For A Soul, Wrinkles shows how frustrated he is with lending people his belongings and not getting them back. Over the years, Wrinkles has been hearing people begging all the time. He highlights that people are always borrowing stuff from you or always want something free and then they don’t have anything to offer you. In the tent you would see that he is dressed in clothes that are not pressed because he lent out all of his nice clothes [and] iron . . . He has reached the point that he is not lending out anything anymore,” said Gittens, adding that each night he performed he received an encore – which, he said, was “pretty overwhelming to me, because I’m in a tent performing with the greats”. Unknown to his audience, Gittens, whose influence to become an entertainer came from his mother, backup singer Allison Gittens, is also De Coopa, who compliments “the ladies” with his Sweet Mout ragga soca.
“It’s a song which uses a lot of Bajan terms to compliment the ladies. I have lines like, ‘without you is like Tom without Jerry’ or ‘like a butcher without his knives or CBC without Days Of Our Lives’ or ‘our love, girl, is never fading cause I got the wood like Marshall Trading,” he said with a chuckle. “De bones ain’t so strong, but Wrinkles will definitely be on the road next year.” by Anesta HENRY
