IT WAS AN LOL (laugh out loud) experience, causing patrons to ROTFL (roll on the floor laughing).
And that’s no joke.
Despite the fact the comedians largely relied on the same tropes to garner crowd response – and seriously, who could blame them – all of the acts at Laff Out Loud Caribbean created a hilarious sketch of life in the region, complete with its colourful language, infidelities, regional integration and non-politically correct ideas about sexuality.
As the final comedian on the card, Trevor Eastmond exploded a stick of dynamite in the Wildey Gymnasium to end the three-hour laugh fest.
Not even Prime Minister Freundel Stuart was spared the wrath of his quick wit. With decades in the business, Eastmond was more than aware of how to work the crowd and his comedic timing went largely unrivalled.
Ity And Fancy Cat will be more than welcome at any future iteration of Sunday evening’s show, which was produced by Laff If Off Productions. Bobbing and weaving throughout the audience, the duo featured music and dancing in their act.
The entertaining and energetic Jamaican pair taught the men in the audience how to “lyrics” a woman with style.
It took some time for the audience to warm up to Guyanese funny man Chow Pow, but once they did, they could not get enough. He made light of his Portuguese background as well as the treatment of Guyanese by Barbados Immigration.
Errol Fabien of Trinidad and Tobago played the role of men’s rights activist and tried (I’m not sure how successfully) to convince his listeners that men are decent, honest and loving.
But it was Mac Fingall who took the cake for the most novel performance of the evening.
Dressed as a Dalmatian, he delighted with jokes about the “hard” life of a dog, although according to his estimation, humans were not faring much better.
The family pet filled in the crowd on the shenanigans in his household, which (no surprise) included a cheating housewife.
It was actually the “My wife is so stupid . . . ” jokes from the men of Laff It Off that got the night started. They were interspersed throughout the night, making hilarious introductions for the acts. The Gabby tribute, performed by the “Cavity Chorale” was by far the most memorable and the audience wanted more of it.
The pillow time confessions, depicted by Toni-Ann Johnson and Chrispen Hackett, had the crowd in stitches, as did the side-splitting conversation between a British guest (Simon Alleyne) and a Bajan receptionist (Peta Alleyne).
William Smokey Burke was the first featured comedian. Better known as a calypsonian, Smokey told stories of “friends”, his nocturnal activities and while he left most of the politics to Eastmond, he also put in one or two of his own.
Madd’s Eric Lewis, appearing as Archibull Cox and later as Rudefus, Kevin KB Kleen Hinds and his daughter Shana Hinds also received a good response to their skits.
Archibull’s antics got the most love from the audience – an interesting lesson in irony in light of the jabs made at sexuality and male virility.
There was no featured female comedian in the line-up apart from Shana Hinds of Madd and the women of the Laff It Off cast. Perhaps this was a mere oversight, but it would have added another dynamic to the myopic points of view on male-female relationships.
leighannworrell@nationnews.com
