If a week is a long time in politics then what is 12 years in comedy? Weekender has no idea, so we asked The Big Kahuna, comedy legend, whose Wednesday shows at Morritt’s Tortuga are legendary.
“I had always been a wise guy and made friends laugh; I first appeared on stage at Mac’s famous bar in Daytona in the 1980s at an open mic contest and won 50 bucks; once you make a crowd laugh and get paid for it you feel so good and powerful. I kept going back and working on material. Comedy had a boom time when the drinking age in America went to 21.
“A lot of bars tried comedy nights so back then there was a lot of work and it paid well. I have opened for Dice Clay, Ellen Degeneres, Paula Poundstone, Carrot Top, Billy Gardel, the late Bill Hicks and hundreds of others,” he tells us.
Smart locals
Kahuna jokes about a lot of things, from himself to scuba diving, snorkelling and the differences between America and Cayman. Over time, he says, his act has become mostly about the Cayman experience. And whilst the Wednesday slots are largely for tourists, who love it, Cayman audiences are a different prospect.
“Local audiences are much smarter and get things quicker. You have to be smart and quick to live here – gas is almost $6 a gallon. Lots of times tourists are on their last legs at 8pm; they have been drunk twice already that day, fought with their wife, sunburned like a baboon’s bottom, already been to Hell, the turtle farm and the low holes and are full of conch fritters – just worn out.”
We couldn’t let him go without a joke so here’s a one-liner that we reckon all of us can appreciate:
“Men have a sexual thought every 22 seconds – isn’t that scary?
“You know what is even scarier? In between – nothing.”
Power to the Kahuna, whose favourite comedian is the absolute genius the late Bill Hicks, who he knew and opened for “four or five times”. Kahuna loves Cayman and harbours hope that one day his dream of a comedy club right here in paradise may yet come to fruition.
The Big Kahuna is at Morritt’s every Wednesday from 8pm; entry $10.
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