Stand-up comedy has elevated itself from being perceived as a last-gasp career choice for life’s losers who plied their trade in dingy bars and seedy nightclubs to a viable profession that drives a billion dollar industry today. On both sides of the Atlantic top performers are even filling giant stadia like rock stars.
In fact, some argue that it’s the new rock’n’roll. Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld can thank predecessors like Bill Hicks, Robin Williams and Richard Pryor for paving the way.
In Britain the annual Edinburgh Comedy Festival continues to attract record performers and crowds with the 100,000 tickets sold annually in London comedy shows during the 90s exploding to over a million today.
So lowly regarded in the food chain were stand-up comics they used to be treated like, well, a joke. But with the millions some of them now rake in, this genre has come a long way from the era of the likes of British legends Les Dawson, Bernard Manning and Ken Dodd who started their careers in working mens’ clubs, usually to a handful of drunken miners.
Cayman’s comedy scene got a welcome injection recently. Raunchy American Damon Williams came over for two nights at Margaritaville. It was the first in a series of the Laughter Lounge Comedy Show and networking socials. In these depressed, economic times and with the recent stormy Cayman weather saturating everything, anything to lift the spirits is welcome. Virtually every taboo topic was covered in graphic yet hilarious detail. Nothing was off limits –
sex, long marriages, physically and mentally challenged people, total deafness, limbless people, thong wearers, breast cancer…
There was strong corporate sponsorship so the crowd, paying around $30 for the two hour show that started with music by the Love Culture band and ‘warm-up’ by Quincy Brown, was mostly middle-aged professionals. They chuckled their rear ends off.
Good fun plus there was a charitable side because a portion of the proceeds went to the Rodney Bodden Memorial Weekend held each year in honour of the young Caymanian basketball player who died as a result of heart failure on a national team trip to the Bahamas in 1996.
Promoters Brad Watts and Rod Jefferson deserve credit for their innovation. Jefferson is the general manager of PostNet and Watts is vice-president of operations for Bodden Holdings. The next round of shows are scheduled for 10 and 11 December. On the strength of the initial two, they will be sell-outs again.
The partners shared the sentiment that Cayman is missing something on the night-time entertainment scene. “We wanted to create something that would give folks an alternative to going to the nightclubs,” says Watts. “With all of the violence and tension going on, we figured comedy might be a great remedy. Laughter is great medicine. We were aware that there may be another comedy show on the island, but we wanted to bring in a headliner. Somebody that a lot of people know. Damon Williams seemed to fit that image. He is currently seen on Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment Stand-up on Starz network. He also opened for the original Kings of Comedy tour and appeared on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam. Damon also may be helping us with future shows in a hosting role.”
With Jefferson’s past experience in promotions in the US, hosting a plethora of parties at popular Florida hot spots along with his printing expertise and Watts’ experience in sales, operations and mass communications, they knew they would make a strong team.
Their only worry was Williams’ X-rated material. “Yes, we were very concerned,” says Watts. “We even went to the extent of talking to two police constables about the situation so as to make sure the comedian wouldn’t be shut down. They both stated that people come to a comedy show with the expectation that there could be foul language, sensitive issues, and so on – so as long as it was behind closed doors and you have to have a ticket to get in, the comedian can speak freely.”
Williams certainly went down well. Most of the audience feedback carried the same theme, that they had a great time and they had never laughed so hard in their lives, says Watts. He adds: “They were saying things like: ‘I can’t wait for the next show’ and ‘Cayman really needs something like this’, ‘Thank you for doing this’ and ‘Damon is hilarious’. The guy from the audience that got picked on most of the night even told me last week that he still hasn’t stopped laughing yet.”
Watts claimed they hadn’t received any negative feedback although the visual gag when he imitated a physically handicapped man for what seemed like an interminable period was the only unfunny thing he did.
The headliner for the December shows is Gary Owen, one of the hottest comedians on tour in the US presently. A white man, married to a black woman, Owen interjects a lot of humour through the differences he experiences on a daily basis being in an inter-racial marriage. He is also currently on Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment Stand-up. Owen has numerous TV and movie credits, including appearing in the movie Little Man with the Wayans brothers and is seen in Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will go to The Cayman Aids Foundation and their proposed movie, When No One’s Looking.
Watts says: “We believe in giving back to our community and we think this is a very worthy cause. Each Laughter Lounge will feature a different charity.”
Based on the response from their guests, repeat sponsorships are already on board, as well as new ones and feedback from those who didn’t make the show that said they regretted not going, things look good for the partners. If the Owen shows are successful then they are scheduled to roll out once a month in the New Year. Watts adds: “We will continue on the same path as long as it remains as popular as it currently is. But again, based on the feedback, we don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon.”
For more information, visit PostNet in Galleria Plaza on West Bay Road or contact Rod at 949-7678 or
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