Witnessing Tommy Joseph work audiences, you get a sense of a man forever in festive mode but next week Saturday at the Jean Pierre Complex he vows to really pump up the giggle-machine, in celebration of his 28th anniversary as a stand-up comic.
By Terry JosephFor his July 10 tribute concert, which is being produced by Randy Glasgow, Joseph will be joined by a number of fellow comedians, including Sprangalang, Louis Antoine, Damien Melville, Mairoon Ali, Big George Gonzales, Cyclops and Cliff Learmond, with special appearances from Emmett Hennessy, calypsonians Mighty Duke, Bomber and Brigo and a special role-play from Denise "Saucy Wow" Belfon.
Billed as "the great grandmother of all comedy shows", Joseph's concert will present him as cricketing superstar Brian Lara, recreating the game in which the latter broke the world batting record, that sequence also featuring "team members" Duke as Chris Gayle, Brigo as Ridley Jacobs, Sprangalang in a cameo as the Antiguan Prime Minister congratulating Lara and Belfon as team physiotherapist, showing the boys how to move their bodies to ensure maximum response.
While Joseph has done a range of portrayals in other humorous presentations, this time around he is THE STAR, a quantum leap from his humble beginnings in comedy. Born in Plymouth, Tobago, Joseph began what is now his more lucrative of two parallel careers (he works days at TTPost) as a raconteur at the Raymond Reid Basketball Courts in Port of Spain, where he imitated players' moves and chided their mistakes with rib-tickling barbs.
He soon took that format to cricket and became a sought-after sideshow at first-class games, doing commentary as well as impressions of batsmen, fielders and umpires as they took turns in the limelight. His cricket impressions have become a staple on stage, with added theatre from slow-motion caricatures of fast bowlers and, of course, his favourite sportsman, Brian Lara.
In addition to his Lara piece, Joseph will be something of a quick-change artiste as well, doing not just wardrobe but make up for roles as pop gigastar Michael Jackson, Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, a new version of the "skettel" schoolgirl and a nagging and miserable old lady; characterisations guaranteed to elicit more than their predictable level of laugh-response.
Joseph described the upcoming show as his greatest challenge since opening his stage career at William Munroe's Kingdom of the Wizard Calypso Tent in 1976, a concert hall representation of what he had been doing during breaks at ball games since 1971. He also debuted another facet of his talent, as a novelty singer with "Tommy's Jam", a feature he has retained as part of his routine.
In 1981, he shifted to the Martineau Brothers' Calypso Spektakula, when Munroe took his first hiatus from the management of calypso tents. Joseph has remained with Calypso Spektakula, making him one of its longest-running acts. It is now widely acknowledged that he is viewed as a cast-member as well as MC, with audiences calling for his antics even as they await singers listed on the playbill.
To keep and attract fans over a 28-year career as a comic cannot have been easy and Joseph shows no sign of letting up. He has travelled extensively to host shows comprising calypso acts and doubles as a feature at such events, dropping one-liners at machine-gun speed, accompanying his stingers with faces appropriate to the mood; all with irreproachable timing.
But even with an established history as crowd pleaser, by his own admission, next Saturday's show is the sternest test. Over the past few years we have seen a number of comedy presentations, most of them including Joseph in cameo roles that left audiences calling for more. This time, he is the headliner, a shift in the degree of responsibility and, we may surmise, the overall level of humour.
Tickets for Tommy Joseph in concert are available from regular outlets, with special deals for patrons who purchase before the close of sales tomorrow.
