Recipe for an evening of laughter: Some weed and Sauce (and more)
Comedy night host Jahrizino (Jah) Simmons had some good lines on Saturday night. But then he goes and says there's a weed shortage on the Island and all the hustlers are having to get regular jobs instead. Yeah right Jah, it just ain't going to happen.
See, if you ask me. Hang on a minute, my editor's calling.
Editor: Got that review Scottie?
Me: Right here boss. Special to you. Hey, ya know how you're paying me a cent per the word...and a photo is worth a thousand words?
Editor: Yeah.
Me: Well, I've got four pictures with this baby. So that's 40 bucks right there. Straight up. In fact, I'm going cut you a slice of the action, boss. Six photos for the price of four, couple of hundred words – and you ain't gonna get this s*** anywhere else.
Editor: Eh?
Me: Ya man. Leave the cash on the floor next to the photocopier for me to collect and don't deal with none of them other writers over there. Sweet. Ya hear what I'm saying?
Anyway, back to the Live Stand Up Comedy (part 2) at the Fairmont Southampton last Saturday. Bermudian comedian and host Jah was on form with his weed shortage and hustlers being forced to get regular employment gag.
Some hustler, he said, ends up at the gas station manning his gas pump and he ain't going to leave his gas pump spot, so he calls the customers over to him and hustles them a deal – with taxi drivers' discount thrown in.
Jah provided some other hilarious observations on life in Bermuda, including how to tell when a Jamaican is getting angry by how many degrees they are leaning backwards.
As good as Jah was, the night belonged to the trio of comedians headed by David (Sauce) Foster.
With appearances on HBO's 'Bad Boys of Comedy' and Showtime's 'Whiteboyz in the Hood', Sauce is a highly regarded comedian in Manhattan, and it soon became clear why, as he had the audience in the amphitheatre hanging on his every word – delivered in an effective, yet almost lackadaisical manner.
Sauce opened with reflections on Bermuda, such as the $6 he had to pay for a tube of toothpaste because he couldn't bring any on the plane and how he wished he'd decided to do what everyone else does and not brush their teeth, figuring he could be rich as a result.
He hit out at his native America's arrogance in not embracing football (soccer) and viewing every other nation in the world as 'wrong' for doing so, and America adding to the absurdity by calling its own most popular game football – even though it is almost exclusively about throwing and carrying a ball.
Sauce encouraged the audience to live long lives so they would be around to see the generation of women with tattoos in the small of their backs grow into elderly seniors with 'sluttish' images and words still visible above their ageing butts.
The comedian/actor, who has a role in MTV's 'Boiling Points' covered the most diverse range of topics of the three headline comedians and was worthy of the admission price alone.
Next up was Nikki Carr, who has appeared on BET's 'Comic View' and 'Showtime at the Apollo'.
She lamented the life of a 'bigger than average' woman in New York and how all the attention went to the thin, shapely women in the summer months. In the summer the only bites she would get were from mosquitoes, and the only time she would have hands on her body was when she set off the airport scanner and got frisked.
Carr said she got more attention in the winter months when everyone was wrapped up, but there were still men with the lame excuses to contend with when she made a booty call.
"One said he'd come over if it wasn't for the high price of gas. I said 'What, you need gas for the elevator? You live upstairs'," she joked.
In Jamaica she was being hit upon by a local who told her: "You now why I really love you? 'Cause you black and fat like my mother." To which Carr responded she would go with him this one time but he had better improve his pick-up line next time and drop the mother reference.
Carr got the biggest cheers, and a standing ovation after rounding off her set by performing a few snatches of songs with the lyrics altered to appeal to 'fat people', singing the praises of the likes of KFC and McDonald's.
The final comedian was Will E. Robbo, who started out with a comical take on an Obama presidential inauguration appearance complete with high-attitude theme music. He attracted more laughs recalling his attempt to act tough by refusing his girl's request to pay for cinema tickets at the front of the theatre line, then backing down as an intended macho swipe at his girl becomes a request for help to scratch an itch on his back.
Robbo then moved into raw sexual humour, which went on too long, crossing the boundary between risque into the realm of vulgarity as it was over-cooked. This was a shame as Robbo employed some imaginative moves imitating movie films including 'Jaws' and 'Transformers' as part of the performance and this ability could have brought some real belly laughs if used on other subject matter.
That said, Extreme Entertainment delivered another comedy night to remember on a par with the first, and during the evening the audience at times were rolling in their seats with laughter. Can they manage a part three?
Me (to editor): Okay boss, that's the end of the review, but I ain't seeing no bread by the photocopier. What gives?