A Vincentian high school alumni group in Brooklyn will next month host an inaugural comedy show in which a “Battle of the Sexes” will be an integral part.
Janet Wyllie, general secretary of the Marriaqua Secondary School / St. Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua (MSS/SJCM) Alumni Association, told Caribbean Life over the weekend that the “Battle of the Sexes” will be highly featured in the group’s maiden “Night of Comedy and Laughter,” on Feb. 28, at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, 671 Prospect Pl., Brooklyn.
“This comedy show is a show with a difference,” Wyllie said. “It is going to be interactive, as we have two segments where the audience is involved. One is the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ comedy show, where the answers to the questions do not have to make sense but (are) funny.”
She said that, in the other segment, “If you Think You Funny – Apollo Style,” “members of the audience will be invited on stage to give a joke and, if you are not funny within a minute or two, they will be pulled off the stage.”
Wyllie said the three funniest audience performers will be given undisclosed prices.
She said “Night of Comedy and Laughter” will also feature popular Vincentian comedians Earl “Ole George” Daniel and Maurice Horne.
Daniel – who resides in Montreal, Canada and has been doing stand-up comedy since 1988 – said he has performed with “the best in the Caribbean,” such as Trinidadians Spranalan, Nickie Crosbie and Errol Fabien, and Barbadians McFinngal and Trevor Eastmond.
Daniel said his comedy routine is “suited for the entire family (clean),” adding that the “greatest skill is knowing the audience and how to tailor routine to suit.”
Horne – a retired civil servant, who resides in Kingstown, the Vincentian capital – is also a playwright, and the first Vincentian to write, direct and produce a TV drama, “The Bitter End.”
In 2008, Horne won the Courts OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States) King of Comedy title.
For the past 20 years, he has also been a radio announcer in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, currently hosting “Sentimental Magic Sunday” on the local Magic FM Radio 103.7.
In addition, Horne said he has been Master of Ceremonies for the past 40 years, 25 of which he worked for the local Carnival Development Corporation.
Wyllie said Daniel and Horne were chosen to headline the group’s inaugural comedy show “because they are well-known comedians in the Vincentian community both here in New York and back in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
“We chose a comedy show because we see the need for shows of this nature in our Caribbean community, particularly in the Vincentian community here in Brooklyn,” she added. “We notice that most of the Vincentian organizations in Brooklyn are having events such as dance, barbeque, dinner and bingo. Therefore, we thought that our organization would do something different, and a comedy show is the way we see as this avenue.”
Wyllie said that MSS/SJCM Alumni Association — which was formed in mid-2018 by a group of past students and officially launched on Nov. 10, 2018 — hopes to produce “a good quality comedy show that would showcase the talents of our Vincentian comedians here and back home.”
“We also hope to use the show to generate proceeds to assist our alma mater in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the area of developing the library, science lab and the home economic center (kitchen), which is part of the goal of the organization,” she added.
“We also hope to make this an annual event to engage the folks in the art of comedy in our North America Vincentian communities, because we see the need for the art form in the Caribbean community here in New York and elsewhere in North America,” she continued.
“What we hope to accomplish is an introduction or revival to comedy shows in the Vincentian community here in Brooklyn and use this event as one our main fundraising drives to achieve the goals of the organization,” said Wyllie, stating that proceeds from the event and other fundraising ventures will be used “to fulfill our commitment to the school in terms of completing the projects previously mentioned.”
She said MSS/SJCM) Alumni Association, which is headed by Kenny Browne, hopes to start those projects by mid-2020.
“We have already assisted the school in other areas,” Wyllie said. “However, these are the three main areas the organization will be focusing on to help the school. This is also our way of giving back.”
She said the group’s immediate future plans are to recruit new members, “start the projects we have identified for the school and to ensure that those projects are fully developed and maintained according to the needs of the school.”
For more information about a “Night of Comedy and Laughter,” call (914) 262-3230.
