Amina Blackwood MeeksOVER AT the Hilton, people planning to boycott viagra in favour of laughter chu Dr. Kingsley Stewart a.k.a. Ragashanti, streetwise an addawise, sey into big big guest speaker speech, people get a rise, a lift, a high out of laughter.
An Bello, Blacka, IceMan, Johnny, Lemon an Ity speaking on behalf of the absent Fancy Cat sey dem is going to set up hospital fe put docta out of work.
For de only time dacta know dat laughter is good medicine is when dem write de bill an give you an yu have to mortgage yu granny house to pay it.
Jing Bang sey anybody who meck dacta laugh afta dem do not deserve to live into dem granny house.
Unless dat mean sey yu laugh first an de dacta laugh afta. For look how long fe har granny a teck bad tings meck laugh, a teck kin teet kibba heart bun an people teck har fe idiat chu she nuh meck nutten badda har, till seet it dere now, Dr. Ragashanti gane prescribe it an Blacka a bring people fram farin fe come laugh afta we distress.
Really now, Jing Bang wants to know when fe har granny wasa gi laugh fe peas soup, all dem dem, whey dem dem did deh? Or as Deon Silvera translated it for those who neither read, speak, nor tolerate the vernacular, all the genteel ones who are here gathered, from whence did they come?
NOTHING SHORT OF RIOTOUS
The launch of the Ellis International-produced International Comedy Festival at the Hilton Hotel on Wednesday June 15 was nothing short of riotous. And still not even KingFish and Crime Management Unit combined cudda meck one charge stick.
As Jing Bang sey de Finance Minista cudda deal, him cannot find de way fe extrack 16.nutten% offa nobaddi teet, even doagh him meck summuch people laugh all de time.
For she know sey dem lissen to how him budget fe get dem outa de predicament dat suppose to change year afta year an eva adjusting figures an everybaddy know sey whey him a gwaan wid is a comedy of errors an if dem doan laugh dem wudda commit some whole heap a tings.
And that's the value of laughter. Jing Bang sey, if him did know whey nuff people know doagh him wudda carry de whole a Ellis International wid him nex time him go to farin to look money.
For when people a laugh, yu get more outa dem dan when yu face look like post-'Ivan'.
It is also the tragedy, ascarding to Jing Bang, that our leaders an public servants, after all these years still do not know what's good for us.
If dem did know dem wudda put awn Claudette Pious, Paleface, Bello, Blacka, de whole a dem fe host de talk show dem pan radio, even fe one month, meck gunman laugh till him too weak fe teck gun outa security firm, much more fe go fire it, an save we de trubble fe go investigate how dat happen.
Yu nuh see sey a soso comedian deh pan late night teevee show uppa Merica an all a dem know sey if Bush was one a dem de worl wudda be a happier, kinder, gentler place in which to live. Him wudda a search fe non-existent weapons of mass destruction when people a bawl sey dem waan more debt-destruction.
Dr. Brian Morgan never meck fun fe kin fe him teet inna Mutual Gallery which part Andy Jefferson was having fe him exhibition and declare sey "Few things are more important than the arts in forging the development that we so desperately need."
And that development begins with our social and emotional development. Ah so de dacta sey, him mean our ability to identify and understand how we really feel, what we really want, what we must fight for and what we mus jus kiss teet an 'low.
A so comes kin teet cover heart bun. For check dis, nuff people who lock off dem radio and teevee when is Budget Debate or when some esteemed minista is going to give a special address to de nation, put awn fe dem owna special dress an gane a CentreStage go laugh till esteemed smaddy dun address.
Jing Bang sey when de two day of laughing between Ocho Rios and Kingston done we shuuda leggo Ellis International inna Parliament fe show dem is what an how fe run tings.
People who know how to read what theatre sey bout society, write dung sey "While serious drama and comedy are found in nearly every culture and time period, tragic plays appear chiefly in societies that maintain a fixed hierarchy of political and religious beliefs."
CRITICAL ROLE
Dat mean to sey when nutten naw gwaan people face inna one position, screw up like dem mind and dem intentions.
When tings a gwaan now dem face dance in various positions from smile to belly-laugh to laugh whey kean come out till eye water come and the artist.
Dem mean fe tell we sey de laugh specialist have a critical role fe play fe show people how dem can feel differently bout tings and look pan tings differently till tings a gwaan, den laugh some more an meck more tigns gwaan, till de whole a we start walk roun an look like de Cheshire Cat. It name de feel-good factor, de more yu feel good de more yu can meck good tings happen.
Yea, man, comedy a serious business, a nuff productive works artists a mash roun yah but who fe see it naw see it an we eleck people fe see what a gwaan but when it a gwaan, all dem dem, when dem dem did deh.
Big up all who paint, write, carve, keep galleries open so we can experience de range and depth of tings dat foster our individual and collective emotional development. Is dem tings dere tourist come here to see. Is dem tings dere carry Jamaica name Big and Braad into farin.
Big up all who help we laugh over the years thru thick and thin, from Ananse to yu granny. Big up Ellis International and the private sector people dem who join up wid dem so dat if is even two day, we can ease likkle
tension, an gwaan like Bob Marley, forget your troubles and dance.
An big dem up fe know sey de days of laughter dat ridicule an art dat talk demeaning tings and incite Kingfish fe go fishin fe done. Comedy is serious
business.
