If anyone thought the Internet comedian Collin Nigel McPherson (Majah Hype) could only perform in front of his webcam, he certainly proved them wrong.
Hype put on a grand performance at the comedy show Stitches held recently in Port-of-Spain; his fans weren’t disappointed.
Known for his comical and entertaining pieces depicting different people (both male and female) mainly from the Caribbean, Hype has mastered the art of each nation’s lexicon and accent. Under his comedic belt, he has created over 15 characters such as Di Rass and Grandpa James.
Hype’s resume extends further than comedian. He’s a former DJ and artist, and can play several musical instruments. His fan base—over 4000+ Twitter followers, 300,000+ Instagram and over 100,000 Facebook followers—is extensive and keeps growing daily.
The Stitches show, scheduled to start at 9 pm sharp at the Zen night club, began after 10 pm to a packed house. Comedians (or as Majah Hype dubbed them—“forward-medians”) made up for the lateness with stellar performances.
Representing T&T in his red and white, Majah Hype, the main performance of the night, thoroughly satisfied the audience. Even though the burning question of his true nationality was on the tip of one audience member’s tongue, he was silenced by Hype’s quick response of “Mind yuh *^%& business!” which sent the crowd into a laughing frenzy.
Audience members hung on to his every word. With each punchline delivered, the crowd showed their approval with outrageous laughter and movements. He brought along his friends “Di Rass”—a foul-mouth and very crass rastaman with his usual cry of “Fire fi dat”—and Grandpa James, an old man with his “Trini” accent who cleverly looked around the audience to choose his topic and showed his versatility.
He engaged the crowd, asking the members, “Whey yuh from?” and as each gave a country, he quickly flipped into the country’s accent with one punchline after another.
Raw was the word of the night, as comedians such as Kareem Jones, Aaron Fingal, Keevo, Jarrod Best Mitchell, Sunny Bling and Allan the Entertainer touched on every aspect of life. Topics ranged from religion to politics, and even Ms Ho and her recent court matter.
Even though promoter Kwesi “Hypa Hoppa” Hopkinson tried to bridge the gap between accomplished and contemporary comedians by inviting Darryl Mendoza (the Saint) to the stage, for some strange reason he could not connect with the crowd. There was a vast difference in audience response between Sunny Bling (who got standing ovations) and the Saint (who was barely cheered when he left halfway through his “drunken act”).
Present were Fay Ann Lyons and her husband Bunji Garlin, and the American rapper Doug E Fresh who was asked to give an impromptu performance.
The crowd went wild and called for more as Hoppa then asked for Doug E’s interpretation of soca beat in beat boxing. Even though it sounded more like chutney, the crowd stood and applauded.
The show, over three hours long, ended with Majah inviting the local artistes back to the stage, commenting on their talent and praising them. Majah said everyone, once on stage, should be shown love, while mentioning the Saint.
As the show ended, people were already talking about the next instalment of Stitches.
One thing’s for sure: stand-up comedy in T&T is definitely alive and in good hands.