The history of Caribbean Comedy here in Washington DC comes out of the tradition of making some good ole talk we are so accustomed to do within the context of the oral tradition which for some folk has been a tradition left too long to function without a concept. Twenty years ago the first comedy show occurred in the form which Paul Keens Douglas called the Talk Tent. This was patterned after the calypso tent which featured various orators expressing different styles of talk with the same function that mirrored the community and informed community folk of their folk history making them laugh at the same time. Fun and laughter is the flip side of determination and hard work in the Caribbean personality.

Twenty years have passed by with scores of island representative comedians visiting the circuit depositing a varied outpouring of humor and comical stories in addressing varied audiences from most of the Caribbean island nations. Many comedians/comediennes have graced the stage at Cramton Auditorium, Howard University in Washington DC and have performed diverse interperetations of Caribbean and American lifestyles.

The propensity to laugh, even at ourselves at times, together with good-natured picong and humor, are quintessential attributes which contribute to the legendary Caribbean ability to “cope” with the vicissitudes of life.

Stork St. Hill featuring a drunken sailor and Bill Trotman giving then TnT national airline BWIA a negative interpretation of their in flight service to Washington DC along with the singing emcee expressions of Relator were all part of that first show led by Paul Keens Douglas.

Performers over the years included:

• Sprang-a-lang
• Relator Paul
• Keens-Douglas
• John Agitation
• Deborah Jean-Baptiste
• Miguel Browne
• Charles Hyatt (deceased)
• Louis Antoine
• Owen Ellis (Blacka)
• Nigel “Frame” Fabien
• Donna Haddad
• Stork St Hill (deceased)
• Jamaican Paleface
• Ken Corsbie
• Amina Blackwood Meek
• Big B (deceased)
• Nikki Crosby
• Gypsy & Black Sage
• Rachael Price
• Tommy Joseph
• Deborah Millard
• Mac Fingall
• Mairoon Ali
• Saluche(deceased)