By Iana Seales
The comedy of Kirk Jardine can sometimes be strangely frightening, building from a tame flurry of one-liners and strengthening to pointed wisecracks often aimed at anyone within three inches of him, which is why his audience usually stays a reasonable distance away in designated safe zones.
In his lighter moments, Kirk is a peach, offering up what is on the top of his electric barrel of comedy, and creating that comfort zone where is it okay to listen to his jokes. But when he settles in and that barrel tumbles over, his comedy is outrageous and painfully good.
Critics have assessed that Kirk who also goes by the stage name, “Chow Pow” peaked about two years ago while on a glorious roll at the bi-monthly comedy sessions at Upscale Restaurant, but something seems very flawed with such a review based on his increasingly popular routines at the New Courtyard every Tuesday. Though he features in full for about five minutes tops, some nights it turns out to be the shortest, sweetest moment.
“I am getting better and my material continues to take shape in a bolder way, who knows what is going to come out of my mouth tomorrow, the next day, a few hours from now,” Kirk tells The Scene in an interview.
For a guy whose first few jokes as a stand-up comedian at Upscale bombed and raised doubts among some people that he was just taking up space, Kirk has come a long way. Not only is he one of the better stand-up comedians in the country; he is also a fine actor and a steady force at his day job as a drug counsellor. In fact, he is a far way from the streets he called home about a decade ago when his drug addiction was anything but a laughing matter.
He openly discusses the fact that he is a “junkie” turned drug counsellor and that at one point his life seemed bent on going down the drain. However, in 1998 he decided to get clean and has been for ten years now. Kirk says nothing ever seemed more real than the life he now has and shares with a wife and six children.
Does he crack jokes at home? All the time. That is where perhaps his harshest critics and greatest fans are.
But he is quick to make the point that his public jokes are just that, public. And they never enter home because of how rude they are sometimes.
Being funny is not something Kirk works hard at since as he sees it, he needs only show up on a stage and people start laughing. He feels this has something to with a certain little joke that fellow comedian, Linden ‘Jumbie’ Jones started circulating a few years back.
Kirk still feels nervous on stage though he never shows it but when he remembers what ‘Jumbie’ once said about him just looking funny enough to tickle any crowd, he calms down and gets right into his routine.
According to him, there is always that fear that people may not laugh at a routine and it has happened to him a few times. What he does is go back, re-work the material and dish it out a second time; turns out the repeat never fails to impress.
It can be said that Kirk is a serious comedian. He says he is open to criticism and that he has learned from it in the past. He gets the, “You were funny tonight but…” from people after he wraps up a routine and he welcomes it. Kirk feels his fans are part of what he does and if they do not have an imput his work would not be the same.
There is still much he hopes of doing in Guyana but has dreams to take his comedy outside and he has a certain Big Apple state in the US in mind.
“New York is where I would love to do stand-up and grow as a comedian. It just seems the place to get the right start and to take-off at the right time,” Kirk says.
He recalls being in Barbados last year and being afforded the opportunity to perform for a local crowd. Two words, describe it he says, “dynamite and surreal”. It was one of his better moments on stage in the Caribbean. Though he has had few other changes to work a routine in the region, he feels confident in winning them over.
Comedy has paid the bills for Kirk over the years and catapulted him to instant fame though he had been acting for a short while before doing stand-up. It also landed him occasional jobs hosting shows which he is still very much involved him now. He is fresh off the ‘Whatz Hot Guyana’ show.
In any given month, Kirk is on stage six times a week guaranteed with his time split between the New Courtyard and Upscale. But even with all the success he says comedians and local artistes in general lack the respect of the public. Kirk posits that no matter how hard they fight people still treat them as secondary sometimes. He continues to fight quietly, sometimes loudly for their respect.
He explains that regular work is hard to find for many local artistes, but within the past year, his Tuesday night sessions at the New Courtyard seem to have the potential to change this.
Kirk points out that Upscale Restaurant was pioneering in its support for the arts by offering a regular stage to comedians.
Kirk Jardine has no long career in the arts to boast of but over the years he has performed creditably as an actor and comedian. He got his first break as an actor in 2003 when he appeared in the play, For Better For Worse. It was actually his tendency to crack jokes on the set that resulted in him being asked to join the team at Upscale. He has since performed in several plays including, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Tulsidas and All in Wan.
He credits comedians Habeeb Khan; Henry Rodney and ‘Jumbie’ for his start and grounding in the business.
Kirk notes too that without the support of Andre Wiltshire; Gem Madhoo-Nascimento; Andrew Carto and Dave Martins he would have found it hard to stay in the business. He also names Giftland as one of a leading corporate support that has been with him from the beginning.
Kirk rarely answers the question what’s next because he takes it one day at a time. He is convinced though that the best is yet to come but in the meanwhile he promises to keep people laughing and entertained.
(ianaseales@yahoo.com)
