The name Carollene Leza Singh might not ring a bell, but everyone knows ‘Radika’, the energetic and blunt self-professed ‘coolie gyal’ comedienne from ‘Parika Backdam’.
Carollene is unique—she is the only Indian-Guyanese stand-up comedienne on the scene right now. Her jokes straddle the line of Guyanese ethnic traits and culture mockingly pushing us to accept our differences.
“The love of the performing arts motivates me. I love acting, I love being on stage. It’s like a different world up there. It’s nice to know
that what you do can bring laughter to people,” she said. “A lot of the things I do are things that happen every day, people can relate.”
She told The Scene in an exclusive interview that when she was growing up, there was a lot of talk about race; about Africans and Indians and she now uses that to “twist and turn” into something humorous. “It’s not right. It’s not wrong. It’s our comedic culture and no harm in it. It’s just humour…,” she said.
Comedy is rough and audiences can be tough but she knows how to handle herself.
She talked about the difficulties of being a stand-up comic. Actors have their scripts, she noted, but all the comedian has is a microphone. Often, audiences will heckle and this can distract and throw a comic off. She said the comedian has to “deal with them” in a way that does not go against the routine.
“You have to be on point with it!” she said. And ‘Radika’ is known for her witty and sharp comebacks to hecklers, dealing with situations by impromptu means.
She though highlighted that since she has been a stand-up comic she has received tremendous audience support. “My comedy is relatable. It’s realistic. It’s not silly things that are made up,” she said.
While her alter ego, ‘Radika’ came into being after a comedy skit she had performed some time ago, Carollene really is from Parika. Born 27 years ago on December 11 at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, she grew up in the bustling trading village of Parika. Carollene, one of four siblings—she has one brother, and two sisters—is the baby of the family, with a ten-year age difference between her and her next older sibling. She described her family as typically Indian, with Christian values.
Her childhood, she said, was academically nourished. Education took priority over everything else. After completing her primary education at Greenwich Park School, she gained a spot at the prestigious St Rose’s High in Georgetown.
Living miles away from the city did not prevent her from gaining the best standard of education. She even took up sports, against her mother’s wishes, serving as captain of the female cricket team and was even on the basketball team. Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination out of the way, she attended the University of Guyana and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 2008 passing with credit.
Carollene next stretched her legs to the city, moving three years ago. She currently resides in the Alexander Village ward.
But how did she blend economics with stand-up comedy? As it happened, her interest in drama and comedy was sparked in church at a very young age. She was always an outspoken individual and the church’s drama group exposed this in a unique setting. With the assistance of a friend, Carollene began doing skits in ‘creole talk’ which was common in Parika. “We tried to do really raw creole and put it into our performances, I eventually developed from this,” she said
But what really kicked started her career in comedy was her roles in the annual productions of Nothin’ to Laugh About. In the fourth edition of the show, three years ago she started as a writer and eventually grew to do skits. She still writes for the show.
As for her stand-up comedy this began sometime after university with the ‘Mori J’Von Comedy Jam’. This was where Radika from Parika Backdam was born. It was not a stand-up piece but a skit she wrote to reflect life from the viewpoint of a countrywoman. The name ‘Radika’ stuck and so the persona was born.
Her debut performance was at the Aracari Resort on the West Coast Demerara.
She has been competing in Uncensored for the past two years, winning both competitions and is getting ready to defend her title in the fifth edition on December 28 and 29.
Carollene basically started out trying to prove that local comedians can do clean comedy and still be funny. She said she has strayed a little every now and again but always commits herself to clean, though suggestive jokes where the audience can relate to our culture and think for themselves rather than being exposed to vulgarity, or as she describes it “wutlessness”.
“Wutlessness has become synonymous with comedy in Guyana and it is difficult to go before an audience with clean fun [when] that [audience] already expects wutlessness. They expect all you must talk about is wutlessness and nothing else. In my comedy, I try to bring a clean atmosphere of suggestive jokes, it’s how the audience interprets it – it’s all satirical,” she said.
“I try to perfect my art; there is always room to grow. I try to learn from senior comedians, and basically try to do something different so Guyana doesn’t have the same routines over and over. I want to bring something different and that’s my aim every time I go on stage,” she added.
She affirmed that the character on stage is not her but a stage persona. “It’s a character I play on stage; that is important in theatre. What you play on stage is not who you are. People walk up to me and ask if I could talk ‘properly’,” she said.
Carollene has her own production ‘Country Vibez Comedy Show’ and has previously done two productions but none recent because of other responsibilities. “To balance work and a production is very difficult,” she noted.
She hopes that a production can be pulled off soon since her name is now more established. The show features a mixture of young and old comedians, dramatists and other artists from across the country’s rural landscape. It was initiated to give young, rural actors an opportunity to showcase their talent and its purpose is to bring the show to the city where the country life can be relayed.
She has a message to the young artists coming up: “If you have talent don’t sit on it. I waited a while before I came out. Just an encouragement to you all is that you can do anything you want to. With God anything is possible.”
