Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Rachel Price, comedienne from Trinidad and Tobago. - Contributed
And despite being a strong person, Price was hesitant about performing in Jamaica.
"Christmas Crack-Up was my first show in Jamaica. I was very very unsure about the crowd reaction. Jamaica is the island I was very hesitant about. I come off as a very strong woman; the world is against strong women 'cause you can't control us. The first time I walked off the stage in Jamaica and realised they were standing, I cried. I thought I wouldn't get a positive reaction. I didn't think Jamaican men would accept this fat woman berating them on their shortcomings," she said.
"Y'all are not very different from us Trinidadians at all. They try to portray Jamaica, that the violence is so bad anything can happen. After a while, Trinidad started getting that same pressure," she said.
Her comedy career was an unexpected turn. "One of my friends asked me to help out at a club called Metal House (in Trinidad). He asked me to be MC and one lady who was supposed to perform dropped her eyelash and wouldn't come on stage, so I started to talk and they laughed. I talked some more and they continued laughing. I became an official comedienne in 2000. After I hosted that first show, I didn't go back, I didn't realise they wanted me back. As I was leaving I got paid and I was like 'wow, I could get paid for doing that'?" she said.
Many travels
"They called me and said 'come back'. I had a friend who had this other comedy club called 'Richards and Friends', which was more mainstream. I juggled between the two, then top radio people saw the act and asked me to join. After a year, I started doing a lot of television ads and I started travelling," she said.
"I've travelled to every single Caribbean island. The Caribbean comedy scene is very strong. Whereas in dancehall, soca and reggae there is a lot of competition and cattiness, we don't have that in comedy," she said.
Yet, Rachel Price doesn't regard herself as just a comedienne. "I don't think I'm funny. I try to let people think. When you're laughing your mind is open to accepting an idea. I slip in something to get people to understand a certain point," Price said.
Still, "There have been men who are jealous. They would go on stage and take longer than the time they have so that they can cut my time down. In Trinidad, the comedy scene is more developed than Jamaica. In Trinidad you have comedy clubs and they boo you off stage if they are not impressed. A lot of men came after me and say 'if Rachel Price can do this I can' and they get booed," she said.
Doing comedy allows her to focus on her family, as it "gives me more time to spend with my daughter. Within a year I became more popular, which meant more time with her."
Trinidadian Rachel Price can easily be described as a
hard-hitting comedian, straightforward and charismatic. She has her own television show called Lord Have Mercy, which airs on four different stations in Canada, as well as Trinidad.
However, she started off as a trained chef and cooking is still her passion.
