Usain Bolt's new sports lounge finds a hit!

.... Tracks & Records joins forces with Ity and Fancy Cat

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

Three weeks old, spacious and tastily decorated Usain Bolt Tracks and Records Restaurant, positioned at Market Place on Constant Spring Road, was one of the venues where mothers were treated on their special day.

The main headliners for the comedy evening were Ity and Fancy Cat. It was an awesome threesome (Mother's Day, Tracks and Records and comedy).

Others thought so, too.

"It was very nice, the jokes were not hardcore," was how Lunny Chung viewed the entertainment. Beverly Williams, a teacher of Denham Town High School, in spite of seeing the stand-up comedians on TV, still thought they were wonderful, and also, "The man that talk about Rosie Rose," she said, in reference to the enigmatic Roza Roze.

It was obvious that the other patrons felt the same about the tall, lanky, energetic comedian who gyrated and sang his way into the hearts of the predominantly female patrons, especially with his edgy but entertaining Rosa, Rosa, Rosa, Rosie. He was rewarded with an impressive applause upon the conclusion of his act, and almost stole the show from Ity and Fancy Cat.

But that was almost, as Jamaica's most popular contemporary comedic duo brought with them their comedy distinctions for being able to generate laughter from the familiar and by now the well known.

DRAMATIC ENTRANCE

Sacrificing their customary grand entrance from the back of the venue, and through the centre aisle and on to the stage, the two come-dians still commandeered an entrance that was dramatic. Their new entrance was aided by a very innovative feature of the Usain Bolt Tracks and Records Entertainment centre that allowed videotaped images of a previous Ity and Fancy Cat Show to be flashed via television monitors of various sizes in every nook and cranny of the fabulous building.

And when the largest of the screens placed to the back of the building, high above the busy centre bar, was lifted, it revealed the two in a James Bond-like pose.

The stage, sandwiched between the upper and lower levels of the building, boasted steel wire barriers to its front. But evidence of the newness of the venue also came into play, as descending and ascending the steps of the stage (a makeshift wooden contraption) became a comedic act in itself.

Oops, sorry about that, now back to Jamaica's laughter medics. They began their live act by taking a roll call before segueing into one of their signature pieces 'It's Gonna Take a Miracle'. Subsequent acts included a satire on schoolboys' attire, the familiar role playing of Reneto Adams and the 'Be Yourself' titled act.

Kathy Grant and Donald 'Iceman' Anderson completed the compact comedy package. Anderson was, for the most part, hilarious with his attack on American Airline's policy to abandon one of their in flight services - to serve meals, albeit his opening item was a bit morbid.

Grant, on the other hand, failed to bring her 'A' game to the all-boys' party, thus managing to only squeeze drips of laughter from the audience.

The Ity and Fancy Cat comedy package was the first stage show at the venue. A delighted but exhausted Kevin Burke, director of an umbrella company which includes Tracks and Records and Fiction, thought that "it [the comedy show] went really, really well".

He also pointed out that, "We are only open for three weeks now so everything is new to us. We are building the brand - the best brand - brand Bolt."

He also revealed to The Gleaner that the plan is to have music, food, sport and live entertainment.

One of the plans was revealed by Ian 'Ity' Ellis. This plan is to start a once-a-month comedy series whereby the Ity and Fancy Cat Show TV Sunday series will be juxtaposed with live performance at the lounge.

"We might preview never-before-seen scenes and skits" said Ellis, who not only thinks the venue is spacious and fabulous but likes the idea of people having a meal and enjoying comedy.

Photos by Winston Sill