MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Following two successful comedy shows Loaves of Laughter continues on Sunday featuring Leighton Smith and Bobby Finzi-Smith at Top Loaf Café on the Jamgas Complex in Mandeville.

Event promoter Christopher “The Entertainer” Larmond described the previous staging of the event on March 1 as a sold out show which featured comedians Leon “Lemon” Parkins and Alton “Fancy Cat” Hardware.

“Standup comedy is what we do. We normally have our general show, which is Comedy in the Hills, but this is a series now that we are putting together to get Mandeville people understanding the art of standup comedy,” he told Observer Online recently.

“The first show we had was February 1 featuring Christopher “Johnny” Daley. The second show featured Fancy Cat and Lemon,” added Larmond.

Both comedians evoked laughter among their audience during the March 1 event. Larmond said the event is family oriented and is aimed at boosting entertainment in Mandeville.

“We keep our jokes clean, so that the family can enjoy. Something like this is very important in Mandeville, because not everybody is into the dance, the carnival party or the karaoke. Some people just want to have a Sunday afternoon to sit down, have some great food and just laugh,” he said.

Patrons seated during the March 1 staging of Loaves of Laughter in Mandeville. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

Tickets for the Sunday event are presold at $2,500 and $3,000 at the gate with the show scheduled to start at 6:00 pm. Tickets are available at Top Loaf locations and the New Best Decorators on Caledonia Road in Mandeville.

Parkins welcomed the family entertainment event to Mandeville following his debut at the Loaves of Laughter on March 1.

“Family is togetherness and when you can walk into a show and see people sit down together it brings joy. I saw 12 people putting on armbands together, so I know that they came together,” he said.

“That is a family link right here, it is very nice to know that you can entertain an entire family. When they are enjoying themselves laughing and teeth a kin teeth that I give thanks for, so big up Chris and Top Loaf for this event,” added Parkins.

Director at the Top Loaf Café, Ryan Chen, said Loaves of Laughter is one of the initiatives supported by the second generation business to spur entertainment in Mandeville.

“We have been here at Jamgas just over a year, it has been steadily growing and having this comedy event has just been a great vibe to the business to the area to Mandeville for the people it is even bringing in people from all outside of Mandeville too, because we have people coming from St Elizabeth and from neighbouring parishes,” he said.

“Comedy is playing a central important aspect to all of our uplifting, because at times people are stressed and it is good to just sit down and have a laugh together with everybody whether your family or crew,” he added.

The event is being hosted at a prime location outside the busy Mandeville town centre where Top Loaf Café has been successful in capitalising on being a rest stop for commuters by passing Mandeville.

“At the Mandeville location just below Park Crescent at 23 Manchester Road we have been there for over 35 years and Mandeville has grown, it is very congested and so all of our longtime traditional customers cannot get to our location, because of the traffic congestion, so it was so important for us to come here to Marshall’s Pen right on the highway. As you pass the New Green roundabout you make a right and it is convenient for everybody, if you are going to Kingston you can stop to pick up your goods or if you are going to St Elizabeth,” said Chen.

“We can’t think about the limit of the town [of Mandeville] today. We have to look at it five, ten years down the line… We need to have infrastructure for people, so people can expand outside the town,” he added.

— Kasey Williams