- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 03/Aug 06:13

Funny's time slips away

Today was tomorrow, yesterday/ Tomorrow today, go be yesterday/ Day after tomorrow, tomorrow/Go be yesterday – Time Flies When Donric Williamson, first known as Lord Funny, and finally as Master Funny, passed on July 31, it brought an end to 60 years of work as a practising calypsonian, much of it dedicated to making his audiences laugh. He was one of a few calypsonians to dedicate his career to what is today known as the humourous calypso; an increasingly rare example of the art and mastered by only the most deft of its wordsmiths. Much of Master Funny's oeuvre was executed in the realm of wordplay, turning words on their head and making outrageous statements unchallengeable in the context of their lyrics. Notable examples in his popular work include Farmer Brown, which told the story of a man who could not control the wayward jackass, prompting threats on the animal. His seminal Soul Chick was shaped around a persistently annoying young woman who kept asking him how he could "work/wail/nail...so." His dry reliance of the absurdist refrain and the deft reversal of the final verse was an early evolution of the Mighty Spoiler's approach. Spoiler – Theophilus Phillip – had a much shorter career, just 14 years, between 1946 and 1960, winning the calypso king title three times. Spoiler's songs were often Kafkaesque, revelling in their absurdities. Bedbug and Magistrate Try Himself are masterful examples of his work. Master Funny, however, was more interested in the turn of the word, the confusion that careless interpretation of casual phrasing can create. That fascination found its most complete realisation in the calypso, The True Sense of the Word in which he toyed with multiple word meanings to craft a song that for its times cheerfully skated the boundaries of social acceptability and hardline censorship while inviting the listener to ponder on his nuanced messages. His 1966 calypso Sweet Trinidad celebrated laissez faire in his homeland with a sardonic twist. By the 1987 Independence calypso competition he was sharper in questioning his audience about their experience as an independent nation over the last 25 years with How Yuh Feel. He won best-composed calypso but did not win the overall title. In 1989, he he received the keys to Port of Spain and in 2018, the Hummingbird Medal (silver). He was part of the cohort of Caribbean artistes in 2024 inducted into the Sunshine Awards Hall of Fame. In an interview, Master Funny was asked how he would like to be remembered. "As one of the best," he responded. "People will remember me how they see me, but as one of the best entertainers in the arts." Done and well done. The post Funny's time slips away appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.