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For more than 30 years, the theatre and acting have been the truest passions of comedian Stede Flash, more commonly known as ‘Jooky Jam’. However, with the changing entertainment industry, Flash has had to find creative ways to keep doing what he loves while paying the bills.
“I’ve been working in private healthcare for about 10 years now. It’s been good, but I only chose this line of work so I can jump out and jump back in when I want to,” Flash told The Gleaner.
“There have been places that tell me if I step away from the work, I don’t have a job to come back to. And when an employer tells you something like that, it really hurts. I wanted to be in a position where I can tell my employer that I’ll be gone in a week or two, and that is what I have now,” he continued.
Before his current run in healthcare, Flash worked in the food industry as a server in a New York-based restaurant. He says he enjoyed working there as he had the opportunity to serve up smiles.
“The work here in the US is good, but they really are just to keep the bills paid and so that I have something steady to take care of my family. But my heart has now, and will always be the stage,” Flash said.
This passion is what drove ‘Jooky’ to join forces with fellow veteran comedian Andrea ‘Delcita’ Wright as co-star in their new play, The Real Wife. The play has been on tour across several cities and countries, including Jamaica.
“It’s been a minute mi nuh perform in a Jamaica, so I had to come with all the happiness and joy that ‘Jooky Jam’ is known for,” Flash said. “Being able to perform in front of my local audience and the whole family is a really great feeling and I was really looking forward to it.”
It was the first time in 13 years since the veteran actor graced Jamaican stages. But, for him, things have not changed since he last performed on the island in 2011.
“The comedy and acting scenes in Jamaica are exactly how I remember them. The audience still has this buzz when you get on stage. The way persons are really attentive to the storyline and how you get to interact with them, nothing has changed, and I love that,” Flash said.
He added that with this market for plays, there needs to be more spaces to accommodate them.
“What I want to see happen more is more theatre productions coming forward. Back in the day we had way more plays coming out and those have dropped due to a lack of spaces, I believe. So, I would love to see more spaces for plays going up and the amount of plays going up,” Jooky Jam told The Gleaner.
English (US) ·