Emcee Mac Fingall has called it quits from the local stage as a host of calypso tent shows after 40 years.
He said: “Lately, now I have to dig deeper to do the job and I feel it is time to just cut out.”
A reflective Fingall made the announcement minutes before he introduced the guest performance of ten-time calypso king, Red Plastic Bag, with whom he was associated over a similar period of time, during the judging of First Citizens/Digicel De Big show at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre last night.
“There comes a time when you just have to stop. You can’t continue all the time. I made a decision that this tent tonight is my last,” said the former teacher at The Lodge School and founding member of Untouchables Calypso tent, as he sat on one of the monitors on the stage.
“I did 40 years; I enjoyed it with you all and I enjoyed it to the max. We had the Untouchables Calypso tent that we formed back then and it worked well. They had times that it was hard and sometimes I could not get creative, could not write and then fortunately at Lodge, I would get long leave and that helped me get myself back together,” he said to interrupted applause from the large audience..
He said he got into the calypso arena “because of Red Plastic Bag, because I was in Barbados for almost a year-and-a half-and I did not know they had something named Crop Over. I did not know what a calypso tent was.”
Fingall said it was RPB that told him about a calypso tent “and then he told me to come to Princess Margaret School to see what he was doing. When I saw it, I realised it was something fantastic”.
He subsequently managed RPB “and then it came to a point where he went on and did great things”.
Fingall said RPB has 18 (calypso) titles – three wins when he started in St Philip, 10 with the Pic-O-De-Crop, two Road Marches, two Sweet Socas and one People’s Choice. (JS)