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by John Goddard
Possunt Quia, posse videntur (They can because they think they can).
Last week, St. Mark’s and The Lodge School old scholar, Mac Fingall, decided to retire from his 40-year career as a calypso tent emcee. As he prepares for a more relaxed period of his life, I wish to pay tribute to a man who contributed significantly to the transformation of the entertainment scene in Barbados, through a highly professional approach to the field.
A relatively quiet man at home, Mac burst on to the entertainment stage in 1982 as part of the presentation team for Red Plastic Bag’s (RPB) winning performance of the iconic “Mr Harding”. At the time RPB was a member of the Conquerors Calypso tent.
By the next year, though, Mac had founded the Untouchables which starred the Bag and also comprised a number of young calypsonians, mainly from St. Philip and St. John. Among the cast was the inimitable Duke Check E.D Shirt whose nomenclature was extended almost every year by Fingall who recognised that the Duke with his long humourous title and unique presentations could be a drawing card. The Untouchables was professionally organised, bringing an entire entertainment package to patrons. Mac, himself, was manager, MC, comedian and calypsonian.
Fingall’s wide and varied experiences in Barbados, Bermuda and the USA were reflected in his comedic offerings. He has an elephantine memory and an ability to take truth and make creative comedy. Few know that his jokes featuring his sisters, Patsy and Gail as well as the much revered vicar/rector of St. Mark’s, Rev. William Brathwaite and to a lesser extent, Rev. Stephen Fields, were based on true stories.
Additionally, many of us whom he knew well had to duck and hide when attending the Untouchables Tent for fear of Mac making us the butt of his humourous pieces. He was remarkably creative and could turn the most mundane incident into side-splitting comedy. The American accent he sometimes used on the stage as well as his “movementations” assisted greatly in his presentations.
What audiences saw on stage resulted from thorough reflection and preparations days before a show. His attire was carefully selected to match the theme of his presentations, and he took hours to fine tune what he wanted to do and say, a practice which I think he inherited from his father who was the community emcee at Service of Songs in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
As a performer, Mac aimed to entertain, but also to encourage listeners to think. Even as one laughed, one would find oneself reflecting on what the maestro had just said..
But Mac was not just a comedian; his gift as an MC was difficult to match.
He took care in how he introduced each performer, and was an expert at grabbing and holding the attention of the audience as they awaited results or while a problem was being rectified. The truth is that he left nothing to chance, a skill he had honed as a teacher.
Fingall was a grossly underrated calypsonian. People often looked for fun and even sexual innuendo in his songs, often missing the seriousness of his lyrics. He wrote a number of social commentaries ranging from the educational and nationalistic to risqué.
His renderings reflecting love of and concern for Barbados were particularly interesting. “No Bajan”, “2009” written in 1987, “The Gap Is Still The Same”, “Foolishness”, “Barbados Belongs To Trinidad”, among others, were cleverly constructed and designed to make us pause and reflect on where our country was headed.
Superficially, “Foolishness” seemed like a nonsense calypso, but when we listen carefully to the lyrics, we recognise that the calypsonian is holding up a mirror for us to see some of the realities of Barbadian society. “The gap is still the same” emphasises the stagnation of the economic condition of the black masses vis a vis our white counterparts.
“Barbados belongs to Trinidad” draws attention to what some refer to as the “Trini take over”. The predictive “2009” afforded Mac a look through a time machine to see how Barbados stood in danger of being controlled by another ethnic group.
Needless to say, that calypso stirred great controversy and created much angst among our Indian brethren. Those of us who know Mac well knew that it was not his intention to be xenophobic. Rather he was taking an honest look at what he saw as a possible future challenge.
In his song “No Bajan”, he was not rejecting non-Bajan women as suitable wives for our men. However, he found it curious that such a large percentage of our leaders did not seem to find beautiful local lasses worthy of marriage.
Mac has always had a sincere interest in seeing the Caribbean work together in the face of globalisation and against threats to our sovereignty. That is why he penned the excellent song “United States of the Caribbean”. The gun violence plaguing our country is captured in this calypso, “Somebody Knows”.
Our retiree is well known as a former physical education teacher at The Lodge School. There his knowledge and skills made the school a highly successful athletic, cricket, football and basketball powerhouse.
He had a reputation of being a tough taskmaster, almost forcing his charges to go above and beyond their abilities. He brooked no excuses for lack of effort and caused parents to worry about the workload of their loved ones. Ultimately though, they praised him for transforming their Jacks and Jills into young people ready and able to take on the world.
He was a teacher at The Lodge School when it was experiencing some of its darkest days. His love for his alma mater inspired him to organise a “Lodge School, we are fighting back concert” and to spearhead efforts to acquire a bus. During its 277 years as a learning institution, The Lodge School has produced numerous outstanding men and women.
Few can credibly argue against including Mac among the best of them. I am convinced that, guided by the school’s motto, he did because he thought he could. Do have a restful, healthy and productive retirement, Mac. But can you geh we one last joke before you go?
John Goddard, retired but always an educator.
