And Still I Rise

Those were the signature words of local comedian Lucian "Saluche" Small who passed away last Sunday at his home in Dorsetshire Hill. I deserve a knock on my fingers for not already paying tribute to this man who was anything but small in his talent. Indeed, Saluche who has been regarded as a Vincentian Ambassador of entertainment gave people across the region big laughs with his side-splitting humour at Caribbean Comedy Festivals and was the headliner at shows in Britain, the United States and the Caribbean. He also had the honour of performing at the famous Harlem Apollo Theatre in New York City. He was especially delighted to be crowned Caribbean King of Comedy after coming out tops in a show held some time in the 90's. As he put it it was no mean feat to come out ahead of notable Comedians like Tommy Joseph et al.

He was not just a comedian but the host of the popular Late night radio show called Night Rider. In his inimitable way Saluche offered advice to his listeners on all types of subject matters ranging from love to other everyday problems. So when the news broke it understandably stunned many with some even thinking it was a cruel joke.Unfortunately,this was no joke and Thursday hundreds turned out to say farewell to the man whose brand of humour made life less drab. And as if to remind us how darker our lives are by his passing on Thursday night there was an island wide power outage. I think Saluche might have smiled and said "Yuh have to clap for that"