Tony Hendriks - File

Jamaica's elite stand-up comedian, Tony 'Paleface' Hendriks, on his return to the local scene, gave an awesome performance at Ity and Fancy Cat's Portmore Crack-Up comedy show held at Klub Klymaxx, Portmore Pines Plaza on Sunday night.

Hendriks, who left patrons on the ground struggling to recover from the belly-busting jokes he delivered, said he had always enjoyed performing in Jamaica and was pleased to see the support given to the show.

"Well I must say it (the performance) was beautiful. I really enjoyed myself. That is the beauty about Jamaica, I love talking to my people in Jamaica. When I am onstage, the feeling I get is like a football team having a home match where the atmosphere is always right," said Hendriks, moments after his performance.

Hendriks' rants on Jamaica's most pressing issues were downright brilliant and brought back memories of his television show, Paleface Point of View.

Rib-tickling

Hendriks admitted that he had a very prosperous 2008 and wanted to give the patrons one of his special rib-tickling, hilarious and fun-filled performances, which have been the signature of his successful career.

"I had a very prosperous 2008. I was in the UK touring and doing a lot of shows, so I wanted this occasion to be one of my best and the crowd responded well," said Hendriks, who was born in Vineyard Town, St Andrew, but moved to England at 11 years old.

He said after the 1998 release of Hendriks' Laugh Jamaica, which is hailed as his most successful project, the comedy scene slowed and Ity and Fancy Cat should be credited for the revival of stand-up comedy in Jamaica.

"Everything evolves, whether it is theatre or stand-up comedy. Ity and Fancy Cat are great. They should be held responsible for changing the face of comedy in Jamaica," said Hendriks.

He added: "When I started doing stand-up comedy in Jamaica, there wasn't much support. I mean everything grows at its own pace, but these two have stayed and grown it (stand-up comedy) in Jamaica. Look at the support tonight."

Great show

Last weekend was a busy one for Paleface as he also performed at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival on Friday night. Prior to that, he last performed locally in July 2005 at the Hilton Kingston hotel. However, Hendriks has assured fans that he will be taking the local scene by storm this year.

"I am flying back to England to do a few shows, but we are working on something new to come back to Jamaica, because we are going to turn the credit crunch into a credit punch," he joked.

For Simone Baker, who witnessed Elva, Pretty Boy Floyd, Rohan Gunter, Hendriks and Ity and Fancy Cat in action, the show provided a 'bellyfull' of laughs.

"Trust me, this was absolutely great. I have never laughed this hard yet in my life and I always wanted to see Tony Hendriks perform live. More of this should happen throughout the year," said Baker, who lives in Portmore, St Catherine.