Comedian retires character

Comedian Shevrelle “Candyman” McMillan has retired the character “Contestant #12”, and it is not just because Vincy Mas 2010 has ended.{{more}}

The multi-talented artiste, who dressed up as a female during some of his emcee outings in this year’s festival, attracted the unwanted attention of gay men, he said.

Candyman was one of the masters of ceremony at the Miss Carival Pageant last Friday and wore a white suit during the competition elements of the pageant.

However, “Contestant #12” made a guest appearance while the judges were calculating the results of the pageant.

The character wore a white wedding dress, a black shoulder-length wig, black (rubber) water boots, outlandish make-up and a sash embossed with “Contestant #12”.

But Candyman announced on Sunday, while emceeing the Dimanche Gras show that the hilarious “Contestant #12”, who spoke with a lisp, was no more.

“Let me say this now publicly: Contestant #12 is officially retired. Ah go tell alyo why. When I walk around the road lately, I notice a certain type of men calling out to me in a certain type ah way.

“And like they don’t realize is joke ah was making. So, I telling alyo now, no more Contestant #12. Not even if you pray… Don’t call out to me please,’ he said, as a female patron close to the front of the stage responded, “Yo bin look good.”

Candyman later told SEARCHLIGHT that he was shelving the character “for various reasons”, adding, “It’s the end of Carnival.”

He, however, added, “I don’t want people to think I am restricted to that as an artiste or as a comedian. That is not all me. I can do that, but I can do a whole lot of other things. I won the Courts comedy competition two years ago and that was not a fluke, if I may say so.”

He said while people have fallen in love with “Contestant #12”, he can create more characters that are not women.

“They don’t have to be a woman. It can be an old man… I want to move forward. And also, some folks have been taking it a bit too far in terms of their misconception and their not realizing that it is a joke. I am just kidding around. I don’t want to be a woman,” Candyman said.

The artiste further said that some men thought he was gay and were making sexual advances toward him.

“I ain’t into that kind of stuff,” he said.

Candyman told SEARCHLIGHT he comes from a background that does not believe in homosexuality,

“I believe that God made a woman for a man because in His wisdom He knew what He was doing. You can’t tell me God is so smart and He made a woman by mistake. I mean, if He wanted us men to be with men, when He saw us lonely, He would have just made another man. But He went through a lot of trouble to make a woman and that is my firm belief,” he said.

“But the comedian inside me don’t mind the gay guys,” Candyman added laughing.

“I mean the more gay guys there are, the more women free for me – yo see whey me ah say,” he said.

MacMillan said he is a “jack of all trades”. He has sung calypso and was the 2005 Junior Soca Monarch.

“I am getting into TV soon, just working out some details. TV is the next thing. Acting, I do all of that stuff. That’s what I love to do. I am just the entertainer. I am not just confirmed to any one area of entertainment. Basically, I like to do it all,” he said.