COZUMEL, Mexico – Comedian George Wallace didn’t even wait to sit down on stage before he began performing invasive verbal surgery on counterpart J. Anthony Brown. Wallace’s laser dissection of Brown’s mother was so funny and profane that even Brown collapsed to the ground in a heap of uncontrollable laughter.
The “Drunk Tank” on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage had to be suspended temporarily while Brown, the event creator, could collect himself from his bout of body-quaking laughter. Some in the audience even stood up and gave Wallace a standing ovation on this one joke alone. If it were sports, it would have made the ESPN highlights.
There is a reason folks will fight for their seats to this most treasured event to see the likes of Tony Rock, Gary Owens, Guy Torre, Myra J. For a large contingent of Tom Joyner cruise veterans, the is the event of the cruise — or is at least in their top five. Many packed up their water guns and towels and hightailed it from J. Anthony Brown’s other ultra popular event, the “Light-Skin/Dark-Skin Water Gun Fight” on the white sandy beaches, just to get a seat for this standing room only event (you should have heard the wailing outside this venue when security tried to tell a mob of cruisers that the event was already overcapacity).
I won’t miss the ”Drunk Tank” comedian free-for-all under any circumstances. The first 15 minutes, where some 16 or so comics introduce themselves and open up on each like a bar room shootout, nearly induces unconsciousness every year.
While some people love the cruise’s comedy shows, many others come on the cruise just for the elaborate themed nights that Tom Joyner put on every evening. Some pack extra suitcases just to accommodate the equipment and clothes necessary to dress for such themes as the Afrocentric-based “Nubian Night” to the ridiculously fun “Mardi Gras Night.” There is also “White Night,” “Dress Night” and “Pajama Night.” As you will be able to tell in the accompanying photo gallery of the event, folks spared no expense in hunting down expensive clothes just to be a part of the parade for this event. –terry shropshire
