From a young boy growing up in the countryside of Moruga to the top of the Caribbean comedic world, if you ask Gervail Lemo if he ever imagined any of this, he will tell you he did—every single bit of it.
When Guardian Media spoke to the comedian known as Jr Lee, he was in Canada working on his debut television production, The Office Movers. Acting has always been on his bucket list, and landing the role of Shamez—a funny Trinidadian who owns an audio shop—let him finally cross that off.
“People know me primarily for comedy and social media, but entertainment was always the goal,” he says during the long-distance call.
“So to go from creating videos at home in Trinidad to being on a professional television set in Canada was one of those moments where you really have to stop and appreciate the journey.”
Online, he is used to having control. If he didn’t like something, he could simply shoot it again.
“On a TV set you have directors, producers, other actors, continuity, lighting, sound, wardrobe; everybody has a job, and you have to fit into this much bigger machine.”
Behind the scenes is “plenty madness.”
What people see is the polished episode, not the do-overs or the hours it takes to get a scene perfected.
“It really confirmed something for me: I want to do much more acting. I want people to eventually see Jr Lee in spaces they probably wouldn’t expect.”
When he gets back home, he’ll jump straight into prep for his third major stand-up instalment: The Comedy Fete on September 26 at NAPA and SAPA on September 27 (early bird tickets already sold out), then Tobago at Shaw Park on November 4 with Fog Angels Carnival.
“I want people to come and feel like they got an experience, not just somebody standing up on a stage telling jokes for two hours.”
Plenty of new material is ready. He plans to let fans in on his travels, relationships, family and, of course—some bacchanal.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t even have to write jokes. I just have to leave my house,” he jokes.
“People can expect a proper show. Come prepared to laugh, but also come prepared to say, ‘Nah boy, he really say that?’”
Laughter and authenticity
His live shows have had people holding their bellies outside these shores too: Guyana, Antigua, St Kitts, St Vincent, to name a few. Canada was a big moment.
“We did Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Pickering and Ottawa, and seeing Caribbean people come out and connect with the material thousands of miles away from home was special. Toronto sold out really quickly, and moments like that make you realise how far our culture actually travels. People always tell me that even though I’m Trinidadian, they still understand the characters. Everybody has that aunty. Everybody knows that neighbour. Everybody has somebody in their family who feels they know everything.”
“The vision is much bigger than me,” he shares.
“I want Caribbean comedy to be able to travel the same way our music does.”
When people walk into The Comedy Fete, he wants them to feel like they have arrived at an actual event.
From the venue to the production and energy to the audience interaction and the final stand-up act, everything is designed to be intentional.
Big on storytelling, he wants patrons to picture the house, the road and the characters so that, by the time the punchline hits, it feels like they already know the people in the joke.
Social media has given him a unique relationship with the audience.
“It feels like we know each other. Well… we feel like we know each other, but I don’t know them people and they doh know me. But that relationship makes the room feel different,” he says, laughing.
Opinions and public pressure
Handling fame means growing thick skin and deciding what is worth listening to.
“The internet is interesting because somebody could watch ten seconds of your life and write a whole thesis about who you are.”
Sometimes he finds himself reading comments and wondering, ‘Wait… is me they talking about?’ Responding to everything is a trap because “today they love you, tomorrow they vex with you, and by Friday they love you again.” He prioritises his inner circle—family, team and trusted voices— above a random comment section.
Noting that he genuinely does not view himself as famous, he quips: “When I go back home, I’m still the same person. The people who knew me before all of this will make sure of that too. Fame changes how the world treats you, but the real challenge is making sure it never changes how you treat the world, keeping close to the ground because, as Shadow said, “Everybody is somebody, nobody is nobody.”
Skits mirror everyday life
Inspiration for his online skits comes straight from the 868, where everyday life is an unlimited subscription to content because “you could go grocery, stand in a bank line, take a taxi, go to a family lime—something will happen.”
He even admits that when a friend is telling a story, one part of his brain is listening while the other is thinking, “Yeah… this could make a video.” Anyone who shares their business with him should “just understand there is a possibility it could become content.”
Names will be changed to protect the innocent.
His success started with a hygiene video recorded on a laptop camera in a messy room on March 8, 2013. Since then, it’s been a wild ride. What he is most proud of is simply that he started.
“Sometimes people wait until they have the perfect camera, perfect idea, perfect team. If I had waited until everything was perfect, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
An example and a bright future
Jr Lee never really had a plan B.
From ever since he could recall, he has looked up to comedy heavyweights like Errol Fabien, Sprangalang, Nikki Crosby, Learie Joseph and Rachel Price, who showed him that somebody from right here could make a living entertaining people.
He later studied international comedians, filtering everything through his own experiences until he found his own voice.
All these years later, he stands as an example that dreaming big is possible.
“I want another child from somewhere people consider ‘too far’ or ‘too country’ to see this and understand that where you start doesn’t have to determine how far you can go.”
