A radio transmission in Port-au-Prince has set its mission to make people laugh to forget their fears and traumas. And it’s a success!

“Rigolo Thérapie” (“Comedy Therapy” in English) is a daily live programme on Caraïbes FM, the leading radio in Port-au-Prince. Its mission is simple: help the population forget the difficulties of life, heal their wounds, and turn the page by giving them some moments of hilarity.

Results are outstanding: Rigolo Thérapie, which is in Creole, enjoys the highest share in Haiti right now. The programme has been on since 2004. That year coincided with another difficult moment in Haiti, when Aristide’s government was topped, a period of unrest followed, and people were afraid of leaving their homes. That is when Marc Anderson Brégard and Peterson François junior (“PJ”) had the idea to create a program to give people some relief from the daily stress. They summoned some of the best comedians, joke tellers and imitators in the country, such as Maxime Clerger “Congo”, Smith Egalité and others. Rigolo Thérapie was born.

Smith Egalité is a talent who is regularly on the show. His trademark is the impersonation of a young street boy from Cité Soleil, an area of Port-au-Prince with serious problems of crime and difficult life conditions. Here he presents himself… and his younger double! *

 

Egalité Smith – Comedian
Brégard still leads the programme, 6 years on. In the audio interview that follows, he explains what happened immediately after the quake and how Rigolo Thérapie has been helping Haitians through the harsh times following the 12 January.

 

Marc Anderson Brégard
Far from being a taboo, the earthquake and all the events that followed are often targeted by the comedians’ jokes. It’s precisely by joking about what is in people’s hearts and minds that the show works as a real psychological therapy for those who listen to it.

Maxime Clerger (“Congo”) is the most famous impersonator in Haiti, with a 20-year-long career during which he has provided imitations of virtually any politician in the country. The current situation, with the debates on responsibilities, use of aid money and the upcoming elections, is a perfect setting for his sketches. Here Congo explains how amusement is working as a humour therapy for the people.

 

Congo the impersonator
You can enjoy Rigolo Thérapie on FM 94.5MHz at 6-7pm daily. Caraïbes FM is also available as an online radio.

* (we deliberately left the original voice in Creole for the central part of the audio to let you savour Smith’s voice as a young street boy). Here’s what he says: “Good evening to all, my name is Egalité, I was born in the Dominican Republic, I have two children, although that may sound to you a bit strange…. I am a professional comedian, and I sing a little bit. I do theatre, here as well as in France, I am a character who is a bit lyric, comic, pacific and… leave me alone!”