Gravy (entertainer)
Gravy, (born Labon Kenneth Blackburn Leeweltine Buckonon Benjamin in 1955)[1] is a former entertainer, famous throughout the cricket world, for 12 years of voluntary entertaining of the crowd through a variety of antics at the Antigua Recreation Ground in St John's, Antigua.[1]
Performances
For 12 years from 1988, Gravy entertained the crowd with a variety of costumes and performances in (and sometimes above) the crowd at the stadium: "Gravy is a performer. He cross-dresses and dances and writhes and swings from the rafters and puts on a show that you will not ever forget."[2]
His act began by chance: "It started to rain during the presentation ceremony, and the podium was left open. "Something told me, Gravy, this is your time. I went down on the podium, in the rain, and started dancing. Everybody was excited about it. They loved it.""[2] He was unpaid for his activities. When he retired in 2000, he did so while wearing a white wedding dress.[2] Since retirement, he runs a hardware stall in St John's.[3]
Shooting incident
In February 2004, Gravy was shot in the arm. He was driving home at 2am when, in his own words "a car overtook me and rang out four shots at me, and then I felt a burning on my arm". Gravy believes it was a case of mistaken identity, and has stated "I thought they took me for the wrong person. I don't know anybody who could point a finger at me".[4]
References
- http://content-www.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/268597.html
- http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfoat20/content/story/669389.html
- http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/614351.html
- Wisden Cricinfo staff (22 February 2004), 'Gravy' recovers after shooting in Antigua, Cricinfo.com, retrieved 12 February 2009