Tommy meets his match

Don’t call Judy up on stage before an eager audience and introduce her as Mrs Tommy Joseph. “I doh like that kinda thing,” Judy said. Stage fright, perhaps.

Catch her in another setting, just mention Tommy, and see the difference. She lights up. Off the bat she’ll tell you he’s easy-going, not fussy, loving, with a good sense of humour (of course!). “Just how he is on stage, that’s just how he is, no different. Very simple; nothing is a problem,” she said. Case in point: August of last year, when Judy flew in from New York where she had vacationed for two months, Tommy was very punctual and anxiously awaiting her arrival at the airport. What she misread as a tease or another shot at his good humor, was actually the real thing. “He asked me to marry him. I thought it was a joke, it was an impromptu thing because it was on my way from the airport... I don’t know if he miss me too much that year. He just asked. Nothing spectacular.”

On April 23, 2003 comedian Tommy Joseph and Home Economics/Food and Nutrition teacher Judy Bacchus tied the knot. Judy joined the staff at Carapichaima Junior Secondary School in 1981 and after 11 years, transferred to Gasparillo Composite where she currently teaches. At a quiet Wednesday morning ceremony at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, followed by a reception at Tree House Restaurant, the couple said their vows before a handful of onlookers. Tommy, who’s accustomed to memorising hundreds of lines for his anecdotes and delivering them with flawless ease had trouble in remembering his vows, up until the wedding day. “He kept saying ‘I shall, I will, I do’ trying to remember his vows in that order, but he eventually got it right,” Judy revealed.

The newly weds treated guests, including entertainers Donna Hadad, Sprangalang and Pink Panther (best man), Randy Glasgow and Frank Martineau and Dana Pierre-Collins (maid of honour), to a West Indian-style breakfast wedding. The menu included sada roti, tomato choka, buljol and coconut bake among other goodies. Although they have been married for two months, the two have known each other for 16 years. “We first met at Royal Castle in Port-of-Spain a Christmas. I went to do shopping. Yuh know, long time when yuh go to Port-of-Spain you must end up in Royal Castle, Henry Street. I was sitting alone at a table eating and Tommy came in. He was looking for a place to sit and asked to sit at my table. “I grasped the opportunity to ask him to do something for Carapichaima, to perform at the school’s Carnival event.” The then “shy” Tommy obliged. “He did come and perform and we maintained off and on contact after that,” said Judy, who stands 5ft 11 inches and turns heads when walking the streets.

Judy, 41, grew up in Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz but moved to Embacadere, where the couple now resides. They also share a home in Maloney. She has two teenage sons, like her husband. When she was upgraded to Technical/Vocational Teacher IV she moved South; geographically, closer to the south-based comedian. There were dinner dates and eventually, Judy grew to love the funny man. She was drawn to his “sense of humour,” a quality she said, that was never of paramount importance in choosing her mate. Surely, she made an exception. She continued: “His fear for God and his relationship with his family — with his mother, and his aunt who is in a wheelchair. He has a nice sense of family that always attracted me to him.” Yes, Tommy tested his wit on Judy but was never offensive, “he was a gentleman.”

While her passion remains teaching which includes “more than getting my students to pass exams but preparing them for life,” she admitted that family life is top of the list. The teacher of 22 years said goodbye to her form five students on Friday. School leavers Arlon Joseph and Marissa Figaro had only good things to say about “Miss.”  “She’s the best. She was our friend, our mother, our teacher. She was a teacher you could communicate with,” they said. Commenting on her marriage to Tommy Joseph, they added: “They look good together.” Judy was just beginning to realise that life has changed, somewhat. She said: “Life is not mine again because people feel I am funny just like him and expect jokes from me.” Judy doesn’t tell jokes but gets her laugh every time Tommy runs one by her — like the teacher/student joke he told her recently while at the dinner table. “He said a teacher asked a student to spell the word CRIX and the student wrote C-R-I and the teacher marked it incorrect. She put an X next to it. He said that’s how that word came about.” Judy laughed. “We have a hectic schedule. Tommy is out of the country almost every weekend and sometimes I travel with him.”

Though her sons help with the cooking, Judy enjoys preparing Tommy’s favourite dishes. Fish broth is one of them. “Tommy loves fish broth. He could eat it for breaskfast, lunch and dinner. He’s a fish broth fanatic.” They love making an entrance in matching outfits, whether it’s at Dionne Warwick’s concert or Gasparillo Composite’s graduation ball, held recently. “I make my clothes to match his suits,” Judy said. “Not all the time we dress like that but sometimes he would say ‘J’, ah putting on meh green suit, yuh putting on yuh green dress?” Judy also sews for Tommy. “People would ask me if I have a problem with Tommy performing in the skits, if I feel he on the “other side” but I don’t have a problem with that. I even sew the skirts for the skit. I don’t have a problem because I know he’s a hundred percent man.” For fun the couple enjoys seeing a movie at Movie Towne, having dinner often and going to the beach. Judy also enjoys mingling with his friends, “calypsonians, and they’re quite nice. I don’t think people know how nice they are. When you meet people like Bomber, Singing Sandra, Shadow, Duke, Explainer, Learie Joseph, and I met Kitchener, even Gypsy in his calypsonian role — they have a nice, warm, unique way about themselves.” She’s now a cricket lover, thanks to her husband who is a big fan of Brian Lara and  she enjoyed her trip to Grenada where she personally met the Aussie players.