birth_place birth_date instrument background article_title name occupation
caratal caratal , trinidad and tobago 24 july 1927 cuatro non_performing_personnel john agitation
 john agitation comedian , storyteller , politician
john agitation

ramdeen ramjattan known as john agitation -lrb- born july 24 , 1927 caratal , trinidad and tobago -rrb- is a comedian and storyteller .
he is a graduate of the progressive educational institute and served in the trinidad and tobago civil service .
he was also the first comedian in the commonwealth of nations to win an election .
in 1951 , at 24 , ramdeen was introduced to the trinbagonian national audience by landy de montbrun , a leading local comic at the time .
he told a joke , slightly nervous that he was crossing the boundary of taste .
but the crowd was elated .
`` they were very happy to see a -lrb- dark-skinned -rrb- fella , '' agitation later remarked .
from there , agitation became a regular on radio trinidad , particularly the `` horace james comedy hour '' , `` sunday serenade '' -lrb- hosted by sam ghany -rrb- and the `` aunty kay '' children 's show .
the latter was sponsored by bermudez biscuit company limited for decades .
he performed in many venues in trinidad and tobago as the headline performer , often to sold-out shows .
throughout his life he has been an avid hunter , as his home is in the rural , still-forested area of cumuto , with a large population of agouti and brocket deer .
he farms oranges , mandarins , tangelos , portugals -lrb- clementines -rrb- and grapefruit on his 10-acre estate .
he was the first candidate to run on a united national congress -lrb- unc -rrb- ticket : he contested and won a 1989 by-election in the sangre grande regional corporation for the guaico-cumuto district , thus becoming the first comedian in the commonwealth of nations to win an election .
agi , as he 's known in trinbago , is now retired , living on his public service pension , but still performs occasionally .
in 2003 , ramdeen `` john agitation '' ramjattan was awarded the hummingbird medal -lrb- silver -rrb- by the government of trinidad and tobago , for his more than five-decade-long work to preserve trinbagonian and caribbean folklore via comedic storytelling .
