IT was in 1985 that Winston ‘Bello’ Bell and Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis decided they would combine their acting and comic talent to form the duo Bello and Blakka.

To mark their 30th year, the duo will stage a show on Easter Monday at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston.

They are also slated for commemorative dates in Toronto, Florida, New York and Barbados.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Bello and Blakka, both 55, reflected on their three-decade journey.

“We used to meet up almost every year as ‘opponents’ at the Secondary Schools Drama Festival. Bello won the Best Actor award for Camperdown High in 1976 and I won it for Excelsior the following year. But we first collaborated in 1976 at a workshop for young actors, conducted by a visiting theatre group from Bristol,” Blakka recalled.

“We met again in 1978 as first-year students at the then Jamaica School of Drama, and developed a deep and lasting friendship as well as a wonderful sense of creative compatibility.” He said they became a team by accident seven years later.

“We were preparing to perform on the opening ceremony for a workshop/seminar entitled ‘Caribbean Popular Theatre Exchange’, as a serious singer/dub-poet duo, but on the suggestion of our mentor/colleague Honor Ford-Smith, we decided to switch and employ our acting, improvisational and comic skills in the performance instead of bombarding people with more serious stuff,” Blakka explained.  

Their impromptu skit, called ‘This is Culture!’ spoofed everything from folk choirs, classical music and the ballet, to cliché island songs. It also included an impersonation of academic and dance icon professor Rex Nettleford.

“People roared with laughter. A picture of me being lifted by Bello in a ‘Ballerina Move’ ended up on the front page of a daily newspaper. We were asked to repeat the performance at an Institute Of Jamaica lunch hour concert. Other requests started coming in, and just like that a comedy duo was born,” said Blakka, who lives between Kingston and Toronto.

Blakka Ellis is from a family of entertainers. His uncle is rocksteady great Alton Ellis; his aunt, singer Hortense Ellis, also emerged during the rocksteady era of the 1960s. Comedian Ian ‘Ity’ Ellis of Ity and Fancy Cat fame is his younger brother.

Prior to their formation, Blakka taught English Literature and Theatre Arts at Excelsior, Dinthill Technical and Ferncourt high schools. He also did a radio drama, acted in plays and worked as percussionist and backing vocalist for dub poet Oku Onuora’s band AK7.

Bello was in first form at Camperdown in 1975 when the acting bug bit him. Originally from Cockburn Pen in Kingston, he grew up in the Jones Town and McGregor Gully areas.

A Christian since 1979, he said his faith does not restrict his choice of acting roles.

“I became a born again Christian while at Jamaica School of Drama. My Christianity has never prevented me from pursuing my career,” he stated.  “Of course, as I get more involved in ministry work, I’m finding that I have less time to devote to the arts and entertainment field.”

Bello has appeared in major films including Third World Cop, One Love, Glory to Gloriana, and Ghett’a Life. His theatre credits include Louis Marriott’s Bedward and Trevor Rhone’s Pepper.

His Time Out for Jesus Worldwide Ministry and charity work, are priority for Bello, who hosts the morning show Pastor Bello Live on Roots FM.

Commenting on how they have evolved over 30 years, Blakka said:

“We grew into the dynamism of the duo, and then grew out of it as our personal lives took different paths. We never had a ‘break up’. Even though we moved on to doing a lot of individual projects, we continued to appear together occasionally. We just decided that there would be three distinctive and identifiable careers/personas, namely Winston ‘Bello’ Bell, Owen Blakka Ellis, and Bello and Blakka.”