MICHAEL Brainard Ignatius believes that to be successful in life and achieve your ultimate goals requires you to humbly start with small projects. His aim is to one day become a successful producer in Guyana, and he is quite confident that he will make it!
His participation in school concerts, along with his sense of humour and natural knack for making people laugh, has led him to become one of Guyana’s top entertainers/actors. The country is frequently treated to his performances in the popular Link Show, ‘Nothing to Laugh About’, among several other hot comedy jams.

In fact, Ignatius’ most recent Guyanese movie, ’83 Million Gees’ is set to be released shortly in North and South America. Earlier this year, other movies in which he starred were released including ‘Brown Sugar Too Bitter for Me’ and ‘A Force to Reckon With’.
Ignatius believes that he is quite capable of producing his own entertainment shows, as already he has been writing some of the scripts for some of the very popular comedy shows mentioned above.
Ever since Michael, 30, ventured into acting, apart from the Link Show, he has performed in popular shows like ‘Love, Sex and the Tax Man’, ‘Smile Orange’, ‘No tricks no business’, ‘Awe Society’, ‘Two’s a crowd’, ‘Dosti’ and ‘Bhagban.’ He has also been featured in television advertisements with Digicel and Ashmins among other local companies.
The BV Community High School, during Michael’s years there, was always buzzing with a concert or a drama festival, and teachers, knowing of Michael’s talent, would always ask him to do something.
“Sometimes I would just ‘kicks off’ in class and have to be disciplined because I always had somebody laughing or I’m doing some hilarious, spontaneous thing,” Michael told the Chronicle in an interview.
He represented his school in a play called ‘Blood Thicker Than Water’ at the Theatre Guild, and it was there that he came to the attention of Producer/Director Desiree Edghill who later commended him for his work. She not only lauded his prowess but also invited him to participate in a documentary she was making on HIV/AIDS.
It was the beginning of his dalliance with theatre and HIV/AIDS awareness, and pretty soon, he was training to become a certified Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) officer, which saw him educating his peers through workshops and drama in various parts of Guyana.

The first major play he did at the Theatre Guild was ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ with Godfrey Norton, who is also a producer/director. “I just started to expand my acting skills, so it’s like a side hobby for me now; I just do it for fun,” Michael said.
He credits the likes of Godfrey Norton, Desiree Edghill, Ron Robinson, Maria Benschop, Linden ‘Jumbie’ Jones, Ajay Baksh, Rajen Tiwari (also known as Zapper Man or Calu), Francis Pearce, Margaret Lawrence, Richard Narine, Kirk Jordan with helping him hone his acting skills.
To earn his keep, he works full-time with the new Giftland Mall on the East Coast as a Marketing Assistant, but after work, it’s off to rehearsals, where he would be all evening until well into the night, going at times until midnight.
“I just love it (acting),” Michael said. “It has helped me a lot in my life. Entertainment is like a stress relief to me; it takes away from any problem that I have; I don’t find myself getting problems or stressing over something.
“It’s (acting) something natural; I just love to entertain. And it’s me just like being spontaneous. I love drama in the whole; serious drama, comedy. Comedy is my favourite; it adds some sort of comfort to me, personally. Those who are in the acting would understand. When you have to do a role, you have to be a different person. At times, you become a different person to every role you are given.
“With all the things happening in this country, all the social issues, sometimes you just want to free your mind. When you come and are entertained, you zone out from your problems and start laughing. The best medicine is laughter. You free your muscles. I like to be happy and I like to make people happy.”
Michael is engaged to Natasha Jordan and is father to Xavier and Jadin.

By Telesha Ramnarine