Guess who's on the menu Christmas night? Clue: He is no turkey but he is hot. Give up?

The answer is Bootsie, Bermuda's best-loved comedian, who will be scoring a “first” on local pay-per-view television when Cablevision presents his new, acclaimed performance, ‘The Best of Bootsie', which premiered live in September. The hour and seventeen minute-long show at 7.30 p.m. on Channel 75 will be completely commercial-free, and features nine original skits written and performed by Bootsie. Topics covered include child abuse, AIDS, alcoholism, schizophrenia and resentment of disabilities, among others. If that sounds grim fare for December 25, fear not.

“My show combines comedy with a message, so you are not just getting humour but something you can take with you,” he says.

“The material is all very clean and family oriented. Anyone who can understand it can watch it. For the past 14 years my audience for this type of show has been from ages six to 80.”

The show was actually recorded during Bootsie's live performance at City Hall in September, and subsequently suggested to Cablevision by his agent, Glenn Blakeney.

“This is a coup for local talent and local audiences,” a delighted Mr. Blakeney says.

“Everybody complains about not enough local content on television, so we feel honoured and positive that we can contribute to local talent. The show is vintage Bootsie, and features the all-time best of all he has done in 14 years.”

Cablevision general manager Jeremy Elmas agrees.

“We are really interested in promoting local programming because there isn't a lot of it here, and beyond that we are excited that we can use some of the technology we introduced in the summer to do so,” he said.

As always, Bootsie draws inspiration for his skits from everyday life, and either jots down or tape records material from which he later develops his characters.

The Christmas night presentation also comes with a bonus for those paying $20 to sign up and watch.

Cablevision will enter subscribers' names in their database, and share that information with Mr. Blakeney. Upon production of photo identification, those viewers will be given a discount on Bootsie's soon-to-be-released CD, recorded live earlier this year at Club Azure.

“The CD will be a collector's item, with a completely different set of material,” Mr. Blakeney promises.

The comedian has built up a huge following over the past 14 years, and his agent describes him as “a real role model in the community, like so many other entertainers”.