My love life-Basket Mouth

This is the concluding part of the Basket
Mouth interview which started from last
week. Enjoy it...
What role did Ali Baba play in your life?
Ali Baba played all the roles I needed as an
upcoming comedian at a point that I met
him. Ali was a friend, a colleague, a brother,
a teacher, he was the one that actually made
me start tilting towards anchoring events.
Before I was just a plain standup
comedian… I just go on stage and I was
really into jokes . Ali Baba was the one that
made me start creating materials and doing
more story telling because I have stories. So
he was like look, stop cracking jokes start
telling stories because that was my
strength.
Ali Baba cracked jokes but at a level he said
you know what, you tell stories, talk about
life, you’ve been through all these things
and that’s your style. So I said okay, and fed
on all that I had in my head and he guided
me and I would say I owe it to a lot of
people.I can’t start mentioning their names
now but Ali Baba was the first person. The
only reason why I always say I owe
everything to this man is that he was the
first person that brought me in without any
sense if insecurity. He was always saying
this boy is hot….
Where did you meet him?
We met at Benin. When he came to do a
show, I went as a fan to watch him perform
and I went back stage to greet him. The
next time we met I was practicing comedy
and when I finished he actually stood up to
give me a standing ovation and that was
the opportunity. So I went to meet him
afterwards and we hit it off from that point
and since that point he’s been very
supportive.
You worked for him as a P.A?
Yeah I worked for him as a P.A. (laughs) but
it’s unofficial. I worked with him for like
two years and while I was his P.A I was like
a dummy …like if he has two events he
would say “Bright come in and perform. I
have another event stand him for me”, he
would go and come back. I was always like
one of the guys that stay to guide the
event. He was training me at that point
because at that time I never thought I
would be able to stand before dignitaries to
hold a microphone. At that point he liked me
so it was never a problem for him to leave a
venue and come back only for people at the
event to be shouting at him or talking to
him recklessly.
They won’t even know he left for
somewhere else when he comes back. If
anyone asks, I just say bros go ease himself,
he dey come back, so you do this and you
do that and that was actually what he was
doing. So he introduced me to most of his
clients. That was why the growth was
faster. So apart from just being his P.A I was
always going to every event and he was
always giving me opportunities to perform
for top people and that was how the name
spread a little bit faster than it would have .
If I had not met Ali Baba, I might still be here
at the level I am right now or the growth
may be slower, who knows, but he was one
of the people that kick - started me.
One of the biggest challenges most
entrepreneurs in Nigeria face is that
committed workers are difficult to come by.
How would you react to this?
I agree with you that getting the right team
to work with you is a difficult task but I
would say that so far I have been lucky. In
fact I can boldly say that so far in my career
if not for the people working with me I will
not be where I am today. Their dogged
commitment to the business is one of the
reasons for its growth. With Umeri Magnus
(legal adviser), Makun Dotun
(manager),Uwah Chichi (event booking
manager), Ariwayo Kayode (logistic
manager) and the rest who are contract
staffs, I would say that I have been
exempted from the staff challenge.
We heard your colleagues were not at your
father’s burial, what happened?
Not all of them. I go die , Don Jazzy ,
Gandoki, I go save, Sim Card, and Buchi
came . But Gandoki, Sim card and I go save
were actually on their way. They thought it
was going to be an all night thing not
knowing it was a day thing, so we met on
the way and we slept in Owerri. Some of
them couldn’t come because they had an
event, some didn’t come because they
didn’t feel like it because coming to my
village is quite a long journey. I understand
if anybody said look I can’t come I won’t be
able to make it and aside that they didn’t
come because they felt that in the past I
have not really be present at their own
event which I understand . So I don’t hold
any grudge against anybody. The reason
why you hardly see me around during
events organized by my colleagues or
friends is because I’m extremely busy. If I
can’t make it, I’ll tell you friend I can’t make
it but most people don’t understand.
Did you invite all of them?
I invited all of them. Some of them didn’t tell
me they won’t come and some of them
after the event didn’t even call to say how
did it go and I was like is this a sign to let
me know that guy “we are angry at you or
whatever”. But I don’t think so, because I
have been at most of their events …
wedding, birthdays whatever. That
shouldn’t be the reason it has to be
something else .Whatever their reasons I
don’t want to know. I’m not going to hold
any grudges against anybody.
But didn’t you feel bad?
I felt bad , because when I celebrated my
son’s 1st birthday everybody came.All my
comedian colleagues were there and when I
was now celebrating death most of them
didn’t come and I was like are we fair
weather friends or are we friends for real?
So that was the only thing that made me
feel bad.
Have you been able to get to any of them?
I got to a few of them. Those that I really
hold dear to me… I told them guys I don’t
like what you did… you should have called
me. Most of them I let go because it’s fine.
It’s just that I’m that kind of person…. if I
invite you to come eat and celebrate with
me and you come, and I later invite you to
come feel the pain that I’m facing right now
and you don’t come I will find it hard to
invite you to come and eat with me again.
So just in case I don’t invite some people to
my wedding they will probably understand.
So let’s come to this your son, how old is he
now?
My son is going to be two years in May.
When are you getting married?
I’m thinking of getting married this year. My
younger sister is getting married this year;
so I’m trying to give a little bit of space
because it will consume a lot of money.
Regarding my wedding we’re trying as
much as possible to make it very small and
at the same time very loud and so I don’t
want to rush, but definitely I’m getting
married this year.
You want to get married to the mother of
your son… is it as a result of necessity or as
a result of love?
Love really. I’ve known her for like six years
and apart from the fact that she’s the
mother of my son we are also friends and
it’s easier to live a happily married life with
someone that understands you and
someone that you really have a good
communication with. Mainly I’m not
particular about love itself .I’m particular
about communication, friendship, and
understanding which is what we have. I
can’t start a new relationship dealing with
anybody else.
The Lord of the Ribs is a new show
replacing Basket Mouth Uncensored. Before
you talk of the one that will take place in
Nigeria let’s talk about the one that took
place in U.K. The show attracted a lot of
accolades. What did you do right and how
do you feel?
Okay I didn’t know that it was going to be
another sell-out by a black comedian in the
UK. Eddie Kaddie was my M.C. What we did
right was actually the publicity. The
publicity was elaborate and the venue was
extremely perfect we couldn’t have made a
better choice. There was something about
the 02. The biggest concert has been held at
the 02. So we were like okay, we’re going to
do this because I didn’t want to get into a
mini show in London and just pick one
cheap venue.
The show is not registered, there is no work
permit, I am performing and scared of
immigration, you know all that. So we went
through the right sources and we applied
for work permit, paid tax, insured the show,
did everything right and because of what
we did there was no limitation to the
amount of publicity that we were going to
do. Talking about how it became a success, I
think apart from the fact that it was well
publicized, what we are selling was worth it.
A lot of people came there to watch me
perform and I gave them what they came
for. I tried my best to make sure that they
got what they wanted. And it was a good
show … it was extremely good, it wasn’t
just directed to us Nigerians, there were
Ghanaians, South Africans, Zimbabweans
even the British people we had a couple of
them there. I’m still hoping that I will still
repeat that event there because it was
something I never thought could happen
and after this one I might do one next year .
I don’t know yet but there was no other
way to start because I stopped doing
Basket mouth uncensored last year and I
wanted to bring up a new brand which was
the Lord of the Ribs and there was no other
way to start Lord of the Ribs than to start
the way it started. The platform we used,
the crowd and all that would make the next
edition which is in Lagos easier to achieve.
I’m also bringing in some comedians from
U.K to join me. They all said the show was
great thanks to all the people that came…
What should we expect from the Lord of the
Rib in Nigeria?
Lord of the Rib in Nigeria will be featuring
two U.K comedians and one South African
comedian. One of the U.K comedians is
white and he speaks Pigin English and
Yoruba. He’s extremely funny. His name is
Kevin J and he’s one of the biggest
comedians in the U.K right now. The other
comedian, Eddy Carle is a Congolese but he’s
also British. He was actually at the show at
the Old 02 arena the one with the 20,000
seating capacity. The C.Ds will be sold out
because since September the thing is almost
half gone.
The comedian from South Africa, David Cow
is extremely good also. He is black and he’s
one of the biggest comedians in South
Africa. I’ll also be featuring two or three
comedians from Nigeria like Bovi, Buchi,
and I go die. I won’t be able to feature more
Nigerian comedians because there would be
no time but I’m also trying to build a
platform, a new show that will give other
comedians an opportunity to also be on
stage but right for Lord of the Rib in Lagos
we are trying as much as possible to make
it extremely different because I’m not going
to be the only comedian.
We are trying to make it as big as possible
using the new venue at the new Expo
Center that has 25,000 seating capacity and
we are looking at making it a little bit
affordable unlike my previous shows that
tilted towardsN5000, and N10,000. This one
is going to be a little bit cheaper but
definitely we intend to make it one of the
biggest comedy events ever in the history
of comedy in Nigeria. That’s my plan. I
intend to do it to the point where even the
foreigners too will be part of it.
When will it take place?
We are looking at June. I heard that there
are a couple of events in May so I’m looking
at June and July but it won’t go beyond the
summer because a lot of the people will be
traveling. So it will be right before summer.
Will it be cheaper than N5, 000?
Yes, it might be. We are still looking at it.
N5,000
Give us a bit of yourself what did you do in
school?
I attended UNIBEN . I studied sociology and
I left in 2001. I didn’t do a BSc degree. I did
two diplomas, in sociology and
anthropology and also sociology on its
own. I was supposed to do my direct entry
and go further. I just felt the one I had
already don do, make I face comedy which
is my talent. For me it’s not about the
certificate but it’s about the talent. I
definitely don’t see myself using my
certificate to work. I cannot do the 9am –
5pm thing except I’m going to my own
company. I started professional comedy in
2000 so I’m supposed to be celebrating my
ten years on stage but I don’t believe in all
these celebrations because I feel like I’ve
not really done anything. So I’ll probably
wait till I am twenty years old on stage and
by then I’ll probably be in my early forties
so I will still be young in the industry.
What would you say of other comedians
that copy other people’s jokes …. have you
ever copied other people’s jokes?
I have not copied other people’s jokes but I
have copied their subject matters. So when
people talk about something and I like it, I’ll
elaborate on it. So it’s all about ideas. You
pick an idea on someone else’s jokes. It’s
natural . I’ve used Ali Baba’s joke before not
because I ran out of jokes but because I
liked it. I told him bros this joke I am seizing
it; it’s no more your joke. When it comes to
copying other people’s jokes, some
comedians do so due to laziness. It is also
an act of disrespect for the originators
because these people go through a lot in
getting a good joke and someone from
nowhere comes up and uses the joke.
Who are your top five upcoming
comedians?
I won’t call them upcoming comedians. I’ll
call them young comedians and they can’t
be five. I’ll have to mention ten. I like Seyi
law, D Don, Mr Patrick, Buchi, I like Bovy a
whole lot because his style is actually like
mine and the same thing with Buchi.He is
very, very spontaneous I like both of them.
I can take both of them out of the whole lot
and if I say I want to choose my first two I
will choose them. I don’t want to mention
names because they may feel bad if I don’t
mention their names .
There are other comedians like Ele nu, Mc
Shakara, then the lecturals. I admire their
work , because they have it in them
although I can’t really remember all their
names.
Let’s come to your own class, your top five
biggest comedians?
Hmmm number one is Oke bakasi, I go die,
Gandoki, Ali Baba and Basorge
Okay who are the five worse comedians?
I can’t say that … I can’t say that, I’m sorry.
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Good Afternoon! Tuesday March 30, 2010
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