By Dafe Ivwurie
Last Sunday, Bright Okpocha, the dreadlock-spotting popular comedian known as Basketmouth, staged a comedy show at the prestigious and newly built Expo Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. The show tagged “The Lord of the Ribs” was to celebrate his 10th year on stage and it paraded top Nigerian comedy acts along with invited comedians from South Africa, America and the United Kingdom. By all accounts, it was an impressive show that lived up to all the hype and publicity it got from the print and electronic media.
Perhaps, the only comedian who has staged anything bigger than what Basketmouth did is the impresario himself, the Don of the comedy clan, Alibaba, when he celebrated his 20 years on stage as a comedian and master of ceremonies per excellence.
I will not attempt to analyse the performance of the men and woman who graced the stage, because they all gave very good account of themselves and justified why the host invited them. Comedy, like music, is a universal language. At every point in time in our lives, we all feel the need to laugh, to see the brighter side of life in spite of the whatever difficulty we go through. Sometimes, in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainties around us, we manage to bring out the funny side of life; and the comedians are adept at doing this.
The success of the show brings to the fore a number of issues – on a personal level for Bright, on a wider level, for the comedy industry and even much bigger level for Nigeria.
Basketmouth was doing a diploma at the University of Benin when Alibaba, the Delta State born pioneer of stand up comedy spotted him during a show he was anchoring in one of his visits to the Ugbowo campus of the university. Bright had been invited to perform as a rapper and in the middle of his rhymes and reason he would throw some banters and ‘yabbies’ at the audience. Alibaba thereafter invited and encouraged him to abandon being a rapper and embrace stand up comedy. That was in 2000. Today, the protégé has become a major force in the make-people-laugh venture, a testimony to talent, resilience, consistency and I must add, to Basketmouth’s humility and readiness to learn, take criticism and the ability to carve his own niche.
But the greater kudos goes to Alibaba, for being able to spot a talent and redirect the energy and the destiny of the young lad from music to comedy. It takes faith, courage, belief in oneself and chosen career to convince another to follow you. Alibaba had no mentor in the true sense of the word, just precursors and forerunners in the likes of, Babasala, Aluwe, Samanja and Jagua. Although names like John Chukwu and Muhammed Danjuma were fully entrenched in the entertainment circles, Alibaba made stand up comedy a profession and anybody who introduces himself as one need to give him that respect, if possible pay him tithes for taking the lead. Well, his colleagues already call him the Grand Comedian of the Federal Republic, GCFR. May be the federal government should begin to think of a national honour for him in recognition of his vision, pioneering work and entrepreneurial spirit in a field of endeavour that was not taken seriously.
The lord of the Ribs was a first of its kind event. It was the first time anybody would bring international comedy acts to Nigeria. What that signifies is that the entertainment industry in Nigeria is big. Entertainment as a cultural phenomenon has always had the power to cross borders, build bridges, cement relationships and create a platform for peace and unity. Nollywood, the Nigerian music scene and now the Nigerian comedy industry are the truly Nigerian exports that have defined us positively in the international community. Nigerians actors now collaborate with their counterparts in Europe and America with already released flick like ‘Ije’, which starred Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and the yet to be released ‘Anchor Baby’ by Omoni Oboli. If you watch Big Brother, the Mnet reality TV hit show, you would notice that seventy percent of the music played at intervals in the house is by Nigerian artistes and the interesting fact is that housemates from other African countries know these artistes and their music as if they come from the same country.
The most interesting performances of the night for me at the lord of the ribs show were that of Kevin J, the Peckham born British comedian and Ndumiso, the very intelligent Xhosa South African. Both of them literally tore down the borders, if you will, the walls, the way the Berlin walls that divided East and West Germany were crushed in that famous unification. There are hordes of Nigerians in Peckham, just like there are in Johannesburg and Nigerians, irrespective of whether you have visited those two cities, are quite familiar with the cross cultural linkages.
Comedy might very well be the new type of diplomacy; we poke fun and laugh at each other’s idiosyncrasies and come out not feeling insulted or feeling that our national pride has been violated. Kevin and Ndumiso did just that in their performances.
I am not sure how much money went into the planning of the very commendable event, but it is heart warming and noteworthy that international brands support this effort by a single Nigerian with a plan and a vision. The success is not Bright’s; the success is for the Nigerian spirit of determination and drive to succeed when the world does not give you a chance to.
I remember my first interview with Basketmouth about seven years ago and how he was filled with trepidation about starting ‘laffs and jamz’, his first shot at being a comedy impresario. It looked like a dream too big to achieve back then, but he pulled it off just like he pulled off ‘the lord of the ribs’.
By next year, the O2 arena is expected to play host to the UK edition. This is an opportunity for western media to celebrate Nigeria positively. A five minute news feature would do a lot of good for all the negativity that have been reported.
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