How two years of pandemic and economic recession impacted the Nigerian comedy industry – Tunde Aluko

Tunde Aluko is a respected voice and key player in the Nigerian entertainment industry with special focus and passion for comedy. With over two decades of experience in the industry, Tunde sheds light on the inner workings and how the pandemic impacted the business. 

Did you ever think that a pandemic would happen in our lifetime and shut the whole world down as the coronavirus pandemic did in recent years?
I am certain nobody in the world younger than 70 years old thought of a pandemic in the actual meaning of pandemic. We had ebola and it was curtailed quickly; it didn’t go beyond a few African countries and in the countries affected by Ebola, only a few cities were affected. So when Coronavirus started, nobody thought it would cripple the world economy as it did and have us all completely locked down and locked in.

What were the projects you were working on before the lockdown?
The previous year, 2019 was a good year, having worked for a few years in partnerships and providing allied services for different events and productions.  Toward the end of 2018 I had set out to go solo and start my own production company, so when we rolled out by December 2018, some of the new acts coming to mainstream comedy entrusted us with their full production for 2019. It was so good that on one occasion, we produced and worked on three different shows in a single day: two in Lagos and one in Ibadan on the same night. Thus, we were hopeful and certain 2020 was going to be bigger. In fact, we had started promotions for Forever Funny (the third in the series), the venue booked; then covid happened and we were introduced to the word  “Lockdown”.

At what point did you realize that a lockdown was imminent?
I was a little paranoid and followed global news and predictions. Remember this was new and the expert opinions we relied on also changed almost daily, so I was of the opinion we needed to lock down as the world was locking down too. By the time Nigeria had its first case at the end of February 2020, I was mentally ready for the lockdown. As soon as news came of different people within the political class testing positive, it became a matter of when.

For events that were booked, were refunds issued or did event producers have to take it as a loss?
It was difficult talking about refunds because we thought it was a matter of weeks and all would be back to normal. As things went, the show we were working on billed for April 2020 were moved to 2022 because venues were dealing with rescheduling and conflicting dates. Everyone took the hit across the board. This was the first time that many non-lawyers became familiar with the term “Force Majeure”.

While there were no shows, were there other avenues that comedians used to stay active?
Comedians like every other entertainer had to practically reinvent themselves and innovate. Virtual shows gained more prominence. With time, a few productions went on with limited crews while many embraced acting and maximized streaming platforms.

How did comedians cope during the lockdown?
The impact of covid and the lockdown cannot be quantified. Between March and August, there was almost no event anywhere across the country till certain states gradually opened up. No one person can speak for all comedians, but when you consider that the entertainment industry was basically shut down for a year in Lagos, you can then imagine what it meant in terms of lost revenue. Again, smart comedians had to innovate and rely on technology to reach their audiences.

Was there an insurance scheme that ensured that comedy practitioners were taken care of during the pandemic?
This impact will be difficult to speak of in the absolute, I know however Alibaba and a few other senior colleagues came together and pooled over N10,000,000 (ten million naira) and distributed it as a palliative to cushion the effect of the pandemic at some point.

What was the role of social media for comedy practitioners during the lockdown?
It was a blessing of sorts. Before the pandemic, we had funny people making skits but with the lockdown, we had more stand-up comedians maximizing the platforms available to them. A few of them had specials in that time and as venues were locked, people were indoors so social media was the only available medium to reach the fanbase.

Did the rise of platforms such as Tik Tok negatively affect professional comedians?
This is my personal opinion – though you should take it as general perception: there are professional stand-up comedians and there are funny people using scripted content on platforms like Tik Tok. There are viral content today on social media that were comedy materials written by Ali Baba, Okey Bakassi, Basorge, Julius Agwu, Tee A, Basketmouth or anyone from that era (ten to twenty years ago). You see some content and instantly recognize it from shows like Nite of a Thousand Laffs- some two decades ago. So there will always be professional standup comedians and skit makers. However, the two can coexist even though there are glaring distinctions between them.

In monetary terms, how much do you think was lost because of the restriction on events?
We will have to go with figures put out by professional auditing bodies on this as no one can quantify without data. Remember the whole economy practically shut down for almost a year and when we eventually opened up venues were running at minimal capacity. This was against the backdrop of Detty December in 2019 to zero shows and concerts in 2020. Monetarily, we should be looking in the range of five billion naira.

How many related industries have suffered because the comedy industry has been impacted by COVID?
Venues that were certain to do two to three events in a month and multiple shows towards the end of the year were locked. Multimedia companies were out of business. Same for lighting and sound companies, decorations, private security companies offering bodyguards and bouncers at events, makeup artistes, ushering companies. Basically, every allied industry took a hit, a massive hit.

What opportunities arose from the pandemic when the whole world was in need of constant entertainment?
People embraced the streaming platforms, producers evolved and provided tailor-made services. The consumer also had the chance to cherry-pick so entertainers had to scale up their craft.

What are the things that comedians and producers learnt during the lockdown and continued restrictions?
Nothing is guaranteed and we should work on producing for the global stage. That is, create excellent local content with export in mind.

What can the comedy industry develop so that in future, unforeseen circumstances do not endanger the whole ecosystem?
I think the world as it is now will never go back to the way it was pre-covid. We are adapting to this new normal and now we are producing content for the global audience. Kenny Blaq already worked on a special on Netflix. Basketmouth also has a deal with Comedy Central. Everyone producing a standup show now in Nigeria is working on better content, better cameras, proper lighting and the best possible audio so your content will compete with any content produced anywhere else in the world.