Comedy shows in Nigeria have been described as a goldmine, but they have yet to achieve their full potential as most Nigerians have not fully tapped into their array of benefits.
This was the view of Babatunde Ojobaro, popularly known as Mister Rain, in a chat with Journalists. He disclosed that as a multi-talented individual, he had always believed that talent goes way beyond what it looks like.
“Comedy shows have achieved a very huge milestone in the past decade, and the improvement cannot be ignored. I feel that these comedy styles – satire, farce, parody and slapstick are the most popular and have been explored quite a lot to a certain extent and to be honest, they have worked for the people who have distinctively employed any of all of them in their standup comedy style.
“Other comedy styles like comedy of humor, classical comedy, comedy of errors, romantic comedy, and a few others are more in tune for TV, drama, and films than it is to stand-up comedy,” he said.
Ojobaro revealed that as a comedian, he believes comedy is more than just making people laugh. “One of my favourite quotes is that ‘If you can make them laugh, you can get their attention, and if you can get their attention, you can tell them anything.’
“I believe there’s so much that can be done with the opportunity of having a lot of people listening to you at the same time. I am a sucker for capacity building, social change, community development and anything that encourages personal and communal growth and performing comedy on a regular show where you get just five to 10 minutes, doesn’t give me enough time to really preach my message while making people laugh.
“I decided to curate my comedy show, which will give me enough time to make them laugh while touching on issues that can preach my ideals that generally address the essence of personal and communal growth.
“I also wanted to do something different from the usual, something that will challenge me to give the whole of myself to my craft and performance and then I feel like doing what allows me to service audience and clients in my niche satisfactorily,” he said.
Ojobaro, who stressed that every endeavour has its own challenges, said in the case of one-man comedy show, it comes with the challenge of changing the narratives.
“People are used to comedy shows with variety of comedians, which is not bad at all and sometimes it feels like good value for their time and money, compared to just coming to sit down for just one person who is not even a popular figure in that sense. Having to convince people to pick a one-man comedy show for a fee that can get them into another comedy show with a variety of comedians is a top-notch challenge.
“The other challenge would be getting the full attention of your guest as the only comedian for the advertised duration. You have to serve variety as an individual; that’s some very hard work, but with the track record of five successful one-man comedy shows, that challenge has been mastered and overcome.
He encouraged his colleagues to embrace one-man comedy, when it comes to stand-up comedy, saying it is a litmus test, not necessarily for how good the person is, but a test in the real sense of it. “It paints you as a comedian in a more brilliant light. It could also test how popular or not you are amongst many other things.”
While noting that comedy is already an export commodity for Nigeria, he said: “I can name a lot of comedians who have put the Nigeria comedy scene on the international map. It can be better than it is now, but it is already an export.
While speaking on his journey as an entertainer, he said: “I started out as a dancer. Dancing for fun and entertaining people as a very young boy, then got into acting and comedy in the university as far back as 2003, and then I combined all three. In fact, it became so serious after my first degree. I had to take JAMB again to study Theatre Arts, and I have never looked back since then. As an award winner – Radio presenter, actor for screen, director and producer for theatre, a stand-up comedian, I would cumulatively say I have been in entertainment for more than 20 years (this is inclusive of my years in the university).
Ojobaro said that he believes everyone who does something wants to either be the best at it or get due recognition or just be at that space where a lot of people can reckon with your work.
“Sometimes when that doesn’t happen either as fast as you want or as large, you may begin to worry but again there are a lot of other talents jostling for the same thing. The ripple effect of this is, that when one is not at that stage yet, getting funding and sponsorship may become a very big deal and it can hinder personal projects and stuff like that if one is not even careful it can hinder growth and I considered that a very huge challenge for a long time but not anymore.
“I know that not everyone can be an RMD or an Ali Baba, but you can carve out your niche, build your own client and audience base, begin to nurture and service them satisfactorily and that’s what I have been doing in the last couple of years.
“As a comedian, I am not as popular as most comedians, but all my stand-up comedy shows are usually sold out weeks before the show. I don’t know how many comedians can do a one-man comedy show in October and November of the same year in the same city, charging different fees per show and still sell out the auditorium for both shows but I did.
“As an actor, especially for stage and theatre, my shows are also usually sold out. A very recent instance is my participation at the Lagos International Theatre Festival and even the Lagos Fringe, the play “Who Tif Mona Lisa?” When I featured as an actor was a massive success.
“So the idea is, I don’t want to rule the world; I want to rule my world, and that’s how I’m able to constantly overcome the challenges.”
