Comedian, Laff Up, lights up Ibadan children hope for better future with gifts

From Total Garden to Beere Area of the ancient city, Ibadan, the atmosphere was abuzz and beehive of human and vehicular movement as it recently played host to the comedy of Laf’ Up comedy crew, with the stage of comedy show tagged Laff Up Live.

Organised under the auspices of ‘Comedy for Change’, a non-profit organization, the crew led by its head honcho and host of the comedy show, Laff Up Comedy, Segun Ogundipe, move from the converging point at Total Garden to Beere environs, distributing gifts that include notebooks, pencils and foods to children.

According to Ogundipe, who had his embryonic comedy stage in Ibadan, the distribution of gift items to the children is the crew’s little way of appreciating the society that help mould him into who he is today, adding that the Comedy for Change activities is geared towards growth of the community.

He said, “No artiste exists in vaccum of the people or the society. My interest has always been towards social change, growth, charity and keen focus on the institutionalization of comedy in Nigeria. We cannot over-emphasize the obvious fact that the industry lacks documentation. Little or no research has been conducted in that area.”

The University of Ibadan Theatre Art graduate told The Guardian that the research he conducted partly covered history of comedy in Nigeria.

“This historical path was not the initial focus but as there was not any recorded history literally, how does one discuss the craft and business judiciously without account of what and where the Nigerian brand of it evolved from and the pioneer in that field? Comedy talks and forums would cater for these areas of comedy,” he stated.

Laff’ Up Live 2017 was part of activities for the celebration of the Ibadan based comedy maestro’s 15 years on stage, producing comedy home and in the diaspora.

Guests at the concert, which followed the second day at Jogor Centre include actor Saheed Balogun, Uncle Saka of the I Don Port fame, OmoBaba, Kenny Blaq, Woli Agba, Dr Smiles and Princess, all thrilling the audience with rib cracking jokes.