PERHAPS the biggest task before comedy merchant Opa Williams as he plans for the next edition of his annual comedy show tagged: Nite of A Thousand Laughs next year October, is how to control the crowd.
Over the years, the premier comedy fiesta has attracted a large followership, and the last edition that just held on Sunday at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, no doubt, exposed Opa Williams' deficiency as regards crowd control. For over an hour, the crowd of over two thousand people waited anxiously for the equally big crowd inside the Shell Hall of the MUSON, to come out for them to witness the second show billed to begin from 7p.m. As at 7.45p.m, Williams and other members of Virgin Organisation, organisers of the event, seemed to be at loss on what to do to the anxious people that laid siege to the glass doors of the hall. In fact, Iyabo Aboaba, the manager of the complex, was sighted wearing a worried look as she stared at the people.
Williams at about 8p.m., after conferring with somebody on his two-way radio, climbed to a higher ground and told the crowd to be calm as the first show was about to end. The task again was how the people outside would get out since the doors were a no-go-area.
Even a passionate appeal from Williams would not budge the crowd as one of them sandwiched between people that were squeezing life out of him gradually, managed to mutter out. He vowed not to give ground because he might not have the chance of getting a vantage sitting position to "enjoy the show". It took the wisdom of somebody to open up the stage doors at the back of the hall and the crowd inside slipped out. Then the tussle to get in began. An editor with a leading magazine who came with his wife and little kid daughter had a hell of a time getting in through the 'back door'. The little girl took a ride on her dad's shoulders. Ironically, she was enjoying the drama, quite oblivious of what her dad was going through.
The stress occasioned with gaining entrance into the hall was soon to be forgotten when the show started. The compere of the night, ace comedian Ali Baba proved why he is often referred to as the King of Stand Up Comedy in the country. With a glib way, he manipulated the audience, taking them to a height, which was crashed by a group of in-your-face hip hop acts. The three young men and two female dancers earned themselves a long jeers from the crowd after their first song, but they redeemed their image a little with the rendition of their second number. Done in a local Idoma dialect, the piece evoked some sweet emotions that soothed the nerves of some members of the audience who were ready to boo them again. The artistes were lucky.
Perhaps the biggest revelation that night was petit comedian The Lecturer. He was posed with a big problem of sustaining the tempo after heavyset female comic Lekpacious held the crowd spellbound for over 20 minutes. Lekpacious is a welcome change in the world of female comedians in the country, where the likes of Mandy and Princess had reigned supreme for years. Tall and huge, the female comic elicited laughter from the audience when she decided to speak about her huge size, non-stop. At intervals she danced to the heavy beat of the Disc Jockey, moving with incredible speed for her size. She is the future of female comedians in the country.
Thus, the crowd expected more from the next act, which incidentally was The Lecturer. He did not cut a picture of one that could make people laugh. In a rare display of professionalism however, the comedian being a sharp contrast to his female colleague, Lekpacious, in size, and since she harped on her big size too, took a cue from her and talked about his small stature and the 'disadvantages' therein. In no time, The Lecturer had the filled hall reeling with laughter. He had a good outing. Ironically, people had to practically beg and 'blackmailed' Opa Williams to have him on the bill, a source close to the organisers revealed. The large grin on Williams' face, as The Lecturer performed was indeed a confirmation that the comic justified his inclusion in the show.
Ayo Makun popularly called A Y was the bomb, expectedly. Being touted as the Fastest Rising Comedian in the country at present, A Y, a Theatre Arts graduate from the Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State invoked his theatrical background to give his jokes more life. As an opening shot, he took on his mentor, Ali Baba, who he yabbed thoroughly. With his jokes fresh from his repertoire, the comedian not only caused the crowd to bust into laughter at regular intervals, he confirmed his rating as one of the biggest comedians in the country. His jokes were devoid of insults that has become a norm among comedians. Perhaps what would go down as one of his classics that night was the one on star actress Stella Damasus-Aboderin. It talks about the 'crush' he (A Y) has on her and how he devised a way to pander to the frustration. It was a master piece. His mimicking of popular televangelists Pastors Chris Okotie and Chris Oyakhilome as they ran football commentaries of a match played only in A Y's imagination was a deviation from other similar jokes. His dramatisation and stagecraft gave more meaning to the joke. His parting shot was his 'prophetic' sayings on popular artistes such as hip hop act Tu Face, singer Genevieve and others. His transfiguration from his suit to a prophet's garment was dramatic.
Musicomedian Sweetie was another attraction. He did his best and he was rewarded with a long and sustained applause from the appreciative audience. Other artistes that performed that night were DC Envoys, Koffi and Owen G in the joint act of the Two Mad Men among others.
Opa Williams before the show promised that people would be coming to see a 'repackaged' Nite of A Thousand Laughs. Well, it was not totally a 'repackaged' show that one saw that night. Save for the wide screen that displayed some graphics showed at intervals, the video clips of jokes done by departed masters of the comedy trade such as John Chukwu and Mohammed Danjuma among others, and some other innovations such as weird phone ringtones, the show was still the same like other past editions of Nite of A Thousand Laughs. Also, somebody should have done something about the lighting that night. One was surprised to see that anytime two or more people were on stage, only one person had the attention of the lighting man. Thus, the others were constantly left in the dark.
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