…Sponsors don’t make shows happen
Undisputed king of comedy, Ali Baba is lining up 24 popular clowns and celebrated musicians for a unique show to usher in the New Year. The event is billed for January 1, 2015 at Eko hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The comedian who said his reason for not coming up with shows annually is because others do it to remain relevant, he explained why he is rewarding the six outstanding recipients.
Those on the role of honours are Nigeria’s first Chattered Accountant, first Olympic Gold medalist and first female Chief Justice of Nigeria. Others are first female on the Forbes list, first Nobel Laureate and first female pilot. For him: “The criteria are self-evident.
This show is not really about Ali Baba. It is about celebrating the New Year and the people that played key roles in 2014. The Three Kings is still there. I come up with new trends.”
On return of investment, since he most often bankroll most aspects of his shows, he said that he recoup your expenses from sales of show as a good comedy show costs a minimum of N50m to host.
His words: “The sponsors don’t make shows happen, but its content. They only come to leverage on the show when you sell a table for five million naira, and you sell just ten you have fifty million naira to take care of your main needs for the show.”
On the accusation that comedians seize such function to abuse people, Ali Baba who gave a graphic examples of his exploits in the business, said anything that a comedian says should be seen in that context as simply a joke.
While admitting that, “Sometimes comedians take it too far. That is when it offends sensibilities. Comedy is between a thin line of something nasty and comic. I have stood before men like Abacha, IBB, Buhari, Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan and other great men and said things that people may consider nasty! But it is all comedy”.
He further said, “Most often when you make jokes, about 80 percent of the people they enjoy it. Those who did not enjoy it could not get the joke as it were. What a comedian says is a joke. Ironically, politicians are seen as jokers.”