I am out of stand-up comedy for good – Ali Baba

He was a child born after several other girls, so, he was named Aleluyah, a name that depicts utmost gratitude by his parents (for having ...

a male child at last). He is a comedian of great repute and an achiever worthy of note. In this interview with FUNMI ELUGBAJU, the renown rib-cracker clarifies the popular notion that he was leaving the comic scene saying he had only bowed out of stand up comedy for good. He also spoke about his accidental entry into the world of comedy, the challenges therein and his future plans.
How did you come about the name, Ali Baba?

Ali Baba is derived from my baptismal name Aleluyah. I was born after several girls and so when I was born my grandmother was very happy that my mum had a son because she has been having only girls. So, she named me Aleluyah and during school my colleagues couldn’t call me Aleluyah; they called me Ali and from then Ali Baba.

How did you get into the comedy industry?

I got into comedy by accident. I was in a show and I was passing comments as a heckler and somebody there was supposed to perform on stage and that didn’t happen. One of the organisers of the shows walked up to me and said can you help us to pacify the audience? That was what I did and have been doing since 1988.

What is your motivation?

One thing was the drive to convince my father that choosing comedy was not a wrong decision because he thought that I should have read Law. So, when I decided that I was going to do comedy he thought that I had made a wrong decision and I always had that drive to prove him wrong, that I was okay. The other thing is that comedy was doing everything for me. Comedy provided everything every other job would have provided and even more, so are the drives. The other thing is job satisfaction. Comedy is a fulfilling career and the fact that the inspiration comes from God all the time and the materials are there.

How do you source materials for your show?

Anywhere and everywhere. Nigeria has been very good to us. There has been so many things that have happened in this country that is just enough material for anybody to build on. We have a very fertile ground for materials for entertainment and comedy.

How would you rate the comedy industry in Nigeria?

We are not there yet, we are still scratching the surface. We are not at the optimum level yet. We will soon get there but right now we are not up there. We are beginning to come into an industry but a lot of people think we have arrived. No, comedy is still far from the dream that I think of. The dream I think of and expect it to be, my hopes for it are still not there. We need structures, structures that will enhance the practice of the profession. Once that is done, we need a professional body, we need ethics, we need professional etiquette. All these are needed for the industry to grow.

What do you have to say about comedians recycling their jokes?

We always have quacks in every profession and comedy is a very difficult profession. It is not like music where somebody comes and performs one song and he can do the same song again in the same event. If there is a wedding reception you come there and do the song at the beginning of the wedding reception and you do it again at the evening and maybe they now have a night party you will do it again and people will still like it is not so with comedy. You can’t do that. If you do a joke, you can’t repeat that same joke again at that same event because people already know the joke now. But you have the 50-50 chance of not everybody having being at the event. Let me tell you one, there is an event for 1000 people and you do a joke, one out of those 1000 people see you and tell you, oh! this is the joke that that guy did at that event. You go to another event of a different one thousand people and you are one of those 1000 people and I happen to be cracking the same joke, and the one who was at the previous event says don’t mind him, at that show he did that joke, the other 999 people didn’t hear the joke but because you had heard it before you feel it is a recycled joke. That opinion as far as I am concerned should be viewed wrong. For instance, do you know how many people pay for DSTV even when they recycle movies all the time? The media is also not free of this guilt: there are photographs that newspapers recycle. You use the photograph of a person for a story and when you interview the person again, you use the same photograph. When a sports reporter takes the picture of Kanu Nwakwo on the pitch, he uses the picture anytime he is writing a story, he puts that same picture of Kanu Nwakwo and nobody complains. What I am trying to say is that a lot of them need materials that either the older comedians had done to grow. If you look at idols, American Idols, the contestant on the show use songs of musicians to grow, they don’t sing their own song, they use the songs of other musicians to grow and that is something that is obtainable everywhere. When they come into their own and they have established themselves, they begin to make their own jokes but they need those ones to start, to learn the ropes and gain confidence.

Apart from comedy, what else do you do?

I have an event centre called Xqzamoi. I write and then I do a lot of investments

How would you describe your coming into limelight?

I can’t remember precisely how it all happened, it is rather difficult to place a hand on.. It wasn’t like Timi Dakolo or Omawunmi, West African Idol or as with Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It wasn’t like that at all, it was rather a continuous growth that occurred over time.

How do you cope with female admirers being a married man?

Now, there is the need for you to be able to draw the line between people who want you for unprintable reasons and there are some who just like you because you are a comedian and they just like your personality. For instance, there are people that admire Cardinal Okogie but they wouldn’t think of wanting to sleep with him just because of that. So, you need to draw that line. As a comedian, I have a lot of admirers and fans, they come time after time with one request or the other: Oh, I need your car; I like you and all that. But you see, I have a way of handling them, I don’t joke with my family and I mince no word about that. I draw the line always. Besides,you must also know that it is not everybody that says Ali I like you, I want to have your number that wants to date you too. So, you don’t miscalculate.

What is your reaction on Michael Jackson’s death?

It was shocking but everybody has a set time.. He has contributed so much even more than than people who have lived for 90 years and he did all this contribution when he was even not up to thirty. He gave his all, he had shortcomings but I think most people will remember him for the good he has done. It was painful to have him die especially when he had a mother of all concerts coming up. But I still think that Michael Jackson is a man that can’t die because he is so legendary. Like they say Thriller is the world’s highest selling record. It’s going to be the world’s highest selling record continuously. It was painful but I think it was okay. It was something that was meant to happen because nothing happens without God.

How rich are you?

I am comfortable; at least I am sure of where my next meal and that of the people I am responsible to will come from.

Talking about people that you are responsible to, how did you meet your wife?

I went to the bank to open an account, there, I saw her for the first time. We became friends but did not propose to her until much later. It was after several months that I did that and with the help of a friend of hers who introduced us and the subject that there is this guy that says he likes you, maybe you guys should just get together and talk. We are where we are today.

Were you a star then?

I was hustling, this was in 1993 or 1994.

You are unquestionably one of the stylish people in the entertainment industry. How would you describe your sense of style?

I dress to the occasion. I am a jeans and T-shirt person. If I am not in one of these things that I am wearing now, I will be in my jeans and my T-shirts. I wear native only when I am going to church. I hardly wear a suit to church. If it were not for my wife, I would wear jeans and T shirt to church because I feel most comfortable in it. However, a lot of people don’t know that the cost of an attire is not judgeable by its weight or colour but by its quality. Somebody may wear a suit and the suit may not be up to the cost of jeans somebody else is wearing but because it is a jean, they will just feel the person is not with a good sense of dressing. But, I feel clothes are just for covering and so, shouldn’t constitute any big deal. As for me, I feel more comfortable in a jeans but when I’m working I wear a suit.

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THE CELEBRITIES CULTURAL DAY 2009 BERTHS

The Celebrities Cultural Day is an event packaged by At2 Event & Entertainment, with the sole aim of bringing back thee rich cultural values using the renowned personalities in Nigeria as tools. This one of its kind event which objective is to celebrate individual cultural heritage of our celebrities in all ramification ranging from music, media, sport, movie etc all of these our celebrities are expected to attend this event dressed in their traditional attire based on where they are from. “This event would be a yearly event, with its maiden edition, set to hold in the month of September at the Oceanview Restaurant with it lots of fun in place to surprise all and sundry.” One of the coordinator informed this office.

This event, would parade most of our celebrities, as the theme implies so as to help we Nigerians to be perceived in a different light all over the world, using our cultural heritage as a tool and to also help in the ongoing re-branding process Nigeria just embarked on.
There would be live performances from both old and young artistes, cultural display from different ethnic groups, cultural display by Germans, jokes that would blow off people’s heart from our renowned comedians and many more.

At2 Event & Entertainment is set up by some young Nigeria’s entrepreneurs. Since it’s inception in 2006, they have been involved in events basically outside the country. The countries they have had their big bang includes France, Russia, and Germany etc. With all the progress attained, this has prompted the organization to come up with this laudable idea of event ,using it as an avenue to launch themselves and set a pace in Nigerian entertainment industry.
T
he managerial team of At2 Event & Entertainment, we learnt, is working tirelessly towards this event so as to make it an event people would never forget in a hurry.

The organizers are seeking government support and they are also using this medium to seek sponsorship from reputable organization to partner this laudable concept.

African China gets new baby

Unknown to most Nigerians, when reggae dance hall king, African China, sang Forgive Me in his last album, he was actually asking for Maryam, his lover to forgive him for his alleged sexual indulgence with a white girl during a trip to the United Kingdom.

And unknown to many, the lady in question had been a long standing lover, now married to the Umuahia, Abia State born reggae musician.

So, last Thursday, at exactly 12.30 a.m., doctors at the Holyfield Hospital located in FESTAC Town welcomed, through the beautiful Nasarawa- born wife of African China, a baby girl, whom the star musician has already named Princess.

China, as he more fondly called by friends and fans, in a phone call, told this writer that although he was prepared for the news, he was actually surprised that, “My wife, who had gone for a mere ante-natal check up, was confined to bed by the doctor who insisted her time was due.”

Was he in the theater to stand by the wife, Showtime sought to know?

“No. I couldn’t stand the trauma my woman was going through. So, I quietly waited and prayed for her and the child outside while the birth process lasted.

I thank God that they sailed through and today, I’m a proud father of a daughter.

The girl is God’s way of bringing back my mother whom I lost, when I was just two years old,” an elated China disclosed.

On his feeling and relationship with his wife who is currently a final year student at the Nasarawa State University, China disclosed that, he had “always prayed to God to give me a partner that I will love and cherish for ever.

In my upcoming album, I dedicated a song to my wife and prayed to God that I want to wake up every morning to find her by my side.

And this prayer is already working in my favour, as the new baby seems to the instrument God has used to bring good tidings to my family.”

At the Holyfield Hospital, mother and child were in great shape and healthy when this writer visited.

Maryam’s auntie, who is currently playing the role of the mother (her mother was said to have travelled abroad for medical check up), told Showtime she was happy. “God is good,” she said]

Lillian Bach madly in love

Nobody needs a crystal ball to predict or foresee that screen diva Lillian Bach is in love. The way this mulatto babe snuggled close to her heartthrob, Davidson Johnson, is making some people green with envy.

Lillian hardly removed her eyes from her man, even when she was called to the high table in one social event. While the national anthem was going on, the beautiful babe, in her designer eyeglasses, gazed at Davidson who tried to keep a straight face.
At a point, through non-verbal communication, Davidson, who wore a light brown stripe suit, went out. Soon after, Bach followed him.

Davidson later resurfaced alone and sat tight to his seat even during the dancing time. He later left alone in his black car.

nigeriafilms

I Forget I'm A Wife On Set -Uche Elendu

Dark-skinned and sultry Nollywood actress, Uche Elendu, has changed her name. She will now be known as Uche Elendu-Igweanyiba.

"I'm Mrs. Uche Elendu-Igweanyiba and please don't even call the Miss when my husband is around because he would not like it," she giggled when Klieglights approached her for an interview.

For a young lady who has had so many male and female fans in the last eight years, after the father of her friend, actor Larry Koldsweat, introduced her to the world of make-believe, how has she been able to cope as a married actress?

"Well, when I'm on set, I'm an actress and when I return home I become a mother of an eight-month-old and a wife to my darling husband. I've been able to distinguish the two so as to be able to fulfil my obligations adequately.

"So, when I'm on set, I sincerely do all I can and forget that I'm a mother or wife but when I'm at home, I'm the wife and mother," she quipped.

Unknown to many, Uche had met and fallen in love with her businessman hubby while at the top of her career. So how are the male fans behaving?

"My hubby was actually a fan and he understands what it takes for fans to pester you. I'm a celebrated actress and I expect fans, men and ladies, to want to talk to me but I know how to draw the line because I'm married and I don't engage in extra marital affairs.

"The man I married is my number one fan and he knew me through my movies and started talking to me and after sometime, I decided to give him a chance and that was it. He is my kind of man and till date he watches my films," Uche said.

But some films, which Uche starred in as a lead act might have warranted questions and bad blood from her husband as a result of the kissing and romance on set. So, how does her he react to this?

"My husband understands my job because he knows what I do and as such, he loves me unconditionally. And since I got married to him, I don't think I have noticed anything different in his reaction when he is watching my movies, he's just cool and okay. Even if he doesn't like it, he has never for once shown it in words or actions. So, I believe he understands my job and flows with it," was her response.

Known to have distinctively made her mark despite the crowded movie industry-with female stars rising every now and then-Uche strongly believes that her breakthrough was as a result of God's love and her ability to interpret roles efficiently.

In her words: "Well, I would say God and my ability to interpret, roles gave me the break. If you know my story into Nollywood, you would know that I only went to drop something for my friend when her father and a colleague asked me to try out a role and because I was not camera shy and just myself, I was able to do what they required and that was it. I stopped along the line because I had to complete my education and then my father wasn't in full support. I came back fully after I finished my education in 2004 and since then, it's been a sweet story all the way."

Speaking further on her ability to interpret roles and win the heart of fans worldwide, the mother of one, who readily boasts that she's back to reclaim her fame called to mind some of the toughest roles she has had to play.

"When it comes to interpretation of roles, I'm always able to be as diligent as possible because I know this is what I love doing and what I have always craved for, so, I do my films very well.