Ayodeji Richard Makun, AY,
is a multi-talented, multiple award-winning stand-up comedian, and
arguably, one of the most successful comic acts of his generation.
The first male child from a
family of Seven, AY hails from Ifon in Ondo State, Nigeria but was born
and bred in Delta State. He gained fame through mimicking popular
Pastor, Rev. Chris Okotie’s big vocabulary and amusing interjections in
his comedy jabs and cracks. In 2006, the same year AY began as
professional stand-up Comedian, he was decorated as the Best Upcoming
Comedian in Nigeria, courtesy: National Comedy Awards.
Few days after his hugely
successful concert, we sat down with the hardworking entertainer for a
conversation you’ll find most interesting…
Why did you choose comedy as a career?
Comedy has turned out to be serious
business in this part of the world. Comedy is for me because as a
theatre artiste, after graduating from Delta state University, looking
at various opportunities, it is one area that [I saw] people were yet to
take seriously in terms of a way of living. And having discovered that
[I had] a given talent in that area, I chose to go for comedy as against
other things that I could have gone for. Comedy it is for me, because
apart from making people laugh, you smile to the bank
Where do you derive Inspiration for your comedy?
The inspiration behind most of my jokes
is not farfetched. They always have one or two things to do with things
happening around us. The fact is that you experience a lot of things
daily. It is either you are in traffic, or there is fuel scarcity, or a
new toll gate has been built, or more. So when you joke about these
things, people can relate with it. I gain my inspiration from all of
that and people can relate with it. And more so, a lot of people have
traced my early beginning to Pastor Chris Okotie and his grammatical
expressions. Yes that was a solid form of inspiration from the
beginning. As you go to service watching the man of God preach, and you
will scribble some things on paper. You get inspired that you scribbled
some things on paper, and then you fuse comedy to all of this and people
laugh.
What’s your most remarkable day on stage?
For me, I have had a series of
remarkable days put together. It is always remarkable when you have fear
about taking a bold step to do a show in a larger place, that will take
about 6000 people and you are still battling with the fear and you come
out on stage and realize everywhere is occupied and some people are
still standing. Even to tell them jokes becomes a major problem, because
it is so remarkable, you ask yourself if you are the one making these
people laugh. If it is the work of your hand that is doing all of that.
And it becomes even more remarkable when you do it the first time and
even want to tell yourself maybe it was a fluke and you come back even
on Easter Sunday (that was my last show) and you realize you even have
more people. About 3000 people were standing outside trying to get
tickets to come in. It is remarkable knowing that you have what it takes
to make them happy as well. People are putting comments on twitter and
they are commending you everywhere, people calling you and sending SMS
saying that this is the best show they have attended. Then it becomes
even more remarkable.
Have ever had any bad performances?
I think the bitterest experience I had
was when I did a show in 2008. We were programmed to do one show. From
one show we ended up doing two shows because the people on ground were
too many and the Muson centre was very small for us at that time. We
were forced to do a second show. Ali Baba came out to join me to address
the people to ask if they are willing to stay back for a second show, a
lot of people agreed. But there was a particular man who sent a letter
to my office two days after, suing me to court for paying for the first
show and not getting a seat. It wasn’t a good experience because my own
idea was to make people laugh and make them happy. I wasn’t happy with
the fact that in my mission to do all of that, it would cause someone so
much bitterness and unhappiness. So, that wasn’t really good, although
he withdrew his petition after a lot of people intervened; Chris Okotie,
Ali Baba. It further just explained what the plaintiff was trying to
prove but today we are all good friends.
From that experience, were you able to re-structure other shows?
Yes, the experience has helped me to
repackage. For the last Easter show, we had to stop selling tickets,
knowing quite well that we had a lot of people standing outside the
venue. As a matter of fact, I had gone ahead to put messages on twitter
and on Black Berry Messenger informing people that we were sold out, but
people still came and were looking for what I call black market. Some
were actually buying over peoples’ ticket twice the amount. We got a
report of a man, who bought over a table for N700, 000 that we sold
originally for N400, 000. So we have tried, but you know the human
factor is not what you can correct automatically. You need to have
concessions; you need to look for a way to make everybody happy. But at
the end of the day, it is not compulsory that everybody will go home and
say they are completely happy in terms of security and organization,
but we did our very best with the last show.
After every event, do you play back your performance?
Of course, I watch myself and many times
I criticize myself when I do that. Watching myself helps me to improve
for subsequent shows. When you have the opportunity to come back and
watch yourself well, you will see you are creating room for improvement.
How was your first experience on stage?
It was tricky. It was very tricky. But I
have always been on stage all my life. Growing up, I was doing stuff in
church. [Also] running my campus shows and hosting all the shows. The
only difference was that I wasn’t a comedian; I was just a Master of
Ceremony. I have always been on stage; I have always been on different
platforms to talk and to MC events. But comedy wise, first time on stage
was not too shaky because I had already balanced myself as a MC, I was
just infusing comedy.
What kind of relationship exists between you and other comedians?
My relationship with other comedians is
great. For my last show, 80% of them came in to support their brother
and colleague. We are intact and it will forever be intact, in as much
as I want to remain in the business.
As a comedian who makes people laugh and relax, how do you relax?
By watching movies; At times it baffles
people to know that part of my way of relaxing is to surf the internet,
trying to grab information for ideas that I can put together. When I
travel to do events, I always try to relax, for example if anything
takes me out of town, I try and spend a few days to make myself happy.
If not comedy what other profession would you have been in?
I am an all-encompassing showbiz person.
I would have been promoting, [in fact] someday I am still going to fall
back to full time promotion when I retire from comedy. Apart from
comedy, you probably would have seen me on television presenting. You
would have seen my work on TV as a producer. You would have seen me as a
publisher. You would have seen me as a strong PRO practitioner. So much
that God has given to me that would have defined my future not to soak
(Cassava Flakes) Garri much. The good thing is that in as much as I am
into comedy, I’m still doing all these things on the side.
When scripting your comedy
skits, such as that of Tiwa Salvage, Funke Akindele and more, what
criteria do you use to select your subject?
In drama, there is what we call
characterization. You must look at your story line and then you will
look at your character in the script and the story line you put
together. The person to use might be the normal person on the street,
but what is important is how you get a person to interpret a given role
and that is where all these people fall in.
How did you get people to associate with your brand within a short time?
It is relationship. Relationship is
paramount in my business, I build relationships. I have always been a
relationship person from my university days, and people used to wonder
why it is only this student that will bring all the Nollywood stars and
musicians on campus. So I gained my respect from that point till now, I
have maintained the relationship from that point till now. When you
relate with people very well, they will be willing to be a part of what
you do.
So your showbiz started from school?
Yes, the organization that is organizing
AY LIVE started from university. I am talking about Corporate World
Entertainment limited, which started in 1998. It is the same
organization that has grown from campus level to be the official brain
and company behind AY LIVE shows. On campus we started with campus
beauty pageants and from there we were able to produce Nigeria’s
representative to Miss World, Miss Universe. We also organized awards on
campus. Comedy came in when I started working with Ali Baba as a
personal assistant, then I later became his event manager. Up till now,
comedy has given me a bigger face lift and has established me as a
brand.
Tell us about the N60M endorsement from Even Homes?
Even Homes are property developers. They
are into buildings. They build the best homes you can ever think of at
the moment in this part of the world. When I got a call from them that
they wanted me to be their brand ambassador, I had to go see what they
were doing, and I was wowed. Together we are going places, and a lot of
people are coming to see what even homes is all about, as a result of me
being their brand ambassador, which makes me happy. And these are the
key elements of being an ambassador in the first place.
Your comic nature, did it start from childhood?
Not at all. I can’t claim I have always
been funny from childhood or that comedy happens to be part of my
system. No. But the best I can say is that comedy part came in when I
started working with Ali Baba. It’s been there, but I just didn’t have
the ability to recognize and notice it. But then iron sharpens iron, and
the moment I found myself with the king of comedy Ali Baba, I was able
to realize the talent I had and then started putting it it to use.
What are Upcoming events slated for the year?
We have a series of shows lined up for
the year. We will start our sitcom for television. We have re-branded
the television show ‘Me and my top 7 comedians’ which will hit the
screens very soon. We are going to Abuja for AY LIVE in June, Port
Harcourt AY LIVE in August, Uyo AY LIVE in September and of course we
are going to America this year for tour. Equally, we’re going to Asaba
where the Delta State Government is fully in support of what we are
doing. In Uyo, Akwa Ibom government is in support of the AY comedian
brand as well.
What’s the whole idea behind AY OPEN MIC?
Simply for the fact that I was helped to
gain ground in the industry, and I’m talking about Ali Baba. So the
minute I started finding myself useful and relevant in the comedy
industry, it was necessary to give birth to the AY OPEN MIC, which has
been in existence in 2006. We’re on a little bit of break now because we
don’t have any sponsors, but God willing, I will be able to gather some
good money, and go back. It is just a way of giving birth to all these
talents. If you’ve noticed, most of the talents are doing very well now
in the industry. Seyi Law just did his London show; he had a tour of
London and Manchester. And quite a good number of them are doing well;
travelling to one country to another maybe through MNET Comedy Club and
the rest.
As a UN Ambassador for peace what are your duties?
We just advocate peace in every
situation. It is just like being a brand ambassador to a product. We try
as much as possible to preach peace and make the world understand the
need for peace. For people that have seen most of my comedy skits, there
was one I did with Majid Michel, which is just a message. We keep
passing a message that violence, bombing and killing is not the best.
The best thing to do is to dialogue and a have a basic understanding so
that we can move on in life.
What kind of childhood did you have? Was it rosy or hard?
It can never be rosy because I wasn’t
born with a silver spoon. May be it was rosy; when I was a bus
conductor. It was rosy enough when I was a scavenger as a kid. I was
rosy enough when I used to be a barber at the salon close to my house.
May be it was rosy when I used to be a laundry man or it was even rosier
when I was a bar man at NNPC Junior Staff Club and that was how rosy it
was. It was so rosy when my parents were not there and I had to work to
raise money for myself and my siblings’ education. That was how rosy it
was. (He laughs)
Last words to upcoming comedians
Be yourself. Come into the industry with
new, different and fresh ideas. Come into the industry with what people
can relate with. You don’t necessarily have to be the funniest man or
the last man standing when it comes to stand-up comedy. Just have
something that will stand you out. The minute you are able to create
that thing that stands you out, people will give you your automatic
position and they will celebrate you for who you are.
AY and Tiwa Savage
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