Not many comedians have a rosy start but Akinlami Babatunde Julius made inroads into the comedy circles when he won the AY Open Mic Comedy Competition. Fresh from a UK outing, the comedian who is better known as Elenu in the Nigerian entertainment circles spoke with OVWE MEDEME on how he stumbled into comedy, his recent endorsement by the Akwa Ibom State governor, life before comedy and other issues.
WHAT has Elenu been up to of recent?
I have been very busy. I just returned from a trip to the UK which was mind-blowing. I went for a show tagged the Afro Beat Carnival. It was actually the first edition of the show and the 6,000 capacity hall was sold out. It was more like a dream come true for me to perform with the top rated artistes of this time. I performed alongside P-Square, Wizkid, Ice Prince, JJC and Basketmouth. It was held basically for Africans but white people also came for the event. I would say that being a part of it is one of my dreams come true. I was also at Akwa Ibom where I performed for the governor of the state.
How did the Akwa Ibom gig come to be?
In recent times, I have come to be regarded as the official comedian for his Excellency, Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, the executive governor of Akwa Ibom State. At the last event which was on the 11th of September 2011, at the Godswill Akpabio Scrabble Classic, at the Gala Nite, midway into my performance, the governor stood up. He was so pleased that he called me a comedian after his heart. That really meant a lot to me because it is like a dream I have been chasing for a very long time.
What does it feel like doing comedy on that level?
As I said earlier, it is a dream come true. To really make a man that carries the burdens of millions of people happy is not easy. I believe that even as he is sitting in a particular event, he is thinking of other things. It was really a great experience.
Did you always want to be a comedian?
I never wanted to be a comedian. I never even knew what comedy was all about until the AY Comedy Competition. What I knew was that I had the ability to make people laugh but I never knew it was something that people could use to make money. I always wanted to become a medical doctor. My parents tried to make me actualise my dreams up to a certain level though I was not born with any of the spoons in my mouth. Along the line, I fell in love with computers so I had to change my field. My parents saw me through to when I acquired an OND in computer science.
That was way before I started comedy.
So far, do you harbour any regrets?
I do not have any regrets. November 10, 2006 after I won the AY Open Mic Comedy Competition, I started to see a different angle to things. That gave me the in-road I desired to get into comedy. Since then, the journey has been swift.
How profitable would you say the industry has been?
Comedy is a very profitable venture in the sense that Nigerians and Africans in general are beginning to accept it as a genre of entertainment. It is not like what it used to be during the days of Papi Luwe and his likes. When the Ali Babas started it many years ago, people did not see the essence. However, they stood their ground and made people realise that it is really a big business. Today, the comedy industry is doing great.
Comedians always take to making fun of their family members on stage. How do your folks react when you do this?
As the name implies, it is comedy. Most of our parents have come to accept the fact that their children are into comedy so when we say things on stage, they tend to take it lightly and they laugh about it. They know it is our job and on the outside we respect and honour our parents. It all boils down to making people laugh. In Nigeria, you have to go an extra mile to make people laugh because of the problems in this country.
What was your first day on stage like?
My legs shook the first time I got on the big stage. It was a day after I won the AY Open Mic Competition. I was invited for the Nigerian Comedy Awards. After that, the next big stage I performed on was the AY live. That was the first time I saw a very large crowd. Before then, I was back stage trying to calm my nerves. Immediately I was called on the stage, I forgot all the jokes I had rehearsed. However, when I gave my first joke and people laughed, the jokes started coming back to me and I was able to overcome my fright.
How do you compose jokes?
I do a lot of research, a lot of mingling and sometimes from contact with other people. I do jokes about my environment, my country and outside the country. Comedy materials are everywhere.
How do you handle situations where you tell jokes and people don’t laugh?
It has happened to me, and I felt very bad. As one who has seen different types of stages, instead of getting discouraged, it is better to bring up another one that would blow the minds of the crowd away.
When you dropped computer science for comedy, how did your family react?
My parents have always been supportive. As I said earlier, I was not born into a rich family. I had to do some menial jobs to help support my mother. I was raised by my mother and she was always supportive of my dreams. As a growing child, I became the man in the house. As a result of that, I had to start doing some menial jobs. I worked as a casual staff in the Nigerian Bottling Company just to help my mother. I wasn’t in a situation where I could call on people for my needs. When I went into comedy, she was very supportive.
With more people being endeared to the genre of entertainment, what would you suggest as the way forward for the industry?
Comedy has come to stay in Nigeria. All we need is for us as comedians to keep up the pace the industry is taking. We should try as much as possible to be fresh before our audience so that we can keep our audience asking for more. Being fresh always makes the little difference. We need to sustain the industry.
As a comedian, how do you update yourself?
Every comedian comes with their individual way of updating themselves. What I do is that from time to time, I go out of my regular routine of jokes. You don’t expect me to flog all the materials I did last year and bring them into this year. As at last year, I was already preparing for this year, and by now I should be gearing up for next year.
People perceive comedians as an unserious set of people. Have you had any such experience?
Let me not even use people. Let me tell you about myself. The day I asked my fiancée out, she thought I was joking. The first thing that came out of her mouth was these comedians are very funny. For somebody that I expected to see reasons with what I was saying to take it as a joke really put me off but I get it all the time. A friend’s car was stolen and I broadcast it on BB in case anybody sees it. The first comment I got was from somebody asking me if it was a joke. We accept it and it is something we have come to live with. It is not something we should be angry about.
Who do you regard as your role model in the industry?
They are numerous but the most important of them are AY and Basketmouth. AY, to me, is the bomb. He is one comedian that is looking into the future of Nigerian comedy. He is a man that knows that we cannot be here forever so there is the need to bring out fresh talents that will keep things running when we are gone. I, along with a host of other well known comedians came out from the stable. As of today, about 20 top rated comedians have been discovered through the AY Open Mic Competition and we are all doing well for ourselves. Today, big comedians even refer the upstarts to AY Open Mic.
Do you think you will be where you are today if you had not won the AY Open Mic competition?
I probably would have come up through another means but I don’t think it would have been a rosy affair. The AY competition is my messiah. It was my help and my turning point.
What defines your style and dress sense?
I like to be casual so I patronise Yomi Casual a lot. That is the name of my fashion designer. However, some events call for corporate outfits so I have to put on suit. On the whole, I like to be very casual.
So far, what would you rate as your biggest achievement?
I would say that my achievements are quite a handful. Some years back if somebody had told me that I would be living in my own house and driving my own car, and taking care of my family, I wouldn’t have believed it. That, to me, is my biggest achievement. The fact that my mother is happy makes me happy.
More artistes have been coming up with their own shows. Are you thinking in that light?
I am planning on floating my own show. It has always been in the pipeline but we are waiting for the right atmosphere before I unveil my plans.
