August 02, (THEWILL) – In the spirit of the International Day of Friendship, entertainer Owen Gee speaks withIVORY UKONUon the secret of his long standing friendship with commedienne Bimbo Ogunboye, aka Lepacious Bose. Excerpts:
What does a good friend mean to you?
A good friend is trustworthy. Trust is very important to me. A good friend is an understanding person. A good friend has to be intelligent and able to stand with you at every point in time. A good friend has to be able to tell you the truth as it is. A good friend should be able to stop you from derailing from your goals in life. A good friend should be able to see your dreams the same way you see them. A good friend has to know you and be able to tell who you truly are. A good friend shouldn’t judge you. A good friend must be as intelligent as you are. These are the qualities that you should look out for when choosing your friends.
How come you are best of friends with Bimbo Ogunboye, otherwise known as Lepacious Bose, especially in an industry where men and women hardly bond with each other?
Our friendship started with having similar ideas, thoughts and open conversations. With Lepacious Bose, it is like you are talking with another pal of yours. I only see her as a woman when she wears a dress. She is an extremely strong woman who has the heart of a lion. She doesn’t think like a woman. She is a go-getter, a fighter, extremely bold and confident.
How long have you been friends with her?
We’ve been friends for 15 years.
Which of the qualities listed was most important to you? How did it become the turning point in your friendship with her?
Well, she was one of the few people who understood me and who know the kind of person I am. That basically made it easy for our relationship to blossom. Before I say anything, she already knows and understands where I am heading to. I have friends who also understand me, but not as much as she does. She is also someone who can accurately tell what I can do, even if I am not there. She can stand and defend me with her head held high.
Did your male friends at any time feel neglected because of your closeness to Lepacious Bose?
It is funny because she has always been one of the ‘guys’. She has multiple personalities. When you want her to be a woman, she goes into that mode smoothly. When you want her to be a man, she can equally respond accordingly. That is the great thing about her. Her level of intelligence and exposure is out of this world and so she isn’t the type that will cause friction between me and my male friends. My male friends who have met her ended up being close friends with her because they saw the qualities that I saw in her to make her my friend. And this plays out on both sides of the divide; both on my side with my male friends and on her side with her female friends.
Why do you think most friendships don’t last?
Some friendships don’t last because of lack of sincerity. Also the strength of a friendship is when you are able to vouch for your friend in his or her absence and when you take risks his or her sake. That is the true definition of friendship. A friend does not quantify what he or she does for the other person. One should be able to go above and beyond for one another.
Some people suspect your friendship with Lepacious Bose to be of a sexual nature. Do you sometimes get this notion?
I personally think it’s ridiculous to even suspect anything because friendship should never be gender-based, regardless of if it being between a man and another man or between a woman and another woman. It should also not be defined by religion, tradition, financial and educational status, but by the pureness of purpose.
Most times, the people who suspect friendship between a man and a woman are very myopic. I think that any reason that makes one suspect such friendship means it wasn’t genuine in the first place. Friendship should be based purely on the particular reasons that made you guys become friends in the first place. Anything beyond that can only bring in evil, ulterior motives which Lepacious Bose and I do not stand for. My friendship with her is not defined by sexual preference.
Has your friendship with her ever been tested?
I think this is one of the advantages of a man being close friends with a woman. Despite being best friends there is still that part that makes us members of the opposite sex. And so the things that would normally aggravate a woman to woman friendship do not exist when it is a woman to man friendship. Because I am a married man, I actually understand what it means to be friends with a woman outside my home. I understand women’s needs, pains, etc. And so most times, there is this sense of calmness and a total grasp of any situation. To that extent, I can say that my friendship with her has never been tested as I know what is expected of me and how to navigate through the land mines (if any), as her friend and vice versa.
How is your wife able to live with your unusual friendship with Lepacious Bose without being jealous?
My wife is my wife. I started dating her as far back as 1996. That makes her my oldest friend. But because she is my soul mate, we have moved past that stage of friendship. I am my wife and my wife is me. Our ways of understanding each other and bonding is out of this world. My wife understands that my friendship with Lepacious Bose is simply what it is, friendship. My wife has no ounce of jealousy in her. She is a free spirit. She trusts me fully and knows what I can and cannot do. And my wife also believes in freedom of expression and behaviour. Like I said earlier, friendship should not be defined by sex, gender or all of those parameters; it should be defined by intention or purpose.
As a comedian, how have you been able to reinvent yourself, especially in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Like you said, it has changed the configuration of things, it has changed the narrative and the way the game is being played. There is a lot of dependence and concentration on online features. The mobile phone is the new TV. Everyone has gone digital. No one has time again to sit down and watch TV, except it is a smart TV that has an Internet connection. Things have really changed so much that the world had to make a switch during the COVID-19 lockdown.
For many of us who are still performing artistes, the pandemic really hit us bad. We had to start learning how to churn out social media content based entertainment rather than direct performances. We are still learning the narratives. It is a work in progress and we will keep improving every day.
It has been a trying time, but we are learning to cope as performing artistes and content generators. We are trying to balance things and make a living.
Do you think there is room for improvement beyond gathering a few people to make jokes and sing a few songs like some of your colleagues do?
It has taken me a while to stage my own comedy show because everyone is basically doing the same thing and applauding themselves for staging a one-man comedy show. I think it is becoming monotonous and boring. There should be a variety of things to do for a show to qualify as a proper comedy show.
This is the time now to do some research on how to sell to a new audience, how to do what has never been done before or beyond the ordinary. It’s time to search out new forms to use to project one’s craft while still using the mechanisms that defines what the industry is.
Some of us are still trying to see how to bridge that gap beyond gathering people to make jokes, sing for them and applaud ourselves for staging a show. It should be more than that. If you want to do things differently, then you have to create a new path for yourself. The narrative has to change. I personally have not figured out what this new change will be, I am still in the process of discovery, but I believe that at some point in time, we will get it right.
How would you rate the comedy industry between now and when you started?
I started out over two decades ago. There weren’t too many acts as there are now. When I started standup comedy, I couldn’t count up to 10 standup comedians in the entire country. Comedy wasn’t exactly a new thing then, but it didn’t have as many divisions as we have now. It was during my time that it dawned on us that we can actually do other things besides comedy, things like dancing, singing and presentation to make people laugh.
So we began to diversify. But there wasn’t much money to be made from comedy unlike now. This new generation of comedians have exploded the industry and transformed it into a money spinner. The medium to sell oneself then was not as open as it is right now where you can upload content on the Internet. It trends and about 10 million people see it in just a few minutes.
In those days, you had to go to a television station, book for a particular time slot for your content to be shown and when that opportunity is missed, that is the end. Nowadays even if you miss the time to post it, your content can still be reposted and shared. It is bigger now with more money to be made. Today, comedy has become personalised. Those days, you can make a joke without attaching any name and people will be able to understand it. But these days, you have to be able to build comedy content from trending issues and issues that are relatable. No one wants to rack their brains to make assumptions. People want to be able to catch the drift almost immediately. If you are not making sense in the first 10 seconds, you can be given an extra five seconds to create the light bulb effect. It is easier now to ‘blow,’ as they say, unlike when we started.
Does this mean that you believe the new generation Instagram skit makers have a place in your industry as some of them struggle to identify with the comedy industry?
Yes, they do. Some of them are extremely creative, but it is a 50-50 chance. Some have no business being there. They are what they are, skit makers. Like I said, comedy is changing. There is performance-based comedy and content-based comedy, which is what some of these Instagram skit makers are doing. They do not need to hold a microphone and stand in front of an audience. Even if they do, it will be as a form of acting like the type Brodda Shaggy, Woli Agba and his crew do. I like it. They are however not the first to do this type of comedy. Baba Sala, Papi Luwe, Zebrudaya etc did that in the past. The only difference now is that there is social media. If there was social media then, no one would have been able to touch these veterans by a mile. Some of these new folks are good comedians who are also good at skit making.
What has been the most challenging thing about being a comedian?
Funds to enable me push out projects. I consider myself one of the most mentally creative standup comedians in Nigeria. I am talking in terms of content generation: from talk shows to movies to sitcoms and skits, etc. I have done it all. Funding (or sponsorship) has been my biggest challenge.
A new generation bank refused to grant me entertainment loan, although I am credit worthy. I was annoyed because the money I deposited with the bank was made from entertainment. Even corporate organisations find it hard to sponsor my projects. Nigerians have only just begun the concept of partnership and I am having talks with some organizations. I hope they will be transparent in their dealings. There is also the problem of the quick-return-on-project mindset. Someone gives you N1m for a project today and expects you to bring N1.5m for him the next day.
What would you consider to be your greatest achievement as a comedian?
The ability to make people happy. I sell happiness. At every point and at every level, I like to sell happiness. Whatever I need to do to create happiness while selling my craft, I do. I am also happy that I have succeeded in making people in different countries of the world where I have been privileged to perform and to diverse audiences, happy. I have performed everywhere imaginable: inside the bush for the military personnel, militants, pastors, in prisons, etc.
Why did you choose to be a comedian?
Comedy actually chose me, I didn’t choose it. It is a lifestyle for me. I started out in the entertainment industry at a young age, as early as two years old, I was that kid dancer who was used to win bets at parties and by the time I was eight years old, I was the biggest dancer in my local government. At 12, I was one of the top two dancers in Lagos State and even formed my first musical group then. It wasn’t until I got into the higher institution that I found myself in comedy. So it has always been part of me to naturally entertain and not just in comedy alone. I am gifted in almost all aspects of entertainment, it is innate, I didn’t train to be an entertainer, it is me, it is my life, it is who I am. I am a total package; I shoot movies, I am a script writer, I am a talk show host and had one of the most successful talk shows in Nigeria, Buzzlive with Owen Gee. The show spanned over 50 episode. I am currently working on another talk show. I am a skit maker, a comedian, I have different alter egos that appear in my skits. I have also been a record label executive at some point. I am also a speaker. I find a lot of happiness in being able to motivate, chart the course of a new Nigeria with young minds. I am a concept developer too.
If you have to do something outside the entertainment industry what would that be?
To own a bakery
What advise do you give to someone looking to find his footing in comedy?
First be sure you are naturally funny. Be extremely creative as this is the first yardstick that determines if you are cut out for the entertainment industry. You must be very intelligent as there is no room for dullards in the industry. Be able to relate social issues to comedy, be outstanding and think outside the box. Define your brand, embrace modern trends and seek a mentor and let that person teach you and show you the ropes. That is one thing I should have done when I started which I didn’t.
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