My take on 1022 Laughs and Music
Last Saturday, the biggest comedy platform in Ghana, A Night of 1000 Laughs and Music series, a MTN sponsored and Charterhouse produced show dubbed 1022 Laughs and Music was held at the Accra International Conference Centre.
It was a laughter galore as the show lived up to the expectation making the hundreds of patrons who made their way to the venue excited as they laughed at the various jokes that were told by the comedians on the night.
From Foster as the MC who occasionally told jokes before introducing the comedians to perform from Kenny Black, OB, Destalker, Lekzy Decomic, Acapella to I Go Dye, each comedian graced the stage to tell jokes in grand style, however not all were able to live up to expectation.
Foster Romanus
The decision to make Foster Romanus MC for the 1022 Laughs and Music has really helped to shoot his image up.
As the official MC, he had the duty of steering affairs of the night and he rightly did so with his tale of jokes on the very happenings in the country.
He has told the joke many times and last Saturday, Foster’s joke on Ghanaian gospel musicians being bad singers and noise makers had a huge response from the patrons.
Unlike other comedians who had few minutes to perform, he capitalised on his role as MC to give out doses of great jokes to the delight of the audience.
I think Foster has arrived and anybody who doubted his comedy potential must have a different opinion now.
Kenny Black
Prior to the show, I did some research on Kenny Black who calls himself the singing comedian so I knew what to expect from him. I think he sings better than some singers that I know.
His ability to fuse comedy and music is a great plus and an advantage over his competitors.
At one point, I wondered why he would not focus on singing but realised he’s a good comedian too.
His joke about Nigerian models and white models was on point. Being a “new comer”, he had a good time on stage and I won’t be surprised if he’s called by Charterhouse to grace the 1000 Laughs series stage again.
Comedian OB
The medical doctor / comedian had a bad day on Saturday. Everyone who has watched OB knows he’s talented. Sincerely, his performance last Saturday night was terrible compared to his previous shows.
For a young guy who is gradually climbing the ladder of comedy, it’s understandable to feel the pressure when given the opportunity to prove yourself on such a big stage.
He allowed people’s high expectation to nail it on the day to get a better part of him. Instead of proving himself worthy of such a prominent stage, he rather flopped.
However, before he exited the stage, he redeemed his image with a joke about Northerners.
To save his face, OB should have left earlier when he realised things weren’t going on well or probably revisited his old jokes.
Destalker
Being his first time in Ghana, Destalker “killed” the show. Come on! Nigerian comedians are just too talented. They know how to make people laugh without doing much and that’s the aim of comedy.
He appeared rather too serious for a comedian but on the day, he showed his worth. Though some of his jokes were rather exaggerated, he knew how to get the patrons to laugh at his acts.
Lekzy Decomic
He started with a joke about his short height. He said whenever he was introduced, patrons clapped based on his height because he never received a loud applause.
What I like about Lekzy is his ability to tell several jokes about a particular subject.
For instance, as a Ga man from La, I’m aware my tribesmen like singing about food. I don’t know why it is so. To prove he wasn’t making baseless “allegations”, he sang about five Ga songs with food as the subject.
This particular joke received the loudest applause from patrons. He was such an amazing act! He was my best Ghanaian comedian on the night.
Acapella
The best Ghanaian act on the night, Lekzy, passed the baton to the best Nigerian act on the night in the person of Acapella.
If you don’t know, Acapella is one of the biggest comedians from Nigeria. He’s very huge. He’s been on the show for the past three editions – at least, that’s what he said.
He touched on many societal issues and even joked about the Ghanaian political scene including the parties- NPP, NDC, CPP, PPP. There was no dull moment with him. He was simply amazing – Period. I’m more than convinced that Charterhouse would invite him again .
I Go Dye
I Go Dye is a legend in the Nigerian comedy industry. He’s been actively involved in the comedy series for over two decades. When he came on stage, he joked about how his long presence on the comedy scene has “warranted” him not to worry about people not laughing at his jokes.
He joked about the love for money, relationships and didn’t leave out the usual Nigeria and Western lifestyles.
At a point, he was more of a motivational speaker than a comedian on stage.
Well, his performance merited his legendary status in the comedy business.
I’m more than hopeful that after the sterling performance of the Nigerian team, Ghanaians advocating for Charterhouse to stop inviting Nigerian comedians will have a rethink.
