By Ayo ONIKOYIWhen Ali Baba said that comedy is a serious business, it sounded like one of his many jokes but the crop of stand-up comedians running the show now has taken the act to the next level. They are not only rubbing shoulders with the music and movie stars in popularity, they are also giving them a run for their money .
They now look everything but funny. They drive the latest fast cars; wear the most expensive designer labels; and live in palatial edifices in the reserved highbrow locations that only the plum income earners can afford. The top of the draw characters have simply arrived.
We gave you a tip of the iceberg when we ran ” Comedians living larger than life lifestyles” some months ago. Then, we got to see those who are living their dreams and getting a couple of them talk did actually pay off but we never got close to a one-on-one until now.
Comedy is an endeavor reserved for the hilarious select and gifted few armed with magical words and body language to keep audience spell bound at any point the need arises. Ask those who made the top 10 list of Comedy Central’s greatest comedians, from Richard Pryor to Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, they will concur that the major ingredients of being world famous are raw talent, consistency, persistence, endurance, loyalty and humility.
From other brands like Open Mic Nites and Russell Simon’s Def Comedy Jams, these established names seem to have been around since forever. They have transformed their acts through television and film as well as stage and making huge unimaginable amounts for major picture owners.
Though such success attained in the United States and other parts of Europe have not been transformed in Nigeria, this is not to say that comedians have not come strong through the years.
Since Opa Williams’ ‘Nite of a Thousand Laughs’ stands tall as a benchmark for almost all Nigerian comedians, the industry became more challenging during what is known as the “Attitude Era” with the emergence of talented I Go Dye, Basketmouth, Julius Agwu, among others.
Since gracing the stage of ”Nite of a Thousand Laughs” in 2000, Francis Agoda aka I Go Dye has through his performance made the Opa Williams brand more sell-able and interesting across major cities in Nigeria, across West Africa and Europe.
From a humble profession, comedy has become a major business endeavour and those who know their onions have become incredibly rich through their huge paychecks as performance fees and one of the very few who command mega bucks is I Go Dye, the comedian who hails from Abraka in Delta State, and has been a fan favorite for more than a decade.
Being turned down four times from the stage of ”night of a thousand laugh” is not enough for I Go Dye to resign from his chosen career as his quest to succeed became a major driving force.
It will be recalled that just two years ago, I Go Dye collected a whooping sum of $195,000:00 US Dollars from an American Company, Point Gate for a tour of the USA and Europe in ironical contrast to the N100 he received for his first performance back in 1992.
Over the years, his passion and technical know-how in the art has made him the toast of presidents, governors, top citizens in politics and business as well as multinational companies. Even former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also attested to the fact that I Go Dye is a step ahead of his contemporaries as regards his quick spontaneity and stage craft.
It is almost unbelievable to hear that I Go Dye collects between three to five million Naira per event but when you bother to find out how and where he lives, then it will sink in real deep.
A visit to his palatial residence
A visit to his palatable mansion spoke volume of opulence and wealth. The mansion tucked inside a choice area has an expansive well-trimmed field big enough to serve as a football pitch; a walk into the apartment presents an air of pure royalty.
The main sitting room is tastefully furnished with Italian eighteen-carat gold plated Versace settee which must have cost some whooping thousands of dollars from the high well-designed pop roof down which hangs the magnificent , 60 Lights Maria Theresa chandelier with 24-Karat gold plated frame and dressed with 30% full lead crystals, and some other accessories staggeringly disarming in grandeur and opulence
The sitting room which has a state-of-the-art electronic gadget system from the wall screened 46 inches 3D TV and classical paintings of I Go Dye dressed like Prince Albert. The interior décor looked totally flawless.
Tours of the other sitting room looked a far cry from the previous one and suffice to say that the multiple award-winning humor merchant sure knows how to live life to the fullest, an apartment reminiscent of a Roman Palace.
The visible designs of Versace in almost all the dinning settees and kitchen utensils shows that the widely travelled rib-cracker has a serious affinity with the designer.
The seven bedroom mansion has spacious two sitting rooms, a well structured private nite club, with exotic wine bar, a mini cinema, including high -tech game room that can host 10 players at a time. The description can not be complete without mentioning the snooker board, a personal library and multi-media editing suit.
His break in the industry
On his first major break, I Go Dye said though he started comedy at the tender age of thirteen on Delta Television, his first national break could be traced back to 2000 on the stage of ”nite of a thousand laughs”. “That evening became a turning point of my career as I Go Dye became a household name around the nation
I would say that things have been looking up since my eventful emergence into the very competitive industry that has seen many come and go over the past ten or more years, though the challenges involved are highly enormous and you have to come up with new materials and wit to keep you relevant over time” he said.
His daily routine
“On a regular day, the first thing I do is to pray and then, I go through my mail box to respond to numerous mails from my fans. I seldom exercise and I guess you know why (laughs).
The only pain that has come with the fame is the fact that I can no longer live for myself. I live for people. There is no privacy anymore. I can’t eat where or what I want. I guess that is the price for fame but it has its good part like not being on the queue most times at the airport or gas stations. You get preferential treatment but apart from that, nothing.
His dress sense
As regards dressing, when I am not going on stage, I wear what suits me but I have a liking for eye glasses because I’m usually a shy person , hence the need to hide behind my shades. I like perfumes too because in this business, you have to smell fresh at all times of the day because one cannot tell what will happen at any point in time”.
But peeking into the comedian’s wardrobe, we found out that he was just being modest as all sorts of designer clothing from Gucci to Armani are arrayed in a neat pile. Anyone could have mistaken it for a boutique in Paris: hundreds of pairs of shoes, suits, shirts, jeans, several bottles of perfumes, assorted belts lined up in elegant display
His daily spending estimate
On how much the comedian spends on a daily basis, I Go Dye revealed that though he doesn’t take into serious records how much he spends in a day but said when one puts into consideration that he generates his own electricity, his own water board amongst others, it is quite a sum.
His priced possessions
“I wouldn’t want to be subjected to choose or pin-point what my most valuable possession is, but I have a fetish for my talent because even the Bible says a man’s talent maketh a way for him. Outside that, I Go Dye is nothing. But that is not to say my son, Roy, is not valuable or his very beautiful mum”.
His hopes in the next ten years
The next ten years is far away but with life, we shall still be relevant. We shall take the world by storm, we shall make sure we make ways for the younger generation because no one reigns forever but one can be relevant forever.