 Now thanks for staying with us. The rise of technology and social media has led to the emergence of new genre of comedy in Nigeria. For example, skit comedy has become increasingly popular in recent years. Skits are short humorous videos that often feature popular comedians and actors, and they can be used to address social issues or simply make people laugh. Social media platforms like Twitter, now X, Instagram and YouTube have also been used by comedians to connect with their fans and promote their work. Comedians can use these platforms to share videos, images, jokes with their followers, and this has helped to make Nigerian comedy more accessible to people all over the world. Today we're asking what direct influence do you think tech and social media has had on the comedy scene in Nigeria? Now please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation. Send us an SMS or WhatsApp on 0818384663. You can also follow us. Of course all our social media handles that way to Africa. I'll bring in actually in a minute, but I just want to hear your thoughts. What do you think? Just as the music industry has evolved in Nigeria, I've seen how comedy is becoming a huge thing. If I can, I would join comedias like this. Honestly? I think I'm funny. Let me go and test it out. No, you're not. You're called to media. Even if I'm not funny, I'm going to learn it. It's not comedy. It's like a purpose-driven relationship. That is why you're called to media. We are going to learn it. I need to go on. What do you think? Literally when you hear the skit makers, especially the skit makers, if you hear how much, first of all, the charge clients to create that one minute or two minute skit you see. This thing is lucrative. I think we've gotten to the place where everybody needs a piece of mind. One of the beautiful things comedy does is just give you that piece of mind. You laugh and you forget your challenges. So it could be scrolling through your status or through your different social media timelines and you're just seeing different skits and it makes you happy. But nowadays, are people truly like funny? Is it just a situation of Nigeria? Because sometimes do I see this? I think it's a global situation. You don't say again that I can't come and you don't call me. You make me call you, right? Your problem is so overwhelming. That's Ashimi. Dabila Riauluwasego is an award-winning author, comedian, brand influencer and renowned speaker. He's the founder of Mystery Tribe, a community curator to help entrepreneurs and creatives maximize their gift. He has built a stellar brand as one of the leading voices of transformation in Africa. And it's such a delight to have you again on the show. Thank you for joining us. You're funny. I should just start my own business. Start small. I'm going to say I never know if this is funny. But I mean, this is such an interesting conversation to have. Because you guys are down the drain now. I say I won't come and do it. Reaching up on my way from Facebook. Because I am coming to come and learn. You have to call now. Just understood this. Give me inspiration on what to do from this. You need inspiration. To be funny. If you need inspiration, you are not ready. Because Nigeria needs help. That means you are cooperative. You are very mosquito-disruptive. But you are speaking to technology, right? The recent thing that just happened on social media that went everywhere. I think NJ took that story yesterday where Josh is too funny. He does all these auditions. And he went on America Got Talent, I believe. And everybody was saying it. I kind of feel like that thing, they know that he was going to come three times. They know his stage and all of that. But I think what also gave his brand that leverage was the fact that he has done multiple skits like that. Because he does his own audition. No, he even does his own audition. He has an exact content like what he just displayed there. That is powerful. So just imagine if a lot of us are becoming a lot more creative and saying, let me see how I take this content that I have been consistent with. And I will take it to a bigger stage. Because that is what I think he just did. He is not going to go anywhere. But he is taking his brand to a whole new level. So literally, how excited are you for technology and in the comedy space? It's a very good time. It's a very, very good, great time. Sometimes when I see memes of Akia Papa, I love them, I cherish them. But just imagine for a moment that Akia Papa came with this dispensation. Look at the total number of conversions they would have had. Oh, it would have been crazy. Because most of their stuffs are trending now. It's about 15 years, 20 years. So technology has given the immense platform. You make mention of George Stouffoni. Of course, obviously that thing was staged because FGT cannot give you a slot. They found him interesting. They know that he has something to contribute. He is trying to target the Nigerian market. He gave us a template. He broke the internet. They know how crazy Nigerians are. And about our own talent. There are other trends in Nigeria that are trending in the world. I had the number. Yes, and there is a new market. So the world is fixing. Their eyes are fixing towards us. Something is happening here. Look at the new number of conversions HGT would have. Because of George Stouffoni. Some Nigerians have never had the HGT. They are popular here. Because of George Stouffoni now. They know about it. Comedy is one of the greatest sports in Nigeria. And the beauty of it is that there is no audition. All you need to do is pick up yourself. Do your thing, pick up your phone. Starts one day. Hope you get the acceptance. There is no restriction. There is no board of trustees. There is no board member that is auditioning. You understand? I'll come back to that. You hit that thing like bam on the head. You know why I say so? Even in the media space that I work. Lately I wanted to do something. They say I have to join one professional body. I'm just wondering. They literally stripped all those bureaucracies. All the things that you would have thought about. Which Godfather you were. Who will not bring you into the industry. Now your phone brings you to the industry. If you are funny, there is nothing. Do you understand? There is one guy who always finds him funny. He is just always funny. He is always funny. So I find it funny. He would just do the thing. Even by himself he would start laughing. Because he knows that he is not working. And I watch it a lot. Because again, Nigeria's problem is too much. I need something to cool me down. So I like the word competition. My spirit will be coming down. So I mean like literally. Just to buttress what you said. Your phone has given you access to the world. It's a global stage. You don't need anyone's permission. If you are creative, come on board. People who vibe with you. You don't need to run after anyone. If you want to be popular as a comedian. There are some comedy clubs that you must perform. You are not funny. Nobody will come with you. Yes, comedy clubs are still existing. I own one. But the options are not many. There is stand-up comedy. There is skit making. There is a lot. So you don't necessarily have to be a stand-up comedian. You can be a skit maker. You are doing your thing. You can be both. Some people can be both. Just do your thing. Now that you mentioned stand-up comedy. It's like the traditional comedy that we know. Chris Rock, the likes of you. Steve Harvey. Do you think that now that skit comedy is becoming a sensation in the world. Almost all the countries do that. Do you think it's becoming a threat to stand-up comedy? Or is it an asset to it? It's not a threat. It's just going on its own. They are not the same. Why it takes to entertain audience in real time? It's not why it takes to entertain audience in real time. It's not why it takes to entertain audience in real time. You can record now. You shoot before you do want to credit him. It looks funny. But when you are on stage as a stand-up act. It's very hard. You must get it. If you don't have it, you don't have it. But here is my question. So usually, for instance, what is it? Easter Sunday comedy shows that everybody is rushing to get tickets. Because you want to just laugh away your sorrows. Right now, you have options. So you can either buy that ticket or you just sit at home and scroll through your status. You actually know pages you go. You go and they have clips upon clips to keep you entertained for three hours at a stretch. So in that case, maybe if you are making like 5 million Naira in one show. Because you don't have as much people turning up because people have alternatives now. Maybe you are making down to 3 million Naira. I don't think that is happening. My show, for instance, is sold out. Congratulations. The place is different. What it takes. Most people who watch skates want to sleep. They use it as tranquilizer. They watch it when they go to. Some watch in traffic. Some watch in traffic. Some watch to... Stand up as it plays too. When you are watching your skates, are you networking or so? When you go to a physical location as you are enjoying the joke, you are networking. Is there a carpet with skates? No. So every no one can take the place of the other. They both have their pros and cons. But the ultimate goal is satisfying the people making them happy. Alright, thanks for saying with us now. If you just tuned in, we are discussing influence of tech and social media on the Nigerian comedy scene now. And we have with us Ashiri Kame. She said he is a student. Because in Ibo his name is like Asiri. I get that a lot. I think he means the same thing. Just like my name. I also have to I mean remember you can join the conversation, send us an sms or whatsapp to do it. 1-803-4663. You can also tweet at exos. This is on my head. Go ahead Glory. What is the secret to succeeding as a comedian on social media? As the open secret you should go for his comedy issue. The way you ask me that. I was about saying you know what. And you know when someone starts a secret with actually. I don't want you to ask. So because I believe like it's sort of like there's a secret. Honestly the question I asked him. Some people will do this. But you see the engagement and it's like going viral. So is there a secret attached to maybe you're probably not funny. But there's something you can do to succeed in social media space. Maybe if you want to be a skit maker. There are people now they just wake up. They just do things they want to do. We understand like you probably just want to get your phone busy. But when you look at things like the end of the day. I think there's a little bit of luck in the world. Or even if you will be lucky you still have to show them. You get the point. So factors might not be in your control. But what I know for anything entertainment, anything business. What is your control is you showing up. When it will work might not necessarily be in your control. You may not know that for sure. I keep putting these things out. I keep putting it out. One day it will hit. So that one that will hit will compensate for every other one. So I see people they do for they do 5 and for you know it it's not working. You do it and then you do it and then you do it. When you give up you give up. That's when fashion starts to hit. They take back to 2014-2015 when Instagram was doing 15 seconds. There were not much of social media there. In 15 seconds we do not have a team. But now there are too many options. I see some online comedians. I have never had them before. I get to their page I see engagement. I am like this person has 72,000 likes and I have never seen this person before. So there is a whole lot. So it's not like the real estate now you know is land. But the real estate now is online. So it has to come now. When people start using your own asset as collateral. You say I have some 10 million followers and it recounts. I think it counts. You start using it for big transactions. Because it starts becoming an asset. You start adding it to your win. Because I watched the video today and they talked about this thing you said. And the guy said if he wants to sell his page today. He's not selling it for anything less than I think about half a million dollars or something like that. Because that's how big the page has grown and the engagement as well. So it's completely you're completely I was just going to touch on this your open secret matter because like okay so where I when Glory was asking that question the secret to success. Where my mind flew to was that I've seen a few of your posters you know scattered all over the place and I said why is a comedian saying open secret because I don't understand. It doesn't make sense to me because yeah like literally when you want to when you see all these comedians they say laugh out loud like yours is a bit unique and so I'm wondering like literally like this guy really knows one secret to bring people to come and listen to secret because your strategy is a bit different and you know when I see the flyer very professionally done it doesn't tell me anything around like there's gonna be it keeps me guessing like so how are you able to take that because the big risk is a very big risk people are people that chat those kind of waters you know they are risk takers you know people just go with the flow that's why you see a lot of for instance movie makers they'll tell you I bet let's just go with comedy that's what we sell in the cinemas so you see them doing comedy and they are sold out sold out sold out but when they go in a second line nobody really sends them so how are you able to do that you know basically for me I I just got to a point where I aggregated my potentials then I realized okay what is comedy for me what am I using comedy for so comedy is more than cracking jokes for me I use comedy to bring insight I use comedy to correct society I use comedy for social commentary so it's not just comedy for me so when I was crafting the show people have called me a serial man in years and of course I know some secret but they are not secret like you will know some of the actor I won't be tempted to review too much but the idea is just that when you are laughing what are you going on with I miss the laughter what is changing within you I miss all the entertainment what we combat you and I'm like who actually said this oh and I was laughing I almost miss this that's the idea so when I said open secret there are several dimensions of insight that will be laced with you more then you are going to glean from that because that's what I've been on I've got all the books I've done a lot of capacity building but I just said I'll kill I'm doing a special and in this special I'm touching all like performing for more than one hour stretch and I'm touching all subjects it's going to be funny at the same time it's going to be enlightening so then I like turned it open secret okay we are calling you secret all the while what is that secret go go go go because Sunday, August 13th come and cash us let me ask something so if you are given two choices to make one between skit making on social media and the sort of one you are having on Sunday which would you go for between skit making and standoff which is the standoff in the first note standoff so mutual school I'm emotional with standoff no standoff I'm used to uncle faculty dinners then that ten kids, eight thousand if you associate for like two months especially if you are not lucky they are calling for no dinner they have money, 15 kids unless in college those ones they have money no they are working here actually I can genuinely believe I wasn't a comedian but when I was in school I hosted a lot of shows I was always looking forward to now you can stop and then when they are doing the all those programs because they would pay like 10K, 6K two of K was the highest when I collected 5K for two months I collected 10K one night this is how I used to work back to just now you know what 3K I would get back to just now then all of you this is brother and egg you know you die here emotional content creation for me it's become more of a necessity what I really want I love doing content for skit comedy skitmaking online because of my schedule it's more of a necessity I'm doing it as a necessity it's not fluid for me but standoff hosting is what I've invested in over the years but the demand of our business now you know that's so that you won't go out of business this is made very realistic to something because you love it when the world is already tilted to this it's just going to say that how do you balance that with the evolution you have to move with it you have to move with it there's even between joining the bandwagon and sustaining your relevance joining the bandwagon is you are doing what they are doing sustaining your relevance is you are sitting towards what they are doing but you are still maintaining your core and your element while tilting towards what they are doing in the name of not wanting to join the bandwagon they become laid back things start happening and when they start measuring them and they stop calling you that's why they call it show business once they start mentioning names and you are not coming to mind you are not the top of mind record I know that many people have flashed you they have flashed you I used to I'm a very melancholic to some extent and I'm a very self-pacing I'm very shy I don't like talking I'm the type that I don't like doing my trumpet and those are the things that will finish you that thing used to do me somehow that I will not pick phone I just finish a gig man I killed it but that's the language that you can let do you understand it has changed it has changed that's how we are raised our parents will say what you are doing to the left don't allow the right to know when you do this don't praise yourself now we are in the age of praise yourself because you are doing it yourself you are still your flower if they didn't give you your flower go and buy bouquet buy bouquet if you don't give me flower I will give myself ah you don't understand I was having this same conversation with my son last night and I told him I said see we've got to that stage where everything that you have to loud because literally the world is so superficial now and it is the person that is making noise I told you I said that it's a noise breaker online so as long as it's making noise you are top of that's all you need you need top of my brand awareness somebody needs to remember that this person exists so the fact that you are keeping quiet you are not helping your brand oh my goodness so comedy go ahead so there is this recent introduction of the comedy makers award but it seems as though the award because I saw clips of it I didn't watch the whole show but it seems as though it was just skid makers that's what you are talking about yes it's actually for content creators not really skid makers so anybody that is trending that is creating content consistent they are strict measures because I was at their award so how about stand up comedy is there any award for that? yes there are several awards for stand up comedy I'm like notable because I'm not not really known yet but some people are coming up to bring up things because I feel like comedy is becoming such a big business that we should have knowledge the same way we have the film business AMVCA, AMA awards and then you have the Heddy's awards for music I feel like comedy should have something that is loud this is dedicated to comedy night so if you had one thing to say we are in the age of technology and you want to speak to your colleagues because again in the midst of all these nice things we've said I've seen very what was this person thinking just kind of people of course they cannot all be like you so it's not like it's not like I expect everybody to understand that there are also deeper issues we have a lot of issues in this country and I believe that when you've grown to a certain extent with your brand you should also be concerned about those issues but it will affect you because someone is going to be virtual because I was at the airport yesterday at $9.35 you are looking away literally what would you say to people that have those platforms those influence what would you say should just be at the back of their mind for every content that we put out there people should just know that you are not doing it for yourself you are doing it for others it's your legacy now it's your body of work so when you are doing it you need to ask yourself questions let's say 5 years now come back to this content there are so many things going on and it's so amazing the amount of platforms to talk about governments, to talk about religion so how will you have that kind of language when you are using it I just believe that people should be more intentional about what they put out there it's not about yes, we can flex, we can cruise once in a while pass the message because at the end of the day even if the body is just working and empty-headed there will be problems 9 foolish men and 1 wise man last last when the foolish man invites the wise man to his house when they are in a meeting if they want to vote now the foolish men will win so foolish men will win so the society we just need to be more conscious I see content creators do some things they are like why we do this sometimes I go on tiktok and cringe I don't want to go there I don't want to go there I cringe for what you did this this is going on and it's because when the people that really have this they need to come out and do it they need to show, they need to come out of their shell the problem we have is that people that really have this capacity there is some type of being creative that might make you laid back it's kind of some form of argument you are speaking, look in that direction the problem with creative people the problem with skillful people I have that problem that's why skillful people really make it you understand this thing is for the audacious it's not necessarily for the talent it's for the person that they are to so when a foolish person is audacious and he got the platform you can tell him foolishness was now you won't get sense why did he come out so it's a call to people just gloat over what you have put it out go on out I was just like with high time we start doing big things in a big way the problem we have is that we like to do big things in a small way then when I see people do small things in a big way when I be overwhelming the big thing and you are sure that this thing is a big thing do it in a big way if you are not ready to do it in a big way you don't come out yet there's a lot you can get to that start small it's no longer strategy start small is for the first maybe 1 to 5 years 3 I'm telling you everything everything look at your years already here on media I can't tell you start small it's not strategy the amount you get to start small the amount you get to start small it's big you have to do it big a lot is happening you need to secure your space don't worry catch me on Sunday I'm sorry I didn't see what I would like to be oh my god I was going to quickly touch on this pressure because again with all of the things happening I see that there's so much pressure to want to to want to hit it big and to want to also get all the big things by the cars so it's a lot so how do you maintain your sanity and meet that because again with all these things music, comedy, film, whatever your last big things they are trying not to cancel you they are trying not to cancel you yes now literally they say the pressure is real so how do you manage that pressure how would you even speak to people to just control that pressure quickly you have to manage your expectation and you have to understand that one of the things we do is that we you want to appeal to everyone one of the way I stay sane is that I rationalize that these are the people I'm attending to they are my world so I may start so I'm constantly serving them I wrote it in one of my books I was on the flight one time like that and the food is served in the entire flight I was going to Dublin in the entire flight I was only wonder was allergic to it I was going to the restroom yes so I'm not so I now said these people their food is bad but there are over 100 and 15 others that love the food so the fact that I was allergic to the food doesn't mean that food is bad it was not just made for me so those people that's how I stay sane so when I don't envy people I focus on the people I'm servicing and I get joy you have your people you understand if you do your event today and I do my event tomorrow your people are not my people your people will show it won't be the majority so what are we pleasuring ourselves our job description is when you start doing your thing your people will gravitate towards you keep them close all those things you are trying to look for if you get it fine if you don't get it you are still alive you understand you are servicing people some people they don't think you are a big deal to them the fact that you are not gracing you are not big yet so relevance is you have to narrow it down it's not like you are consoling yourself but you have to narrow it down that okay I'm doing this I'm doing that the best of CEOs I've worked with go to their Instagram she's followers private account one man messaged me one time when I was a wedding of his daughter I didn't want to reply that DM private account 13 followers I was on his head I wanted to dismiss normally I should send him voice go to all those procedure I just put it one police something he just said can you write that voice for it I say let's take this conversation to ourselves 13 followers and I've seen so many 86,000 followers DM me 200,000 if they say 200,000 don't buy 4F for you buy 4F for you so it's not a numbers are good but we need to understand that the indexes of success they are not optics they are deeper dimension there are secrets to it so what are you going to say secret secret secret secret before we go next week we are doing something special for the teenagers we want to call it the waist teams takeover it's never been done in history of mnj so in case you see any of that TV channel copy it you know that they told you from us so waist team takeover is also part of what we want to do is to get young people to discuss some of the things that we discuss in their own language amongst themselves so Yasmin Basharu will be the host for this event. And she's going to be bringing in all her teenage friends to have different... I mean, I saw the lineup of topics. I said, I don't want to say my brain don't correct me like this. So they have lined up of topics for Monday all the way to Thursday. So make sure you tune in, share with your friends, share with your teenagers, share with young people because the goal again is to get young people to begin to think differently. It's not just all about. I mean, you heard what Ashiri said. There are so many things that are deeper than the superficial that we're seeing. So we must consciously put these kinds of contents in the minds of our young people to help also change some status quo. But thank you again, Ashiri. Thank you. Thank you, ladies. We had so much fun. I'm sorry we cannot take your messages this time, my God. Now, before we go and show you followers across all our social media handles, at Ways Show Africa, you can interact with us further. Drop your comment. And more importantly, follow all our engagements on social media. Like, share, and invite your families and friends to watch and follow the conversation. If you missed our quote for today, here it is again. Comedy, we may say, is society protecting itself with its might. Hallelujah. Oh, deep. My sanity. Oh, deep. I missed your skit too. We'll see you guys live on Monday. Oh, no. We will not be seeing you. The teams will see you on Monday.