1st November, 2013
Nothing feeds the soul like a good laugh and one of the rib crackers, stand-up comic and show compere, Tunde Adewale, popularly known as Tee A. spoke with FUNSHO AROGUNDADE, about his style of comedy and his coming show, Tyme Out With Tee A Live Edition Concert
The second edition of your show Tyme Out With Tee A (Live edition concert) will hold this Sunday, what should your fans expect from the show?
I think basically we should expect a uniquely fun-filled event. As a variety show, just like the television programme, the live edition concert will not just be a musical-comedy concept; fans should expect a great show. That is why we have carefully planned this show in such a way that from the beginning to the end it will be non-stop entertainment.
What actually informed the concept of the live edition concert?
There are couple of things that informed it. I stopped doing concerts and appearing on the comedy concert circuit about five years ago. And I took that decision unilaterally. After running Tee-A’s Live and Naked successfully for seven years, I said I was done and wasn’t going to do live shows again. Then I decided that I will focus on appearing as MC and hosting events, both private and corporate, and to the glory of God that has been very successful for me and rewarding. Then the idea of the television show came and we focused on the show. Within the past couple of years of the show, we have built a new fan base and then everybody keep saying Tee A, when are we seeing you live, so that we can watch you again? So I said, rather than do a show where people would come and watch, like I have done in the past and which I no longer find challenging, I thought of something different from the norm. Since I already have a television platform which people appreciated, we have got a lot of clubs and everybody now knows Professor Abbey, Madam Princess; why don’t I bring back that same package? Let people see what we do in the studio in a live representation and in its raw format. That is what gave birth to Time Out With Tee-A Live Edition.
Why is D’Banj headlining this year’s edition of the show after being on the hot seat at last year’s show?
It is due to the popular demand. Early this year, we put up something like a vox-pop on our social media space to know which artiste they would want on the show again and the responses were like Eja Nla, Banger Lee, Kokomaster. And I wonder why this guy again? He was on the hot seat last year and thrilled the audience, but the truth is, he won’t be on the hot seat this year. Tuface Idibia will be the guest, while D’Banj will be headlining the performance. But one thing we need to understand about D’Banj is that in spite of little challenges, the guy has been able to reinvent himself and still stays on top of his game and we are proud to have him on the show again this year.
You have recorded success in its debut and Abuja edition, what exactly do think you are doing differently?
I honestly can’t say. Much that I know is that I try to just do something different like you pointed out and the difference in what I am bringing in a live television format on to the stage. What people watch on TV, they can come and see it live, from different perspective of entertainment. During the concert, they are able to get some serious interviews, exciting life performances and also able to see live sketches on stage. So it is a potpourri of different entertainment options. That’s basically the difference. Time Out With Tee-A Live Edition is not like a one-man show. It is not a comedy show but a premium television event that will be ultimately packaged into DVD and TV episodes.
How would you react to the assumption that you stopped the Tee A Live And Naked because of competition and proliferation of such comedy shows?
As at the time I stopped, there was not really what you would call proliferation of comedy shows. The core guys who were doing shows then were my brothers and friends. We have BasketMouth, Julius Agwu and AY was just starting then. We were all friends and brothers, so there wasn’t anything like competition. But for me, I stopped because I was bored. I no longer felt challenged and can’t be running the same material all over again. To just gather people into a hall for a show with no adequate time to research and create new materials before another edition is due, I felt I might be short-changing the audience because I know that I could do better. During that time, I was already getting mentally challenged on how to redevelop the TV show concept that we already have now. I just chose to let it go, since I can’t be doing TV and live shows together. One has to go to be able to give his best. The TV was more mentally stimulating for me and I went for it.
What is your view about the growing number of comedy shows we have now?
I think it is good for the industry that there we now have different kinds of comedy shows. Although, it appears everybody is presenting the same thing, after a while, water would surely find its level. The time will come when the wheat would be separated from the chaff. Then, we would have people creating new ideas and those are the people who would last.
When did you actually realise you can do comedy?
I never really set out to do comedy. I was just having fun and that’s the thing. It was something I was doing having fun in my secondary school days as a member of the Literary and Debating Society. I was just cracking jokes up and down. Whenever they say it is time for riddles and jokes, they would just call me. When I also got into University of Lagos, the fun continued. Sometimes I would mimic lecturers and people would laugh. Naturally, I would make some jokes about happenings anywhere, be it in the hostel or department, I mean, random jokes and people would find them funny.
Even at a time that I met Ali Baba and we became very good friends and brothers he would tell you, we were just having fun. Ali Baba had started doing comedy and he was earning good money, I was with him and we were just working. Later people started give me small money as well. But to me then, it wasn’t about money as I saw Ali Baba doing some jobs for free for a lot of people. Much later in life, those people ended up paying millions of naira over and over. Same thing has happened to me. I was only motivated by the skills then, rather than for any form of gratification.
But were you really a funny kid?
I won’t say I was funny, I would say I was notorious and mischievous. I was one of those mischievous kids. I do things that would make everybody laugh but might hurt somebody at the end. Things like removing chairs from somebody who wants to sit on it and the person unknowingly falls on the floor, or pouring water on somebody’s chair and everybody feels the person has urinated on his cloth. All these were while in primary school. I was just mischievous and I used to get beaten for it, even though my grandmother was the headmistress of our school at that time. I would just be looking for trouble up and down. That was the kind of kid I was.
It is often said being that funny is not funny and requires talent. Do you agree?
Yes, very much so. For you to be a comedian, you have to be very intelligent. Intelligence is not something you acquire through education; it is not something you acquire from knowing someone. That is why you have some illiterates who have never seen the four walls of the school, yet their thinking faculty is razor sharp. That is the way it is for a comedian. As a comedian, you are thinking on your feet. Your spontaneity should ever be at its optimum because if something happened right in front of your eyes, you can flip it around to something very hilarious. You are expected to do a complete free-flow one-hour performance based on spontaneous stuff with no pre-determined material. Something can happen nationally or globally like the armoured BMW cars saga and there is a major event, all your thinking has to be alert to create something funny out of it.
Is that how you come up with your jokes?
Not at all, I read a lot. You can see this corner of my office; it contains books that I am reading now.
I also have a small library at home. I read a lot to get more ideas. I devour anything ‘devourable’. Ali Baba inspired me to do that; he also likes to read. You also have to watch lots of television programmes as you need to be constantly be in tune with happenings as most of the materials come from there. You can’t be doing jokes about modelling when somebody is spending a fortune to buy BMW bullet car. Internet is also there as you can get information there and create fresh stuff for yourself.
Have you ever been embarrassed by your audience?
Never. This is because I am always very careful about the kind of jokes that I do. I don’t do offensive materials. I don’t throw jokes that look down on people, especially physically-challenged people. Because of my Christian background, I was trained not to look down on anybody. My grandmother, a very strict educationist, would say ‘don’t go and join them to be abusing people under the guise of comedy. Though once in a while, I throw jibes at some people, but these are people that I have personal relationship with who would not pick offence. I can throw jabs at some music acts, actors and actresses that are my friends without fear because they know and would understand it is just a joke.