Unknown to many, foremost Nigerian comedian Alibaba, is also a skilled
dancer, actor and photographer. However, the ace comedian, in a recent
chat with Saturday Beats, said he left all his other talents to become a
comedian just because of money.
While claiming he made his first N1m in 1994, Alibaba said many actors
back then never dreamt of making half of that amount at that time.
Ali Baba said, “Comedy was bringing more money than acting, dancing and
photography, even till date. I was a young guy that people believed
could not make it, so I wanted to prove everybody wrong. They thought
that being a comedian was for people without a future but I made them
realise that it was not about the act but the delivery of service. As
soon as it was clear that there was service being provided, people woke
up to it. I chose stand-up over acting because I was charging N50, 000
in 1993. I made N1.6m in 1994 from Satzenbrau and as of that time, there
were a lot of movie actors that could not even ‘smell’ that amount for
three years. I went on a tour with Satzebrau and made N1.6m. I was able
to make that amount of money because people did not know there was money
in comedy. At first, they said I married someone because of money but
when they started to realise that there was money in comedy, they
started writing, ‘how comedians smile to the bank’.”
The funny man was quick to correct the impression people have about
comedians delving into movies. He told Saturday Beats that comedians
were not shooting movies because of the money but to expand their
creative horizon.
“Comedians do not shoot movies because they can make money from them. We
make more money from stand- up shows than we make from movies. I have
played in about two movies, you spend at least three weeks shooting a
movie and you would make the money they are paying you for that movie at
a show. For every entertainer, you will look for all platforms to
entertain yourself. Jamie Foxx went into music and he won Grammy’s, he
went into movies and he won an Oscar award; Jamie Foxx is a comedian. LL
Cool J is a rap artiste but he also acts and nobody has screamed blue
murder. Will Smith was a comedian, turned rapper and actor, nobody has
screamed blue murder. What is just happening is that a lot of people do
not understand that as an artiste, you need to express yourself in
different ways.
“If someone sees me hold a photography exhibition, they would begin to
wonder when Ali Baba delved into photography. They do not know that I
started taking pictures since 1978. If someone sees me drawing, they
would ask when I started drawing but I have been doing that since when I
was in secondary school. Someone could see me dancing and be wondering
but I was the third runner-up in John Player in 1981. There was a time
someone said that there was a comedian in Nigeria who was the first
person to perform in an aeroplane and I replied the person that I did
that in 1993 with Nigeria Airways across Africa. People do not know
because it was not reported. I have acted in several flicks, I did ‘My
Guy’ in a movie Barsorge shot in 1997 and I was in the soap opera, The
Honourables. The only reason I stopped acting was because there was no
money in it,” he said.
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