Comedy is an intellectual activity yet most people conceive of comedians as scatterbrains and wastrels.
By virtue of this, there have been a lot of brutish words used to describe comedians. Although the comedians do not see anything wrong with these negative tags, it purely mirrors how people view their job.
However, Ghana has some fine comedy talents that are well – educated. One of them is Amponsah Obarima Akuoku, an Optometrist known in showbiz circles as OB.
According to comedian OB, his educational background and profession distinguish him from his colleagues.
“Who would go to school for 6 years, intern for a year, write a professional exam, pass out as a doctor and come on stage to crack jokes? That factor makes audience more attentive to my stuff. Like ‘Really? A doctor? Doing comedy? Wow. Let’s see what you got’… That seems to be my X Factor… Apart from my dimple,” he told citifmonline.com in an interview.
OB started comedy professionally in 2015 at the University of Cape Coast campus when he was in his final year, Level 600. He actually got motivated by a friend called Margaret Owusu to commercialise his act. The friend had realised OB could entertain people quite well. Through her help and that of other friends, they established a group called TwiCom Productions and they started putting up their own shows.
The doctor cum comedian believes that being a comedian has given him the opportunity to make people happy and to draw public focus to salient issues by addressing them on a lighter note.
That notwithstanding he is of the conviction that comedy goes beyond just telling jokes.
“A comedian needs to be smart, exceptionally observant, articulate, venturesome and timeless,” he said.
He further stated that he is optimistic about the future of Ghanaian comedy. He projected that in 5 years, Ghanaian comedians should be able to host sold out shows at the national auditorium, sold out tours around the 10 regions, internationally recognised in Africa and the Diaspora.
Asked who his favourite comedians were, he said he was torn between Foster Romanus and Augustin Dennis.
OB has performed at high profile shows like KSM’s Afia Siriboe, Night of 1021, 1022, 1023, Lord Of the Ribs 2016, RTP Awards 2016 and Akwaaba UK Night with Eddie Kadi.
He has also appeared on platforms such as Coca-Cola Launch 2016, Laughline, Comedy Bar, Laugh at First Sight, Comedy Fiesta, Comedy Express, among others.
The fast rising comedian is thankful to Sammy Flex, Mic Yamoah, Nii Ashley, Richard Amofa, Nabil Alhassan, George Quaye, Team OB, Ghanaian bloggers and everybody that has in one way or the other contributed to the success of his comedy career.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
