TEE A’s 20th Anniversary And What It Means For Nigerian Comedy
It doesn’t look out of place today, in 2016, to see people introduce themselves as stand up comedians, musicians, or actors. Not a lot of parents would scold their kids if they suggested studying creative arts in the university.
But in 1996, when Babatunde Adewale or Tee-A as he is popularly called started, it was rare to find young undergraduates cracking ribs for a living.
There was Ali Baba the Ambrose Alli University graduate who moved to Lagos to do stand up comedy full time. Then there had been John Chukwu and Bisi Olatilo and their contemporaries who worked as broadcasters and masters of ceremonies, with a bit of stand up as part of their acts.
There was however no stand up comedy industry. There were no engagement opportunities, no training avenues, and definitely no local role models, apart from Ali Baba who was himself just navigating the space.
You couldn’t really look your parents in the face and say you want to make people laugh. For a living.
But that’s what Tee A did as a budding undergraduate of Linguistics in the University of Lagos. Using a campus club, Theatre 51, as a local hub, weekly magazine Encomium as a networking platform, and Ali Baba’s brain, mind and contacts as an enterprise, he spent his years in UNILAG writing comedy skits, mastering performance etiquette, chasing gigs, building a fan base, and actually making money.
Working under the tutelage of Ali Baba, Tee A learnt something fast: comedy business is serious business. He defined his own fashion style, carved his own niche as a corporate and events MC, built his own products, starting with Live ‘N naked, and the now global Tymeout With Tee A brand.
In July 2000 he hosted the first solo concert by a Nigerian comedian, Tee-A Live N’ Naked, at The MUSON Centre, in Lagos.
‘Everyone thought it was a big deal, and a major risk. But I was sure this is what I wanted. After co hosting Lagbaja’s Motherlan’ monthly gig for such a long time, along with hosting the biggest awards and parties, I knew it was time for us to begin doing our own shows’, he says, after that sold-out event which opened a new market for the ladies and gentlemen walking the narrow path of comedy.
Since then he has produced and hosted his own TV shows, promoted concerts in England and served as chief executive officer of his own organisation, First Class Entertainment, a multimedia services and TV production company.
Since then, he has seen other stand up comedians rise under his own tutelage and that of his friend, supporter and mentor, Ali Baba. He has created celebrated TV characters, like Madam Princess, the semi-literate cantankerous interviewer on Tymeout with TeeA as well as the bombastic grammarian character of Professor Abbey.
