Meet Damola Adegboye, a corporate compere, standup comedian, and academic researcher.
A Lot of Comedians Don’t Know When to Draw the Line – Comedian Damola Adegboye
Damola has been anchoring events and comedy professionally for almost a decade. Demola has over the years carved a niche for himself as an ethical master of ceremonies.
Talking about how he draws the line as a Comedian and Mc Demola said,
“Basically, it depends on the brief that you have, I can be a compere effectively without doing jokes all the way and I can be a comedian without being a compare and I can combine both.
It depends on what you really want. My capacity to be a comedian is something natural, something that is inborn, I did not learn it even though I learned how to make it better over time.
It was just a raw talent that was worked on to become something that you can call professional.”
Which one pays better?
“Depends on who is calling you and what the people want basically. A lot of people don’t know when to draw the line.
Some people because they are good comedians, they are funny, they get carried away and you know because people are laughing they forget the fact that they are supposed to actually be anchors of the event.
Comedy is just supposed to be like a filler but then some people just get carried away, they just focus on the comedy because people are laughing.
That does not make them professionals enough because they have lost focus by virtue of the fact that people are feeling the joke but basically, beyond the jokes, people need to understand that there are two different things, and where necessary, you can bring in humor, if not necessary please don’t.”
Ethically speaking, where do you stand, and do you have a code of conduct that you run by?
“I thought about the word ‘ethical’ and in my latest profile, I had to reframe that word because I discover that, what is ethical to one may not be ethical to the other.
Basically, when I mean ethical, I am that comedian that will not make you feel uncomfortable. There’s nothing I will say that will make you feel bad.
To me, comedy is supposed to make you happy and not to generate any form of, ‘Why is this guy making fun of me?
To me, comedy is supposed to make you happy. If you ask of me, you will hear, oh that guy, he will not say anything dirty, he will not make you uncomfortable, my jokes are relatable and family-friendly.”
Why do some comedians turn to bullying as content?
“Different people with different things that work for them and also their background and orientation. They are some people that it’s because of the environment that they operate within all the time.
They are some people that host a particular show every week, where the only content they have is to make fun of people so when they find themselves on other stages, they assume that, that is the same environment and they just explore that option.
I think that one needs to master the craft of this job for those that do it, to understand the different environments, different ways and different context around which you should build thier materials.
A lot of people find it comfortable making jest a people which can be funny but not always.”
See the video below for more!
