INTERVIEW BY AIYANYO "YANY" AIBANGBEE
In the old days, up and coming comedians had to spend years in the shadows, performing at comedy clubs, hole in the wall restaurants, bars, cafes and street corners; hoping to get that one big break that would catapult them into fame and recognition. For many of them, that day never came.
In the Age of social media and instant gratification when careers can be made or destroyed with a single tweet, a Facebook or Instagram post; a growing number of comedians are amassing fans and fame before ever stepping foot on stage. With carefully crafted skits, hilarious bits and impeccable video quality, these comedians are literally redefining what it means to be funny. When it comes to African comedy however, there is a distinct audience that requires a particular style of funny in order to be entertained. Africans are a tough crowd to make laugh. In this arena, comedians Henry Obiefule aka Chief Obi, Tosin Olatunde aka Jiggzy Tos and his brother Dami Olatunde aka Aphricanape have exploded onto the Instagram network and carved themselves a significant portion of that laughing market..
I recently caught up with comedian Jiggzy Tos for an interview and laughed so much I shed tears. We chatted about his love for making people laugh, where he draws his inspiration and his future plans.
Who inspired you to do comedy in general and on social media? Were you always funny?
My brother Aphricanape pretty much pushed me from my comfort zone to start doing comedy. Initially I told him, i wanted to be an instrument to his success. Whatever he needed me to do, write jokes for him or critique his jokes, I wanted to help him out. Then he told me "dude you are funny as well, why not put all that energy into use for yourself?" That's when I bought my first camera stand and used my phone to shoot my first skit, and it's been on ever since.
I know you are from Nigeria. Did your parents ever give you a hard time as a child about what you should aspire to be when you grow up?
Yes my parents wanted me to go into a professional field where I wouldn't have to work for anybody. So they were very pleased when i chose to go into the medical field.
How do your parents and family react to you being a comedian right now and how supportive are they?
Oh my parents love the fact that i'm doing comedy now and they are very supportive. Sometimes my mom would even send me some ideas for some of my characters.
Your brother is also a comedian, and you have a sister who has a lot of character, how did your entire family end up being so influential on social media? Where did all that talent come from?
My parents deserve the credit for all of us being funny. My Dad is a character himself, he used to MC weddings back in the day as a side gig. So he definitely has the funny bone in him. My mom on the other hand is just a nice easy going person, who is actually fun to be around herself. So that kind of environment just breeds endless jokes and pranks on each other.
What is the most unusual/surprising thing someone has said to you on social media or in the DMs?
Honestly the most surprising thing someone has said to me was this guy who Dm'd me standing up for the Nigerian police, telling me how great they are and that I should stop making jokes about them. LOL
How many characters do you portray on social media and which one is your fave?
I portray 5 characters on social media and my favorite is the Nigerian Police man Captain Oskipapaya
How do you come up with these characters and skits? What inspires the creativity?
That's a great question, I really just let the idea come to me, it's hard to say what inspires my creativity. It's just something I learned from my younger brother Aphricanape that everything that happens in my everyday life, my brain is automatically trying convert it into a skit, or at least inspire an idea.
Apart from making people laugh what else are you passionate about?
My family obviously, as you know I have a six month old son, so just hanging out with him and my wife is something i'm very passionate about right now. Secondly, I have an ear for music so I believe I could be a good music producer as well.
Who are your favorite artists/musicians and comedians today?
Musically, Davido, Wiz Kid and Olamide.
Comedians...my brother(Aphricanape) obviously and Chief Obi.
What’s the next stage or next level for JiggzyTos in terms of comedy?
LOL in terms of Comedy I have some plans that I hope will materialize in the near future. So y'all will have to wait and see.
Any advice for upcoming comedians?
Keep on working, when you feel like things are not panning out the way you want them to and you want to give up, you have to make a decision to keep going until you get your breakthrough.
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Tosin "Jiggzy Tos" Olatunde grew up in Surulere, Lagos state in Nigeria with 3 siblings. He is a proud alumni of Kings College Lagos, Nigeria. After high school, he studied Microbiology Pre-Med at the University Of Oklahoma where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Microbiology. He currently resides and works in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
If you need some laughs follow Jiggzy Tos on IG here: instagram.com/jiggzytos
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