Prolific Edo-born comedian and show business entrepreneur, Mc Joe’s profile keeps shooting skywards. In this interview with Naomi Ewansiha and Oluwatola Fawehinmi, Mc Joe speaks on his coming show, the business and the impact of new media on the entertainment realm, and gives industry tips to the budding youth looking to build careers in the entertainment space.
Could you tell us about yourself?
My name is Aiwekhoe Joseph Agbonmanwen, popularly known as Mc Joe. I am a comedian, a content creator and at the same time I am a compere, that means MC of events and all that. I am also into show promotion, showbiz generally, so generally I am an entertainer.
I had my primary education here in Edo State, a bit of my secondary school here and I rounded it off in Ondo State. I have an ND from an ICT school, Computer Engineering, and I also had my ND and HND in Mass Communication from Auchi Polytechnic.
As for my achievements, I have two awards to my name as a comedian.
We are aware that you are planning a show. We would love to know what the show is about and the direction it will take.
Basically I am having a show on the 14th of April here in Benin City, at Rickrex Event City. The title of the show is ‘Mc Joe Unveiled’. So, I now have my first of this kind of show, this is now my show title, ‘Mc Joe Comedy Synergy’. I had the first one in Auchi. So, I am having the mainstream which is the major one in Benin City at Rickrex, withh the theme ‘Family Tales’.
What kind of people should one expect to meet there?
Let me just say it is a blend of all forms of entertainment all in one. The entertainment show encompasses different segments in one but majorly, it is going to be headlined by comedians. It is a comedy show with other entertainment. So, we will be having the likes of Mc Casino, Candy B, Porcupine, King James, Mc Wise all the way from Lagos. I will be having Mc JP from Port Harcourt, Moscow White from Delta State and I will be having one of the fastest rising rappers we have now in Nigeria from Lagos.
It is going to be incredible and we did not leave the indigenous entertainment part of it. So, we will be having the son of the legend, J Tunes, he is an artist. He will also be performing on that day. It is a blend of both the so-called hip hop and also blend of Benin in the show that day.
It is just going to be full embodiment of a show on that night, 14th of April. I promise you it is going to be an event that will give value for money.
Is it a restricted show, or what kind of audience are you anticipating?
So firstly, my show is for everybody. The young, old, what have you. Let me just say it is a family show, so everybody has a space in my show. My show is not free, it is not a free show.
There is a gate fee for it, we have the regular ticket for N5,000, we have the VIP for N20,000 then we have the table for ten which is N300,000. There are incentives attached to the N300,000 and it is just 10 persons that will be admitted for that N300,000.
Then we have another segment which is for the business owners. It is called the sponsorship table. Those set of persons will have the opportunity to promote their business and do some other things. That category is N500,000. So those are the prices for my show because a lot of money is being put into this and money needs to be made back. By God’s grace, we also make profit, that is why it is called showbiz, it is a business.
What is the nature of show business in Edo, particularly with the recent growth of entertainment in the state?
Firstly, I must say that showbiz has actually got to another level in Edo State. It is not business as usual. I want to be very specific right now. For the past six to seven years, showbiz in Edo State has been taken to another level and not just the showbiz per se.
Many of the topnotch entertainers we have in Nigeria right now, in Africa, even in the world at large, many of the creatives are from Edo State. We have the likes of Johnny Drill from here, we have the likes of Shallipopi, Rema from Edo State.
Now take it back to the comedy industry, we have some of our pathfinders, the Malekes, I Go Save, and so on. We now have those that are actually trending right now and doing well for themselves, like Edo Pikin, Mc Casino, Da Sense, King James and what have you, and it is not business as usual. As for entertainers or comedians in Nigeria, maybe before you mention five, at least you will mention one or two in Edo State. I want to also thank the Edo State people for accepting us and giving us the required support.
What influence have new media and social media had on the entertainment industry, particularly in Edo State?
I will say that new media has become a huge booster, a catalyst to promote Edo State entertainment. Now, let me use Instagram as an example, most of the comedians I have mentioned now, most of them came to be recognised and known in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large in the Instagram era of skit making.
That is when people got to know that there were such talents here in Edo State. You will now discover that most of the persons are actually good. Bring them to skit making they are there, when it comes to compere that is MC, they are top notch, when it comes to the stand-up comedy like the show I am doing now, they are good to go.
So social media has really helped us dramatically. It has brought a lot of progress, it has helped us to publicise our work out there and our content. So, it has been a major advantage to us and it has helped us to promote the growth for us in Edo State. I will say the use of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and it has even helped us to break what we call the middle man.
With a smartphone in your hand, you just need to go to Instagram, Facebook or YouTube and you will have access to them. At the same time, for some that are monetized, like the YouTube, the Facebook, it helps a lot as well.
So, what are the challenges of being a show promoter in Edo State, for example, the venues and how you get your sponsors?
Getting sponsors in Edo State has been a major issue, unlike Lagos and other places where you have sponsors, multinational companies that are ready to sponsor your event, buy into your ideas, sponsor your brands and you have to also do publicity for them. Here in Edo State, you bring in the capital from your pocket. In Lagos, I can see they are getting more sponsorships over there but here in Edo State, it’s a major issue. I believe that with time we will come over that and we will be in the forefront.
Was there any time you had someone you could look up to as a role model or comedian skit maker for your journey?
I have a lot of comedians I look up to but there is this particular one I will not fail to mention, Bovi. That’s my role model. For me Bovi is a complete epitome of talent, I am short of words to explain how I see Bovi. We have the likes of Basketmouth, Alibaba and the rest but for me, it’s Bovi. I also have a mentor that I work with here in Benin City, MC Casino. He is my mentor here in Benin City. So I have a lot of persons I look up to that have done so well for themselves.
What are your words for youths who would like to go into the entertainment industry but do not know how to begin?
Firstly, do you have what it takes? Do you want to do this? What about when you come into entertainment and three years later you have not made money, do you quit? That is where the place of tenacity, courage, doggedness, determination comes in.
For me now, how did I come into entertainment? Firstly, there was what we called yab” then in school. Just sit down and be talking to ourselves, you give me and I give you. “If he pain you, you go house go cry”. From there, I started acting drama in school as a teenager and they would say apart from drama, I should just come and talk, make them laugh before they call in drama groups.
Then in 2012, I was to perform in a comedy show. I was just a comedian they called to perform. They had this big comedian coming from another place that would come and perform but the guy did not come. To cut a long story short, the guy did not come and I hosted the show all through the day. That was how I was like, I can do this thing on the big stage oh.
I still remember that the first official job I did, I was given N2,000 and it was a very big money. I thought I had made it then.
If you have the passion, then why not? Start from your environment around you there. If it is skit making you want to do, get a smartphone. If you don’t have, borrow a smartphone from someone around you, shoot, edit. If you cannot edit, talk to someone that can do it for you and post your stories online.
