Passion without money will wear off —Jubril Gbadamosi, Officer Woos

Jubril Gbadamosi, popularly known as Officer Woos, in this interview with ADEOLA OTEMADE, speaks on how comedy as a form of entertainment has evolved, the factors responsible for this development and how passion for entertainment spurred him into comedy skits making. Excerpts:  

Comedy as a form of entertainment is fast becoming an industry on its own, as young people are into comedy skits, content creation and the likes. What would you say is responsible for this rebirth?

Technology has played a major role in this aspect, as we now have various social media platforms where people can express themselves. Over the years, the world has experienced and is still experiencing daily growth, development, advancement in terms of technology and this birthed the various kinds of social media platforms we have today. The rise in social media platforms made it easy for people to drop their contents and make money from it; you just need creativity, the internet and your target audience.

Would it be correct to the motivation behind this influx in comedy skit making is for money, fame or the passion for entertainment?

We have different reasons for doing things, even if one is doing it for passion, one should make money from it, passion will not sustain you, if you don’t have money to survive, passion wears off. Most people are doing it for passion, they love making people happy, but in the end, we all want the money.

So, your drive for going into comedy was for the money?

I wanted to do entertainment so badly, I actually wanted to be a musician, I had my own songs that I scribbled but then, I wanted music but the music did not want me, as I am not a good singer, I had a passion for it, I had so much passion for it but to sing had always been a problem, I do not possess a good voice, I wanted to do music badly but it wasn’t just my way. I like music, music did not like me. So, I decided to focus on something else. I started cracking jokes, and people laughed, it was from there I took my cue to go into comedy. I was a shy person though, but the passion I had for entertainment brought me out of my shell. I wanted to be big, I wanted to be known, famous, rich and all, I wanted people to see my work and make them happy and I knew I was going to make money from my passion.

Were you the funny type right from the start because you said you were the shy type?

I was the shy type but I was also the funny type, I had this funny look and this was as a result of the kind of haircut my friends and I had back then in school. So, there was something about me when you look at me, you will always laugh because of my funny look, so along the line, I decided that I am not really a fine boy but at least let me make people laugh with my face, so I felt I’m made for this comedy more.

The inception of standup comedy became known during the days of Ali Baba, I Go Die, Basket Mouth, Gordons, just to mention a few, seems to be dissipating with evolution. How would you rate comedy then versus the kind we have now?

Just like the world is changing, things are evolving; I think that has also affected the comedy industry as it has evolved with the tides of change. The way comedy was before (respect to those that were doing it before) but comedy has left the stand-up comedy part, it is now moving into the social media comedy train. We still have people that love the stand-up comedy thing but then the centre stage is now more on the social media comedy skit that people make laugh. Comedy has evolved over time, many things have happened, technology has taken a different shape as many things are being done via online platforms. I think comedy is relatable stuff, it has always been the same, but I feel it’s just going into another form.

Would it be correct to say the likes of Gordons, I Go Die, Holly Mallam Akpororo, fizzled out of the comedy industry in a way because they could not keep up with the trends of things?

I really can’t say though, I know Akpororo is still much in the limelight, maybe he is not just a person of the social media, he still does his stand-up comedy, but I believe it just what works for you basically as a person that you would go with.

So how do you come up with comedy contents?

I come up with my contents in whatever form it comes. Sometimes, I imagine something stupid, in the last video I did, I was a delivery boy that went to offer sacrifice, and how is it possible for a delivery boy to carry sacrifice for delivery? I just come up with very stupid ideas in my head and I try to fine-tune them and sometimes I pick up my content ideas from movies I try to play the stupid part of it in my head and I turn it into a script. I listen to what people say around also, happenings around and real-life happening.

What brought about the name Officer Woos, because it appears you have a thing for either being addressed as an Inspector or an Officer?

I like the police role because I actually see the Nigerian police as being hilarious, no offence. I see them as a joke and also as a fascinating character which in turn spurred me into adopting the role of a police officer in most of my comedy skits. I did a stage play where I acted as an officer, and it came out really nice. I started the police character in 2017 officially, but in 2016 I did a stage play ‘jungle justice’, it was very hilarious, so I started the character from that angle. I acted as officer O.G, I did another stage play in 2017, ‘tides of good things’ It was an agbero where I acted ‘woos’ alongside brother Shaggi. Brother Shaggi invited me over in 2019 to feature in a skit, he was like ‘ok I think I like that Woos name we used the other time, that was how I decided to stick with the name ever since then.

Why did you choose a stammering character for your role?

I only wanted to do something different, so many people had done the same thing over and over again, people are doing comedy skits, they all sound the way they sound, so I decided to adopt the stammering character and it worked. At some point, I started getting quizzical reactions like are you really a stammerer? My mother had to call me to ask “when did you start to stammer?” and I was like did you not know the child you gave birth to anymore?

Do you just fall into the character or it takes you endless practice before you get the hang of it?

I fall into character easily, the first time I tried it, it sounded like I have been stammering for a long time. So, I would say it comes easy for me.

What were the challenges you faced while coming up as a comedian?

From the onset it was not getting recognition, people were not giving audience, many people just know you but the support was not there. Creating contents is another ball game entirely, it is very hectic, it is one of the major challenges because you have to put meaningful contents out there. The whole process is challenging but its all fun, we enjoy what we do.

Who are the people you look forward to working within the comedy sector?

I look forward to working with everyone, the likes of Basketmouth, Bovi and other colleagues as well. I look forward to working with our leaders in the media as well because they have all imparted in me. I look forward to working with Odunlade Adekola, who is someone that cracks me up effortlessly, so I would love to work with him.

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