CINCH UNITY JAM PHAZE 2

Following the success of the 1st Cinch Unity Jam in December last year,
Positive Image Production and The Blue Wisp proudly present the 2nd
edition of Cinch Unity Jam; bringing people together in unity to seek and
celebrate peace, because without unity there is no way peace can be
achieved.

Positive Image Productions, a subsidiary of Positive Image Arts
Organization, hopes to contribute to building a peaceful and respectful
world in which to live. We hope to be able to accomplish this, and many
more positive achievements, through music, arts, entertainment and
collaboration with other organizations.

Cinch Unity Jam will take place on the 20th of March, 2010 at the
legendary jazz club, The Blue Wisp. The doors will be open to the public
at 4pm, and the first performance will kick off at 5pm. Coming back bigger
and better, there are going to be 8 bands in the line up to perform in
this edition; as well as African dance performances, belly dancing,
poetry/spoken word, and a drum circle.

Stand-Up Nigeria: Platform for comedians’




Not too long ago, the idea of comedians doing stand up comedy at any event beyond five minutes not to talk of a full show was considered outlandish. This is because a few years ago, comedy as an integral part of the Nigerian entertainment scene was either introduced in a drama or stage play to enliven a scene or as an interlude to refresh the audience during a lecture or a social gathering. Although no real evidence exists to ascertain the comedian who first broke out of this pattern, there is no doubt that contemporary stand up comedy in the country has come of age. The genre of entertainment is now widely accepted to the point that some comedians are now household names and are able to perform for 60 to 90 minutes duration.

Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that while comedians like Ali Baba, Basket Mouth, Teju Baby Face, AY, Owen G, Kofi and a host of others have become well known comedy brands who attract huge appearance fees for shows, there are hundreds of comedians who are equally good and are still struggling for recognition. This, according to Bunmi Davies, chief executive officer, Afrotainment Nigeria Limited, is the reason why Stand Up Nigeria, a monthly comedy show, was set up. The show which is a live event that is recorded for radio and television stations was designed to entertain the audience with rib-cracking jokes from up and coming comedians.

Davies said the show, which clocked one year in November last year, emerged from the desire of Afrotainment to do something unique following rave reviews of its short plays which were always infused with comedy. “We did not set out to do comedy. We used to do plays on HIV/Aids, Children’s Day, Valentine’s Day and so on. But I was always infusing humour in my works and discovered that we were narrowing towards comedy. Then I saw a vacuum and decided to set up Stand Up Nigeria assist budding comedians to get recognition.”

The Afrotainment boss who is now an influential and much loved figure among comedians said the beginning was very rough but one year down the line, the monthly show has become a huge success whereby the original venue could no longer contain the large audience that turns out every month to enjoy rib-cracking jokes from established and budding comedians. The show currently holds at the Muson Centre in Onikan, Lagos on the last Saturday of every month. While ensuring that the audience laugh non-stop for three hours that the show would last, Davies said efforts are also made to ensure that abusive and vulgar jokes are excluded.

“We have a vetting process to ensure that comedians who participate in the show do not repeat the jokes of others and that they would not develop stage fright. We ask for video of live performances from those who want to take part in the show before we put them on stage. The video would reveal a lot of things about the aspiring comedian which would help us to decide on his suitability,” Davies further explained. He said the comedians are not paid appearance fees, adding that we get references for them to perform at occasions at no cost to them. The January edition, anchored by Owen G, one of Nigeria’s finest comedians, witnessed quality presentations from young comedians like Shakeera, Tatafo, Mojoint, Emeka Smith and MC Pato, among others.

The show has also celebrated top-rated artistes like Lagbaja, Joke Silva, Yeni Kuti, and Kelani, among others. Davies hopes that the industry will in the near future become regulated while Stand Up Nigeria continues to provide the much-needed platform for the stand-up comedy genre in Nigeria to flourish.