Basketmouth’s Uncensored & Lessons Learnt.

So, that’s how dearest Hubby decided to honour me for being a good help girl for the past one year since he presented to my family 42 tubers of yams in exchange for my culinary & cleaning skills hand in marriage, and according to him, “those yams were enough to start a yam plantation o so you guys should own a farm by now" (haa, our olori ebi must surely hear this)and as a result, decided to show his appreciation in one of the many ways he had been showing it since I accepted his yams hand in marriage; by taking me "a la laughing".

Before I delve into the discourse of what looks like Marketing strategy for Basketmouth, let me quickly allay some ever doubting minds that Hubby purchased the tickets for the show and we were not given “osho free”. But being an aesthetic and expressive person, I love to exalt a good scenario, especially when such situation is worthy to be exalted.

For many who can attest to my personality, being happy is serious business for me and a decision I have taken seriously and which I have never deviated from. Nothing few things never get to me and to confirm that, I am constantly seen wearing a smile, even in the dandiest of situations. And I also bounce back from problems very fast, way too fast. Hubby does not like this one bit though, as this means we don’t get to fight as much as he would have liked. You know men and their need to turn everything into full scale war, but due to my ever pliant & amicable self, that craving opportunity to oppress my innocent and meek self has not presented itself to him in a while. And I see the frustration in his eyes when I douse every tense combat with a wide grin or a mischievous meek look, just as he tried to pick a fight this morning on why I don’t know where he kept his car keys and why I rumpled his black trousers and removed it from the table to keep back in his own side of the closet and how I keep frustrating and testing him in this marriage. Hehehehe.

However, this is not because I don’t have my temper tantrums(you would be surprised) whatsoever nor is it as a result of being unaffected by various issues Methuselahs young people like myself experience in the society of today, but due to certain transformational experiences and situations I have faced, I have come to understand that everything always pan out regardless of how huge it may seem to be at that time it seemed overwhelming.

Absolutely everything!

Now for many people, this is not a good attitude as I have been accused of not taking things serious nor adorning a sombre look when the situation calls for it, but I really do. I'm just extremely good at concealing emotions(I'd be a genius at playing poker) And sincerely also, I generally don’t give a flying f**k press too deeply on issues/things most people tend to be petty about as those issues that seem insurmountable today would become trivial in some few days/weeks or even some months’ time and if there is something I detest, it is to have acted quite silly and foolish in the past and now have to apologise or eat my words. Ugh!

Now back to the laughing story, having being a good house help wife & partner to Hubby, he decided to sponsor me to go watch Basketmouth’s Uncensored as he is aware that the guy is my favourite comedian in the whole wide world Nigeria.

And as far as yours truly is concerned, Basketmouth is the only comedian that can stand on stage for more than 2 hours with continuous rib cracking jokes and I would be riveted and won’t get bored. And that’s saying a lot because apart from having a nauseatingly cheerful attitude during thunderstorm situations, I also get very bored easily.

So back to the matter, when we got to the venue of the show and by we, I meant hubby and I, with our mattress, pyjamas, hair net, duvet and dinner, ready to wait but expecting the show to start by 10:00pm(you know Naija time factor na), though a show slated for 6:00pm which is the normal practice of most of the shows of nowadays that have given a new meaning to the term African Time.

So you can imagine our shock and disbelief when at exactly 7:00pm , Bovi came out to announce that the show was about to begin and even apologised for starting an hour late proffering an explanation in form of a joke that the 6:00pm on the ticket is the time for the audience to get there while 7:00pm is when the show was scheduled to start(Insert a compulsory laugh here o as Bovi is another hilarious comedian that can do no wrong in my eyes).

Now for someone who was used to going for shows and the hosts not keeping to time, ever, that was like the icing on the cake for me and a damn good start and I knew I was in for a satisfactory evening. I would not want to go into how interesting and organised the show was lest you think Basketmouth has promised me some free tickets for his future show but would just go straight into what made this show stand out and what comedians and artists should learn from.

Apart from the organisation and quality of jokes, what stood out was the interaction the performing artists had with the audience. There were no unnecessary double 6-pack bouncers protecting Olamide or Phyno or Sound Sultan while they sang and moved around (as if the audience is dangerous and should be kept away from the stars, hian!). Everyone at the show was there to have fun and dance and the ambience made sure we were all allowed to get quite close to the performers while our seats were not arranged in a clustered manner like prisoners watching an old movie in the common room within the prison facilities. That sense of closeness goes a long way in ensuring people know the artists are there to please them and not the other way round like other shows where the artists behave like they are the gateway to heaven and audience should leak their feet in obeisance if they intend to make heaven while arrogantly showing off their Rolex watches and Machiavelli boots, abi is it Timberland sef?

The seating arrangement was also quite impressive as there were no intimidating round tables demarcating the bourgeois with stolen wealth from those of us that worked hard to earn legitimate money. (Ok,fine, that’s just the jealous side of me talking). However for the cinema-like seating arrangement, apart from the King &Queen row tickets that sat in the front aisle and being able to tell the actual colour of Basketmouth’s teeth, every seat was almost arranged in the same way. (Same sef if you ask me because really, I couldn't tell the difference. But Bovi was quick to diss those of us that sat in regular seats that he knows we would have consoled ourselves with this arrangement thoughts that “shebi we are seating the same way”. And he was right because that was the first thing many of us that sat upstairs said. Lool)

Also, it was obvious that the tickets sold were in tandem with the hall capacity as there was still enough space to move around. Usually people think the success of a show depends on how filled up the hall is but that's just a greedy mentality filled with crap not true. I don’t want to walk into a show and have to grip my bag firmly for fear of being mugged or hold on to my partner with death grip for fear of being trampled. There was ample space for people to move around and actually SEE the performers without been squashed to a corner and having to stand while blocking people due to seats exhaustion. The coordination of the seating arrangements was on point and the projector ensured every seating arrangement was visually convenient for each class of seats. So those of us that sat on king rows fineeeeeeee, regular seats, had perfect seating spots that I could have even touched Basketmouth if I'd chosen to. And the fact that Basketmouth did not oversell tickets just to make profit goes a long way to show a comedian that is actually customer-centric and interested in ensuring we get value for our money and not just to make profit and be able to quote in newspapers that “the hall was filled to the brim and some people did not even get where to sit”. And what got me tripped was the fact that driving out of Eko hotel after the show was well coordinated and each car couldn't have spent up to 10 minutes before driving out of the gate.

All in all, it was a lovely show and a lesson to other comedians and artists that you don’t need to surround yourselves with weight lifters cum bouncers who now try to barricade the people being entertained like they are rogues/thugs, or to try and maximise profit, all at the expense of giving the fans a good value for their money that would ensure they attend the next one.

And even though Tuface, Wizkid and Davido didn’t perform as promised, understandably so, it was due to the BET awards. Despite this, nearly every attendant at that show would agree that Basketmouth made up for it in every awesome way possible. I am not speaking for people with bigger issues that a night of rib cracking jokes cannot/didn't cure sha o.

I hereby solemnly swear that this is not an advert nor am I in any way affiliated to Basketmouth or a member of his family. I'm simply a satisfied customer and a part of a well behaved happy audience that got back her/their money value and wants the world to know.