If you walk around Calabar, looking for one Awade Friday, chances are that your search will yield nothing, but switch gears like a Formula One driver and look for LAST PROPHET… in little or no time, he will be pointed out to you.
He doesn’t brag about it, but he will always tell you ,” I am the reason everybody wants to do comedy in Calabar” and he may not be far from the truth. It is no mean feat that LAST PROPHET is at the centre of the rib cracking trade in Calabar, the Peoples’ Paradise with jokes that come with an originality that can dwarf even the top earners in the business.
An indigene of Obanliku LGA in Cross River State, he instead calls Ajegunle in Lagos, home; because like many others, he honed his skills there singing in his local church choir before discovering a greater talent within, Comedy. He told calitown.com that his father was the first MC he copied, but it is obvious that he has taken his game several notches up and walked into financial independence with good measure.
At a popular eatery
on Eta Agbor Road in Calabar where we caught up with him by chance, he did not disappoint. LAST PROPHET cuts the picture of a man slowly working his way to the top. He shows a great understanding of the intricate dynamics of his trade and tells you in very clear terms that, “there is no need being funny if it won’t bring money”. It may be what drives his work ethic, or an acceptance of the Naija road rule that, “where man dey work, na where man dey chop”.
We ask him, if he was not into comedy, what other thing would he have tried his hands at? He tells us without taking a minute that, “If I was not into comedy, I would have been into comedy”. It draws a bout of laughter from all of us, but seriously, it just tells you that for him, no other option tickles his fancy, and with six digit pay checks for his services in Calabar, a place where people seldom spend big, you cannot fault him.
For those eyeing a walk along the path LAST PROPHET has choosen, he has this to say, “this thing is serious business and you must be spontaneous with your jokes to be able to make a headway”. For people to take you seriously, he continues, “you must push through your ideas, challenge yourself so that you can constantly be ahead of competition and finally, put God in the whole mix”, thoughtful, you will agree. At his last show, “Comedy Freestyle…Calabar Wanna Laff”, he showed clearly that he has become a packaged brand as he drew a large crowd that by all standards felt the vibes he dropped. A family at that particular show told us in very clear terms that, we need to watch out for this guy and indeed, we are.
Without a doubt!!!!
We are moving foward!
that is interesting