Propaganda hindered inclusion of Ghanaian comedians on Night of Laugh shows – DKB

Talks by some big names in showbiz circles that Ghanaian comedians were not hilarious has been identified as the reason for which Ghanaian comedians were not featured on Charterhouse Production’s Night of Laughs shows, comedian DKB has said.

The Night of Laughs is the biggest platform for comedians in Ghana but organisers of the show have often fallen on Nigerian comedians to entertain the audience.

“What made it worse was the propaganda from heavy quarters that Ghanaian comedians were not funny. That was the reason why they were not putting us on the night of laughs. So, it was a huge propaganda against us and I had also returned from Big Brother with a scandal,” DKB told Natalia Andoh, host of ‘E on Class’ on Class 91.3FM.

The Ghanaian comedian, recounting the hardship he faced as a comedian after he had been sent home from the Big Brother Africa reality show for slapping a housemate, said organisers took advantage of his desperation to succeed in comedy but he turned his lemons into lemonade by dint of hard work.

“I kept working hard, I kept putting my head into any show, and people took advantage of me because they knew I needed the platform to let people know that I am a funny guy. I’m not violent, I am not aggressive, I don’t walk around slapping women. It was a mistake so they took advantage of me a lot of times, they promised to pay, but they didn’t pay but I was looking beyond that, I was looking at the situation where people watch me and they go home and say: ‘The guy was funny’. …It got to a time I said: ‘If they are not giving us a chance, I will create my own chance,’ so I got up, gathered my other comedians, and then we went on a campus tour called DKB Live Campus Tour,” he narrated.

DKB disclosed that organisers of the Night of Laughs, Charterhouse, heard about his successes through his campus tours and invited him to perform in the 2014 edition of the show, where he got his breakthrough.

Known as Derrick Kobina Bonney, DKB has become a household name in Ghanaian comedy. Recently, he successfully put together his first solo concert at the National Theatre in Accra called ‘Point of View’, where he was crowned 'King of Comedy' by Ghana's ace comedian, Kweku Sintim Misa (KSM).