Secrets of the Streets
Twenty-Three Secrets for Making Money with Your Talent That You Will Never Learn in School
by
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Coming up back then, there was just about one surefire way to become a recognized stand-up comedian in West Africa, and that was performing on the biggest comedy stage at that time—a concert tagged the Night of a Thousand Laughs.
That feat, however, was easier said than done.
You had to scale an audition and grab one of the few rookie spots available every year.
Now, when you read that word audition, I bet you thought of the Simon Cowell, Nigel Lythgoe, Tyra Banks, American Idol type of thing, didn’t you?
Chortle, chortle. What a thought!
Auditions for the Night of a Thousand Laughs were held in a bar!
In the middle of the night, with your audience consisting of all the established members of the Nigerian entertainment industry!
The intriguing part, however, is that they would most likely be gone in the bottle by the time you were called to perform.
Drunk.
Inebriated.
Intoxicated.
High.
And belligerent with it!
It didn’t seem like an audition as much as it did an inquisition. It was as if an unspoken question hung in the air: how dare you assume that you are funny enough to be a comedian?
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About the Book
There was one surefire way to become a recognized stand-up comedian in West Africa back in the day, and that was performing on the biggest comedy stage—a concert tagged “Night of a Thousand Laughs.” That feat, however, was easier said than done. You had to grab one of the few rookie spots available every year—and that did not mean performing in front of Simon Cowell and his friends on American Idol. Auditions were held in a bar in the middle of the night with established members of the Nigerian entertainment industry. By the time you were called to perform, they were likely drunk or even high.
It didn’t seem like an audition as much as it did an inquisition. It was as if an unspoken question hung in the air: How dare you assume that you are funny enough to be a comedian?
In this book, Teju ‘Babyface’ Oyelakin shares how an unlikely fresh-faced newbie became one of Africa’s foremost stand-up comedians and most successful talk show hosts—as well as twenty-three secrets that anyone can use to make money with their talent and live out their dreams.
About the Author
Teju ‘Babyface’ Oyelakin, popularly called “The King of Talk,” is one of Africa’s most successful stand-up comedians and talk show hosts who pioneered the late-night talk genre in Nigeria with “The Teju Babyface Show.” A recipient of many awards, he was nominated as a United Nations Sustainable Developments Goal Ambassador for Nigeria in 2017. He is married to Oluwatobiloba, and they are blessed with twin children. He lives in Dallas USA.