By
Bernard Yaw ASHIADEY
When a song is remixed it is expected
to be better than the original; when a movie has a sequel it is expected to be
better than the first so when a show is being reloaded and extended obviously
it has more interesting features in store for the audience.
That’s precisely what the undisputed
King of Comedy, Kweku Sintim-Misa (KSM) is bringing onto the stage of the
National Theatre on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.
On the day of love at exactly 8pm
lovers of good satirical comedy with GHC50 for regular and GHC80 for VIP would
gather to witness yet again another hilarious delivery of more secrets of
Ghana’s uniquely created girls.
The King would once again be on stage,
this time, for a longer time with more acts and musicians that include Lady
Jay, Hash Olla, Poetra, Chief Moomen and Nelson.
Who knows, maybe the former UN
Secretary General, Kofi Annan, would do the Azonto as did UT Group Chair, Kofi
Amoabeng on Christmas day last year.
KSM in a response to why he is
reloading the same event said, “for the first in a very long time when the show
ended everybody was seated. I think they enjoyed it tremendously and the
general feeling was that it was a bit short. The show lasted for a 60 minutes
so I had the feeling that there was the craving for more.”
That craving for more has made the
legend reload it with more artists and surprises lined up. “This time round I
decided to reload it and add more jokes and a few more surprises and what
better time to do it than on Valentine’s Day. It is going to be much longer, a
bit more interactive and more secrets will be revealed!”
The 56-year-old father of five,
believes that comedy is not just about telling a joke for people to laugh but its
ability to communicate is vital. He says his style of comedy is not the stand
up where one comes on stage to crack jokes but he takes up a theme and develops
content for it thereby making it have a beginning, body and conclusion.
He uses his satire to entertain and
educate his audience. He believes he has made an impact on society. People go
to his shows to laugh but at the end of the day walk away with a message.
That is what he has been doing over
the years from Ghana to the USA and back. The host of the popular, Thank God
Its Friday (TGIF) entered the showbiz industry as far back as 1976 with a one
man show titled “Mellow Madness” where he played five different characters on
stage. He remarked that it was that show that attracted renowned playwright,
Uncle Ebo Whyte to start drama.
Since then, he has done so many other
one-man shows that include the Saga of the Returnee (13 times) Politically
Incorrect, Castle or Suicide, Zero Tolerance, The Trial of Jesus Christ,
Colonial Independence, Take Cover, Afia Siriboe and the Secret of GH Girls.
The man made Ghana proud when as far
back as in 1994, he did a show at the Mesa Theatre in the US. The show
“Thoughts Of A Confused Blackman” run off Broadway for a month thereby making
him the first African to do an original play off Broadway in the US.
The uniqueness about KSM’s
performances lies in his ability to get people to laugh at themselves. One
person who has always borne the brunt of his jokes has been ex -President Jerry
Rawlings, who continues to go for more, never missing his front row seat at any
show and more often than not contributing one or two anecdotes.
Touching on the comedy landscape
generally, he noted that the industry in this country is nothing to write home
about. According to him, there are very talented comedians in Ghana but they
still need to develop their craft in order to be recognized for their works.
“Comedy in this country is below
average but that is not to say there aren’t good comedians in this country but
as an industry it is below average
“Comedians in Ghana are very talented
but most of them have not developed their craft. It is a different thing having
the talent and another learning the craft. We have talented comedians who have
not taken enough pain to learn the craft of comedy. Should these same comedians
learn the craft, they will be doing amazing things.”
To really help the industry attain its
deserved status, KSM is planning to bring out a show dubbed “Wanna Own” which
will feature only Ghanaian comedians. This, he believes would fuel the interest
of investors to invest and expand the industry which will then create a strong
and vibrant union to support industry members.
He added that the Nigerian comedians
are overrated in this country even though they have a better understanding of
the craft. “The Nigerians are over rated in this country, yes, they have a
better understanding of the craft but they very over rated. For me telling
jokes is different from comedy and the Nigerians just come and tell jokes.”
Married to Mavis Sintim-Misa, the US
trained dramatist and film maker has performed extensively in the UK, USA and
Canada. His shows are captivating and he has the ability to capture and sustain
the interest of long periods.
Although KSM did not have any formal
training in journalism, particularly in radio, he has been able to break
through and can be reckoned among the best radio presenters in the country.
He is very satisfied with his output
because the youth see in him an inspirer and invite him to their youth meetings
and church activities to talk and counsel them.
Besides, KSM is also the Chief
Executive of Sapphire Ghana Limited and develops series for television. He is
the brain behind Build Your Ark, which showed on GTV and Metro TV with support
from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and Ogya Fm an
advocacy platform that is currently running on Metro TV.
He added that Sapphire will be coming
out with a movie this year after the release of ‘Double.’
