Ali Baba, widely regarded as the grandfather of comedy in Nigeria recently who turned 50 years old a few weeks ago, (click here if you missed it), recently talked about his successful career and mentioned that Nigerian comedians are richer than Nigerian actors.
He said:
“You wouldn’t believe but let me tell you. You shoot a movie, it takes 4 months for the movie to be released and they get paid. There is hardly an actor that charges N1 million or N2 million per movie unless you are in the top end of the hierarchy such as RMD, Genevieve, and Omotola. But then, there are comedians that charges N800, 000 or N1 million per event,” and added: “In four months, such comedian would have done maybe 30 events but because he doesn’t do a movie that is on cable TV that can be seen in Kenya, South Africa, and all across the country, people do not think he is making that kind of money.”
The veteran actor further explained that there are quite a number of Nigerian comedians whose wives do not have jobs but are still living very comfortably.
The Nigerian veteran comedian is also set to launch a newly packed comedy show tagged ‘Ali Baba INXX‘ meaning Ali Baba in Excess. The Nigeria king of comedy recently made this known to the public on his Instagram handle, writing:
“Told you to watch this space abi?… Its my late night show. Its live. And It’s loading so fast. #AliBabaInXX (Ali Baba in Excess)… 10:30-11:30pm… It will be worth the wait!”
Ali Baba INXX will be the second TV program the comedian will be hosting after his first attempt in the 90’s ‘Tom, Dick and Ali‘ failed to stand the test of time.