Being Successful Is Better Than Being Funny – Gbenga Adeyinka

Ace comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, who has been in the business of making people laugh for over two decades, has told Saturday Beats that at the early stage of his career, people often told him that he was not funny and such comment bothered him.

However, the humour expert revealed that he had a higher priority and this made him develop a thick skin against such comments.

He said, “I do not want to be funny, I want to be successful and there is no one that can say that I am not successful.

“May God not let me be funny and still be hungry. For me, I try my best and anytime I work, people that pay me laugh.

“Initially, when people told me that I was not funny, it used to bother me but it does not anymore as long as I work hard.

“I am faithful to my craft and people invite me for shows and the audience enjoy my performance. They are the people that I should be bothered about. I feel that everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

The ace comedian, who hardly posts pictures of his family on the social media or flaunts his wealth, seized the opportunity to give reasons why he desists from such actions.

He stated, “I grew up with my grandmother and one thing she always told me was that if your yam has sprouted, you use your hand to cover it.

“I believe that at a particular age, there are some things that you should do that are not phenomenal. For instance, at my age, I should have built a house and bought cars so why should I post such on social media? With God being on my side I should be successful at this stage.

“I do not want to abuse anyone but I feel that it is unnecessary to do such but some people call it packaging. I feel that the best thing to package is what matters to you and that is your career.

“People have also asked me why I do not flaunt my family on social media but I tell them that I celebrate my family when the needs arises.

“However, I was the one that decided to do show business. Why should I put them under undue pressure or make them a target for kidnappers.

“When I see some people post things on the social media, I get scared for them because I feel they do not know how delicate life is.

“One thing I do not do is condemn people for their action. You do not need to know that I have a car or money in my account. That is my philosophy and I am glad that it has worked for me.”

Adeyinka further revealed that if he was not into the comedy business, he would have probably been a teacher or footballer.

He added, “Comedy has always been a part of me and it has taken me beyond my wildest dream.

“My dream in life was to become a footballer or a teacher. Those were the two things that I loved to do.

“I also considered acting but stand-up comedy has blown my mind by taking me to places I never thought I would go or meet people I never thought I would meet.

“This, for me, is better than what I ever planned to do.”

Speaking about his forthcoming event, Laff Mattaz, the comedian said that the reason for taking the show outside Lagos nowadays was because he wanted to conquer new grounds.

“The reason I do my show outside Lagos is because of the need to conquer new grounds.

“I had the vision to develop stand-up comedy in the south-west about 10 years ago and that is what I have been pursuing.

“In nine years, we have been to Ibadan, Osogbo, Ilorin, Akure, etc. I live in Lagos and most of the paid shows I do are in Lagos but we are all different. Some of us want to leave a legacy when we are gone. What I am doing is to build a legacy when I am gone,” he said.