According to reports, Two things appear to be currently
happening to the career of comedian, Afamefuna
Igwemba, a.k.a Klint da Drunk, At a time when many comedians are flaunting jet-set
lifestyles and living large, the funny man appears somewhat quiet. Little
wonder, some of his fans felt if he had silently left the scene.
Secondly, a recent scandal involving the comedian and an
Abuja-based church that had contracted him to perform in one of its programmes
became an issue after he was accused of failing to show up.
He sat down with Punch
Nigeria to address the issues…see excerpts;
In the face of it all, Klint remains calm and unfazed. He
however says, “Everything that was
written about the incident is false and yes there was a show that was held that
I didn’t show up at all.”
The entertainer, admits he was invited to perform at a
church programme by one-time Nollywood actor-turned pastor, Larry Koldsweat. He says it was
scheduled to take place on March 23, 2014.
“Upon confirmation
that the event was to take place on April 23, I put it down in my calendar. My
initial arrangement was to arrive in Abuja a day before if I had no prior
engagement. But I was later called upon by another actor, Diewait Ikpechukwu, for a golfers event
holding in Owerri, Imo State, on March 22.
“I booked my flight to
Owerri for March 22, Owerri to Abuja on the morning of March 23 and then Abuja
back to Lagos on the 24. But the organisers texted me to come down to Abuja on
the 22nd promising to pay for my flight
and other exigencies. I told them I would try my best,” he explains.
Although he was unable to meet up with the event in Abuja on
the newly proposed date, Klint says, he
has since reached a resolution with the organisers.
“Contrary to reports
making the rounds that I was paid N250, 000, I was paid N200,000, and it was an upfront fee . All comedians can
attest that churches don’t pay that much but we do it for God, not church. I kept quiet because it is not
moral to fight a church.”
The IMT Enugu State,
Fine and Applied Arts graduate says he is not pleased with some remarks alleged
to have been made by his fellow comedians.
“Now they say I would
have gone far in my career if not for my love for computer games. It is this
same set of comedians that went around telling people that I live in Abuja so
that I will not be getting Lagos shows.
Noting that his continued relevance remains a threat to most
of his colleagues, Klint says he has chosen to focus on moving his career to
the next level.
On his relationship
with other comedians, he explains that he is open minded and a friend to
all. But he adds, “They have cliques but
that does not bother me because it doesn’t affect my career. God still chases
away flies for a tailless cow. So, I am not complaining.
“There are times when
things are slow and other times when
they are good. It is like that for all the so-called cliques because some times
they don’t even see shows. I love and
respect God to the extent that I put my career in His hands and He has not
disappointed me.”
After his musical prowess came to the fore when he sang the
hook on Mr Raw’s hit track, Obodo , some years back, the comedian says he still
intends to explore many options music-wise.
“I am proud to say I
was part of the pioneers singing in native languages. I will do something
musical soon but I don’t want to be compared to
all musicians. Though my material will be related to music I am not
coming to compete with Davido and Wizkid,’ he says laughing.
On the future of
comedy in Nigeria, the soft-spoken comedian has just one desire. “I wish we had more original comedians. Just
the way you have live band musicians who play the songs better than the original artistes themselves we also have
some comedians who tell other people’s jokes better than the owners themselves.
“
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