Countdown to July 14 as Basket Mouth-headlined LOL, Last One Laughing Naija, shown to press in Lagos

*Show to be available via website, MTN-partnered mobile app – Wangi

*Prime Video strategy to push Nigerian comedy to global scene – Mitchell

*Why I am in the show – Basket Mouth

*As AliBaba gives number of registered comedian in Nigeria

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

At a press conference Thursday July 6, 2023, Nigeria’s king of comedy, Basket Mouth, was unveiled as host of Unscripted African Original, LOL, Last One Laughing Naija.

At the event, held in the gorgeous Jewel Aeida Conference Hall, Lekki, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, Prime Video, producer of the concept, showcased samples of capacity building that the entertainment sector of Nigerian economy has achieved.

This became obvious from the fact of holistic measure the concept owners have made by taking laughter business from local to the global scene in a way that places Nigerian comedy at par with what obtains in other climes and positions it for the expansion of its foreign exchange earning.

The DEFENDER had last Thursday reported Prime Video hinting the public about the coming entertainment work as the first of its kind to happen in Africa.

It was described as unique, unpredictable six-part series of unscripted comedy following the successful adaptation of Prime Video’s global smash-hit comedy franchise currently produced in over 20 countries and territories worldwide including Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa – hosted by Trevor Noah and launching early next year.

Featuring a stellar cast including Okey Bakassi, Acapella, Mr Funny aka Sabinus, KieKie, Buchi, Dat Warri Girl, Taaooma, Senator, IGoSave, and Gandoki, the series will see Basketmouth pit 10 of Nigeria’s best comedy and entertainment stars against one another in a celebrity showdown where anything can happen.

“Our audiences are going to love seeing a series full of incredible Nigerian humour and comedic talent with this A-List line up of comedians, who will test each other’s limits in the pursuit of laughter in LOL: Last One Laughing Naija,” Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, head of Nigerian Originals, Prime Video, said.

“We’re proud to be bringing Prime Video customers a genre most loved and consumed by Nigerian audiences around the world,” she added.

On his own, Ned Mitchell, head of African and Middle East Originals, Prime Video, had said, “LOL: Last One Laughing Naija is a global hit for Prime Video, and that’s why we’re excited to bring its very own version to customers in Nigeria.”

Speaking further, he stated: “As the first unscripted African Original to launch on Prime Video, LOL: Last One Laughing Naija continues to set the tone and standard of the authentic Nigerian stories and genres we want to share with our audiences at home and abroad, and our commitment to the local TV and film industry.”

The six-part series will follow the group of comedians as they compete to be the Last One Laughing. For six hours, there is only one rule: if you laugh, you lose. The last comedian to remain straight-faced will be the winner, and will be able to donate 40M NGN to a local charity of their choice. The top comedic line up will bring every comedy trick they have to make each other laugh while resisting the urge to laugh themselves.

The series is produced by Amazon Studios in collaboration with Nigeria’s LiveSpot360 Productions and will be available on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.

The six-part series will launch with two episodes streaming back-to-back each week over a three-week period from July 14-28. The series will be available on Dolby Atmos for customers with compatible setups for an enhanced viewing and audio experience.

It is the latest project from Amazon Prime Video following the success of projects like Gangs of Lagos and Brotherhood by Jáde Osiberu along with others like Breath of Life, King of Thieves; Hey, You! and Palava! as well as TV serials, Beyond the Veil and Grind.

During the Jewel Aeida hall interface with pressmen, hosted by AliBaba on Thursday, the organisers and producers of the LOL Naija gave what could best be describe as appetiser as in the tip of an iceberg from what the viewers should expect.

Marvelous to one of the participants, he screamed, “I cannot wait to see the whole of the comedy show. This is going to be real waoh! It is marvelous! It also gives more of national pride and I feel honoured to be Nigeria blgoing by content I have just seen.”

The Last One Laughing Naija will be officially launched for the public on July 14, 2023.

In it, Basket Mouth puts 10 talented comedians together to compete for prize of N40 million accruals to whoever among them emerges winner.

The prize award will, however, be on a condition that the N40 million won will be given out not to the winner but a charity organisation of his or her choice.

To this fast growing multilingual online newspaper, it has remained a big challenge whether or not winner of prize of that magnitude can be ready to let go without physically having a feel of what he or she laboured hard, talentedly, to earn.

All of those details are meant to be seen in the LOL, Last One Laughing Naija that will be released on July 14, which, by what Prime Video put on the table at Lekki on Thursday, comes with many promises.

The Head of Middle-East and Africa Originals, Prime Videos, Ned Mitchell, commented on the strategy of his company to push the Nigerian comedy into the outside world citing this as a good example, reiterating at the Lekki press conference on Thursday that the six-part series comedy show will not be pushed out at once but in two episodes.

Head of Nigeria Originals, Prime Video, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said the concept “is our first unscripted comedy show in Nigeria”.

While also noting that “There is no special way of showing that we are serious about business in Nigeria without comedy”, Wangi gave kudos to the casts for the quality package of ribs-cracking in manner that is unusual about to hit the entertainment space on said date.

Responding to questions from journalists as coordinated by AliBaba who gave disclosed that there are over 2,000 registered comedians in the country, the Head of Nigeria Originals, Prime Video talked about accessibility and cost implications of the coming comedy show to members of the public.

She reiterated that the unscripted African Original, LOL, Last One Laughing Naija will be launched on July 14 and that prospective viewers can begin to access it via a website that will be provided.

For further easier accessibility, Wangi said it will also be available on mobile App in partnership with MTN Nigeria.

Both accessibility essence, according to her, have cost implications of between N800 and N2,000 respectively.

Asked on why he agreed to host the unprecedented comedy concept that is unscripted, Basket Mouth said because it gives Nigerian comedy an edge on the global scene and makes him great as citizen of world’s most important black nation.

“Afrobeat broke into the global market but Nigerian comedy hasn’t
I see this as perfect way to make Nigerian comedy break into the global market and it makes me feel like Nigerian in the business,” Basket Mouth said, adding that, “I am happy to be part of it”.

The coming work is about a game in which casts, that is, very highly talented comedians are put together in one room and ignited to compete to make one another laugh, yet no one must laugh. Anyone who laughs faces eviction.

All the who, why, where and how questions remain enshrouded waiting for the viewers to see for themselves from July 14.