In comedy, content is key – Ukododeta

Ukododeta Oghenenyerhovwo Maxwell, is a student of Biological Sciences at the University of Abuja. The Delta stand-up comedian who was the 2019 winner of the Ali Baba Spontaneity contest, speaks about his love for entertainment and making a name for himself in the industry. Weekend Magazine: What informed your choice to go into comedy and […]

Ukododeta Oghenenyerhovwo Maxwell, is a student of Biological Sciences at the University of Abuja. The Delta stand-up comedian who was the 2019 winner of the Ali Baba Spontaneity contest, speaks about his love for entertainment and making a name for himself in the industry.

Weekend Magazine: What informed your choice to go into comedy and how long have you been in it?

Ukododeta Oghenenyerhovwo Maxwell: Comedy just started for me. I noticed while I was in secondary school that I was always the funniest in my class and people were scared of me because of my bad mouth (laughs). In JSS 2, I remember a classmate of mine, paid me 200 naira to crack jokes at her birthday party. You need to see that performance. Me when dem dey give 50 naira per [sic] day to go school and someone was giving me 200 naira to crack jokes. I performed with power, energy and focus. However, I didn’t have any joke of my own then, because I it was play for me and I also didn’t see myself doing comedy then. It was not until I got to senior secondary school and then switched schools. As a science student, I joined PLADDS club which was supposed to be for Art students and was the only science student there. I joined PLADDS because it was fun. I could crack jokes and people would come to watch me perform. That was how comedy started for me. I noticed it flowed naturally.

Even when I was cracking people’s jokes, I usually got commendation from the audience. People saw something in me and they always knew something was in there. The Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists, JETS club, meant for science students, was boring. I remain thankful to all those people who walked up to me to commend me because they spurred me on, without knowing. Professionally, I’ve been doing comedy for six years now.

WM: Who do you look up to as a role model in the industry?

Maxwell: A host of them like Alibaba, Bovi, Basketmouth and Eddie Griffin.

WM: There are many good comedians out there; what makes you unique?

Maxwell: I am unique because I am original and I have my own style. I am calm and relaxed when performing and most of my jokes come from abstract thoughts. I love to think out of the box and create content that people have never thought of.

WM: How did you come about your own style of comedy?

Maxwell: To be sincere Spontaneity brought about this calmness in my style of performing because in the auditions phase, I realized content is what matters not shouting without dropping funny liners.

WM: You are the winner of the Ali Baba’s Spontaneity Contest, 2019. Please share with us, your experience.

Maxwell: I’ve been going to Spontaneity since its inception in 2015, I’m an alumni (laughs). Back then in Warri I always wanted to be big, to be the best and the only way I thought that was possible was winning a comedy competition like AY’s Open Mic but unfortunately for me it wasn’t happening again. So as soon as I heard about Spontaneity – because I make research on comedy a lot – I travelled to Lagos for the auditions. I didn’t scale through the first round of the auditions the first time. I went again and made it to the finals but I didn’t win that year, Dee One was the winner of that edition. I went the next year and the year after and all these while I was using my money to run these movements and sometimes I would borrow from my siblings or my mom. There was a time my mama (Mrs. Ejiroghene) even gave me transport to go to Spontaneity because I didn’t have money that period. I put a lot of effort, time and money into Spontaneity, contesting for four years. When I relocated to Abuja I was even using flight sometimes and I would miss events where I’m supposed to make money sometimes. But in the end God was faithful. I finally won the contest in the 2019 edition.

WM: Have you won any competition before this one?

Maxwell: Yes, I won best comedian at the Abuja Comedy Fiesta in 2017, at Cowbell Campus Invasion (comedy category) and Abuja Clean Jokes Championship in 2018.

WM: What has been the greatest moment of your career?

Maxwell: Winning the Spontaneity contest has been the greatest moment of my career.

WM: How will you describe your journey so far?

Maxwell: I have been truly blessed and God’s grace has been evident. I can say so far, the journey has not been very smooth but, you can’t deny the growth. I’ve grown a lot.

WM: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Maxwell: In the next five years I see myself as the most popular comedian in Africa and exporting my brand to the world. I see myself at the very top of the comedy food chain, doing specials and selling out shows, singlehandedly.

WM: What are the challenges you face in your line of work, if any, and what has been the most challenging?

Maxwell: Getting to survive solely on comedy is a challenge because you rely on events mostly emceeing events to survive. So, there would definitely be times when the events won’t come frequently. Such times are very challenging. Then there are also times when you would face difficult audiences or situations, that tend to show you that you’re not there yet!

WM: Many comedians nowadays have their own show; do you have plans to organize yours?

Maxwell: Yes. A a matter of fact, I have my personal show entitled ‘Ukodo like never before’ and I have successfully organized two editions. The third edition will held on May 30th 2019 in Abuja.

WM: What else do you do asides comedy?

Maxwell: I do comedy full time although I’m also a student of University of Abuja studying and I’m currently in my final year.

WM: If not comedy, what would you be doing?

Maxwell: Comedy!