Comedy rescued me from poverty - Seyi Law

 Celebrated stand up comedian Oluwaseyitan Aletile famously known as Seyi Law is currently enjoying the fruits of his creativity after years of battling poverty courtesy of his very humble background.

In this interview monitored by SHOWBIZPLUSng, the humour merchant passionately shares his grass to grace story and how comedy opened doors of opportunities for him and eventually rescued him from abject poverty.

What are you real names?

My real names are Oluwaseyitan Aletile Lawrence. I am a man with so many names. I’m from Ondo State.

How has life been as a comedian? 

 It’s been great so far and wonderful. Being in the comedy industry has been one of the greatest blessings that God has bestowed on me and one of the biggest things that He has done for me. I never had it in mind that I was going to be a comedian but then when comedy came, it was an escape route out of what you can call poverty. It has worked well for me over the years. I have every reason to be grateful to God.

How long have you been in the comedy industry? 

 This September made it seven years that I turned a professionally comedian.

What are the things you can say you have achieved through comedy?

 Comedy has really helped me in several ways. It has been able to help me reach out to and help people. It was an escape route out of poverty like I said before. Comedy has been of help to me and my entire family. The kind poverty wey do me go kill two people. By now, one go done die, the other one go dey collect blood from hospital.

How do you get inspirations for your jokes?

 I think one of the things that inspired me in my comedy routine is reality. I’ve stayed in places where I’ve seen different things happen. I’ve been able to turn them into comic reliefs and I think, one thing that will not fade in comedy is reality. We all know that when Seyi Law talks about something you can easily relate that to something that has happened to somebody somewhere, and you can hear somebody say, “this type of thing don do me before ooh, and then it brings back memories. So, I think that is one of the things that has really helped me in this industry. Above all, the greatest source of inspiration that I always tell people is God because God has really used challenging environments to help me.

As a comedian, how often do you repeat jokes?                                                                                                                        There is no comedian that doesn’t repeat jokes, they can only tell it in another form, but the truth is that there is no comedian in the world that doesn’t repeat jokes. I think we should let people know that aspect. But at the same time, your ability to tell an old joke in a new or different way entirely also matters and then, we all have our different uniqueness. Some people are able to script their jokes and write it down as inspiration comes and then, some people are just able to flow with the moment, you know. I’m not one of those who have the ability to sit down and start writing out my jokes but then, I even discovered that sometimes when I try to be so prepared for a show, I get all messed up on stage but then, when I let it flow the way it’s coming it just flows naturally.

Have you ever been embarrassed on stage?

Yes, I have, but I was able to rescue myself and that was a long time in 2007. When I was invited to do comedy for some clients, it was just a table with few people in a club the people were just sitting there and they wanted me to entertain them. It became a problem for me. I’ve never seen such situation before and it was strange to me. So, I couldn’t really do anything and I was very embarrassed and I think another one that happened was in 2008. I returned to Nigeria after two years abroad, it was Asa live in Lagos. I came out on stage, this wasn’t about having the right committing routine but because the audience was full of people, when I came out they saw me as somebody who wasn’t up to the level of what they were expecting. I came on stage and was trying to crack a joke and I could hear them mock me because I was very close to the audience. I could hear some of them saying “who is this?, where is Alibaba? Where is Basketmouth? Is this what we paid N15,000 to come and watch?”, you know, and, they were saying it, I could hear people murmuring and complaining, so that affected my personality immediately when I was on stage. I couldn’t really crack jokes and all that. I tried the funniest of my jokes and it failed but I went backstage. I came out again and some of those people who were complaining, laughed and fell on the floor, some of them were on the floor, people were laughing and I remember I was on for another 45 minutes and people were laughing. At a point, when I was on stage, cracking and people were laughing, I said “I think say una no wan laugh before”, and then that got people laughing again.

You’ve been married for three years now, how has it been?

It’s been as fun as it gets. It has been three years of awesome experience with my wife, my best friend, my supporter and a blessing to my life and my career too. I think, when you’re married to a woman who’s so liberal and so open-hearted, it goes a long way to help you as an individual. My wife has been such a wonderful person and I can’t thank her enough.

How did you meet her?

 Yeah, you know, the good thing about meeting my wife is the fact that, I met her right at the point of starting my professional career. I told myself in 2007 September precisely, that I’m going to do comedy as a profession, that I’m going to be a professional comedian. My first professional performance was at Global Impact show. That was the same day that I met her, September 30^th 2007 and that story is what you’re seeing today.

I’ve tried to make it as flowing as it comes. One of the greatest things that I thought of in this marriage was the fact that we were able to attend marriage counselling classes before we got married and then, understanding some of the things that were taught. It is easy for us to understand that we could withstand the storm. Something in one of the classes that I really admire a lot was, “the triangle in marriage; when you have communication between husband and wife, and both of them communicating to God that is a triangle.

How difficult was it for you trying to convince her family since you’re not an Igbo man?

It was God; I could tell you that the only person that wanted to object was her mum. Then she was like, “Yoruba, are you sure?”, but after she met me, the comedy in me won her heart.

If you were not into comedy, what else would you have been doing?

 If it was not comedy for me, I would probably be a medical doctor. I tell you the truth, as much as I’m trying to, that’s why I’m taking a course on health and safety.

So you’d probably ended up as a medical doctor?

If the opportunity presents itself, you know, I love human interactions. Anything that touches human life is very important to me.

Aside comedy, what else do you do?

I have a club we run. We just try to invest in our own little small things.

Do you go there to perform too?

 I go there once in a while to perform but the club business is absolutely far from doing comedy

What are the challenges you’ve faced as a comedian?

The truth is, until you attain the life popularity that you want to attain. It’s still a big challenge and it’s always a challenge for somebody like me to walk the whole of Lagos and people won’t recognise him.

Hasn’t that happened?

I’ve walked in some places and people didn’t recognise me.

 It happens, there are still some places I walk to and people don’t recognize me, and that is to tell me that I have a whole lot to do. So we’re still fasting, we want to get there. Recognition is something that comes with entertainment. If you’re not recognised, that means you still have to work hard.

Has fame denied you of anything?

 For me, nothing. Seyi Law still goes to buy something from public places, ‘nothing concerns me’. I like to buy Amala. I remember there was a time I drove to the neighbourhood where I grew up to buy Amala, the woman didn’t even remember me, I started telling her stories. I always want to remember where I’m coming from and I just love my life to be as clear as possible.

How do you manage your female fans?

My wife once told me that I give too much room to my female fans not because I want to give them too much room, but because, I understand the entertainment business, you can’t do away with ladies. I tell you, if a show has 100 people, and out of the 100 people, you have 50 men, 50 ladies, trust me, 40 of those men are there at that show because a lady convinced them to come so, you can’t run away from those ladies.

One of the basic principles that I use in managing my female fans is understanding. If you bring your enemies close, they become your friends.