In this article, I am going to give you the basic tips on how to start a comedy skit in Nigeria, and I hope you read it to the end to discover the strategy that works which am giving out to you for free.
There is no denying the fact that the comedy section of the Nigerian entertainment industry has grown so rapidly over the years.
Unlike the days of AY Comedian, I go dye, etc when stand-up comedy was the only means of becoming wealthy as a comedian, today the online community, especially social media platforms has created an avenue for comedians to become very popular and wealthy.
If you are wondering how skit makers in Nigeria are making so much money, then you are not conversant in the fact that monetization and endorsements are the answer.
And all you require to become like one of these kinds is to implement the steps I am going to show you in this article.
How to start a comedy skit in Nigeria.
To start a comedy skit in Nigeria, you have to follow the following steps:
- Make sure you have the talent.
- Develop your skills and rehearse a lot.
- Choose a stage name and signature word.
- Have a theme for your comedy career.
- Write your comedy scripts.
- Record your personal and unique soundtrack.
- Get a costume.
- Purchase or rent video equipment.
- Shoot, edit, and upload your comedy skits.
- Promote your comedy skits.
- Collaborate with other comedians.
- Optimize and monetize your social media accounts.
1. Make sure you have the talent.
The very first step you have to take to start making comedy skits in Nigeria is to ensure and confirm you have the talent.
One of the ways to do this is to enroll for a talent hunt competition or perform in stand-up comedies and observe how the audience reacts when you perform.
If it’s a talent hunt show, listen to what the judges say and use that as a means of confirming that you are good to go in skit-making or not.
2. Develop your skills and rehearse a lot.
So many people usually think talent and skill are the same things, and if you are one of those I want you to understand that talent and skills are not the same thing in any way.
Talent is the natural capability of doing something while skill is learned and acquired through much training and practice.
But this does not mean that someone who is talented does not need a skill. In fact, a talented person needs skill much more than one who is not.
And this is what we often refer to as talent development or simply call it to develop of your skill.
But regardless of whether you have the talent or the skill, you have to learn how to act.
One of the things you can do to develop your skills is by enrolling in a local film school or joining a comic theater in Nigeria.
Or if you are close to a comedian who is already at the peak of his career, you can beg him to help you acquire the skills that will make people like your comedies.
3. Choose a stage name and signature word.
As a potential skit maker who wants to become very popular and make so much money by making comedy skits, you need to have a unique name that will help people identify you in the crowd.
Be mindful of the fact that people are going to know you by your stage name throughout your whole comedy career, and for that reason, you must choose a name that is very short and easy for people to pronounce.
Think of the big comedy names in Nigeria like Mark Angel comedy, Broda Shaggi, Brain Jotter, Sabinus, Taooma, Mr. Macaroni, etc.
All these names are very short and easy for people to pronounce and as such made it easy for them to become a household names.
Another name you also have to choose for yourself is what I always refer to as a significant word or word.
The reason you have to choose this signature word is that sometimes your name might not be easy for people to easily recognize but the signature word will fill that gap.
For instance, so many people simply know OGB Recent as ‘cultists’ or ‘you wan collect’.
Oga Sabinus usually says ” how is the family” anytime he will run into trouble in his comedy skits.
4. Have a theme for your comedy career.
Having a theme for your comedy career will help you to easily stand out from the crowd.
For example, OGB Recent said that he began his comedy career acting like a pastor and people did not pay attention to him until he came out with the cultist mentality.
Now everywhere people recognize him as a cultist, and that in essence is the theme of his comedy skits.
In all his skits, Sabinus always foolishly drives himself back to trouble even when there is always a chance for him to escape.
Plus he always portrays himself as having a longer throat in most of his comedy skits.
So think of a theme you are going to give your comedy career and wrap all your stories around that theme.
5. Write your comedy scripts.
One of the tips I always love to give comedians is that they must have their first 48 comedy skits written down before they ever kick up their careers.
The reason I always like to give this advice is that the 48 skits is going to take you for a year if you are dropping the usual 1 comedy per week.
And within that 1 year, the experience and exposure you get will help you to write more comedy scripts.
It is very erroneous to start your comedy career with just 1 or 5 comedy skits and soon as your career begins you are already running short of stories.
6. Record your personal and unique soundtrack.
As a way of helping people wherever they are to recognize that people are watching your comedy, you need to have a soundtrack for all your comedy skits.
Another advantage of having a soundtrack for your comedy skits is that it is going to help you escape copyright issues when you try to use other people’s songs.
So to record your personal and unique soundtrack, you can negotiate with a musician to help you do the composition and recording if you don’t have the talent.
But if you are talented like OGB Recent, you can go ahead and compose as well as record a soundtrack for your comedy skit.
7. Wear one costume in all your comedy skits.
When you observe all the comedians in Nigeria today, you will observe that they all wear one costume in all their comedy skits.
Some of them like “Funny Bros” also hang a tattered ghana must-go bag, wears football boot, and uses a horn.
The one-costume mentality is also a means of making you as a comedian stand out from the crowd.
8. Purchase or rent video equipment.
Mark Angel in an interview made it known that he began their comedy skits with a phone.
But in today’s society, you will need an high-grade iPhone in order to have a clear picture quality that will not make your video blurry.
So if you have no money for iPhone, you can purchase or rent video equipment that will enable you to shoot your comedy skits.
Below are the most important video equipment you will need when making a comedy skit
- Video camera: Canon 60D or its equivalent DSLR will help you to get high-quality video clips.
- Video light: you are only going to need this if you are shooting indoors or filming a night scene.
- Microphones: If you cannot afford a microphone, you can shoot and avoid the wind and later use sound effects to clean up the audio in post-production.
- Tripod stand or gimbal; do not hold the camera to avoid shaky video clips.
9. Shoot, edit, and upload your comedy skits.
Once you have all the things mentioned above set, it is time to shoot, edit and upload your comedy skits on all your social media platforms.
This will include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.
10. Promote your comedy skits.
Don’t just upload your comedy skits and relax expecting people to find and watch them just like that, especially if you do not have enough followers on your social media accounts.
You need to push your comedy skis out there for people to see and watch it. And you can only do so by promoting your comedy skits.
Read the article below and learn how to promote your comedy skits in Nigeria.
How To Promote Comedy Skits In Nigeria.
11. Collaborate with other comedians.
Another very important thing you must do is partner and feature other comedians and even Nollywood actors in Nigeria.
Collaborating with those who are already established will help you tap into their fanbase and in the end, gain a whole lot of exposure.
12. Optimize and monetize your social media accounts.
This is the most important aspect of starting a comedy skit in Nigeria.
There are several ways of making money as a skit maker in Nigeria and some of them are:
- Monetizing your social media accounts.
- Sponsored content or influencer marketing.
- Brand endorsements.
