Award-winning entertainer Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, talks about starting a career in comedy, football and more, in this interview with Peter Akinbo

What was your first love, music or comedy?

My first love was music, you know, because at that time I didn’t really know what stand-up comedy was. I was just considered a funny chap in primary and secondary school, but at that time, I already picked up an interest in music. I was already trying to write down rap music and songs. It was in the process of performing on stage that I displayed my comedy acts, as if it were my second attempt on stage. I went there as a musician, which was on the Ekenwan campus of the University of Benin. I had finished performing, and the MC, a comedian, was doing a terrible job; all his jokes were not landing at all, people were getting upset and backstage, I knew I could do it. So, I told Dotun, who is still my manager now, that I could do this thing better. I begged the promoter to let me do jokes, that he would like it, he would even prefer it to what he has. And the guy had nothing to lose, so he agreed, and they called me up on stage. My name wasn’t Basketmouth then, my name was Bright, and when I came back up to the stage, people were like, ‘Was it not this guy that just finished rapping?’ And they started teasing me, and boom, I exploded, and that performance was one of my defining moments, but then I still wasn’t taking it seriously.

So what made you take it seriously?

One of the things that actually made me jump into comedy was after we did another music performance, and the crowd booed us. I told the group members to leave, and I battled the crowd for about 30 minutes with comedy; both the MC and the show promoter didn’t want it to end, and they were enjoying it. So, that was when I got the name ‘Basketmouth.’ One of the guys just called me that, and that’s how I got the name. That was when I started thinking about doing stand-up comedy, but one thing that made me do it, apart from the fact that I was good at it, was seeing Ali Baba perform. Someone bought me a ticket, I think the ticket was N50 back then, and I went to watch Ali Baba. And I was watching him, and I was like, ‘I can do this thing now’, I can do it on a professional level. So, what I did was, after Ali left, he mentioned on stage that he was going to come back the next year. So, I was like, ‘Bright, work your way to the point where they will call you to get on this show.’ The next week, I started pitching shows, I stopped pitching for music, and started pitching for comedy, and that’s how I worked my way up. I was doing departmental concerts, dinners, parties and all that stuff. So, I became a household name at the university. All I was waiting for was that call, and a month before the show, there were no phones then, someone came to me, and said, ‘Look, someone is looking for you, that show, they want you. They came to the department to look for you, because they want you to be on that show.’ And that was how I got my first proper performance as Basketmouth, so I made sure I performed right before Ali Baba so he could see me. And when I got back, he gave me an ovation, which was when I knew that I was good at this because Ali was considered the king. So, for someone like that to give you an ovation, you know you are killing it, and he gave me his card. That’s how it happened. That’s the story.

Were you involved in sports when you were younger?

Yeah, I played football in school. I wasn’t the best; I think I could play. I wasn’t a striker, I was doing more of defence, maybe because I hate the idea of running around the field, so I was more in defence. But I think I scored a couple of goals in my football days. Yeah, it was football and eventually, karate. I did karate for about five years.

So, did you ever consider a career in sports?

No, not at all. I was just doing it. Back then, football, I don’t know if that’s the way it is right now, was something that you just did on the streets. That’s why you see most kids of the 80s and the 90s backwards, they were very strong, always running around, playing around and all that. But most kids now are not playing, you know.

And what do you think about that?

It’s unfortunate because back then, when I was growing up, kids played, because based on health as well, kids should have a certain exposure in terms of the sun and all that, play around, keep the body fit. We did that, we used to play almost every day after school, but right now, people are not playing. The sports they do now are probably on PS5; they’re all sitting down, watching all these big screens, and that’s why you see a lot of kids now wearing glasses at the age of five. Back then, it was one out of 50 kids who used to wear glasses. So, we have now limited a lot of people from active sports or active play. It happened to me too, I am also a part of it, I bought my kids iPads. Also, people consider safety as well. Back then, your neighbours, everybody, they used to say, ‘it is the community that trains children.’ But right now, everybody is so locked in, you don’t even know your neighbour.

Your son is training in football in England. Are you going to convince him to come to the Super Eagles when he becomes a top player?

Of course, I’ll support him to play for our national team. I’m a patriotic Nigerian, and I’ll encourage it. I know a lot of people who are out of Nigeria who are representing us in various sectors. It’s amazing to see our people going out to flourish outside the country, but it’s also important that we also come back and build the nation itself, because we are all just going out and working in this space. So, I’m praying, first of all, that the government do more in terms of creating the right environment, so that our talented Nigerians can represent us instead of going out to represent other countries. But definitely, by the grace of God, when my son gets to that point, I will support him to come back to the Nigerian team.

What is your favourite sport?

I like boxing, I like football too, but not as much as I like boxing and kickboxing.

Who is your favourite between Anthony Joshua, Israel Adesanya, and Kamaru Usman?

I will pick Israel, and I like him because of his drive and confidence. I like his story. I love the fact that he goes down, but he doesn’t back down; he doesn’t just stay down. He just comes back up and fights and gets back, so it’s the drive for me. Now, for Usman, that’s my guy. I love his strength, and I love his determination as well. So, I’ll say my favourites are Usman and Adesanya. I’m a big fan of Anthony, too. I love what he’s doing, I love his style, and I actually watch his fights. The recent fights are definitely different from the previous ones, but he’s still one of the greatest fighters regardless.

With the talents in the Eagles’ attack now, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and others, do you think the team can win the AFCON and the World Cup?

I actually think so. It’s been a while; there was a decline at some point. And after the Africa Cup of Nations we won in 2013, there was a big decline, and sometimes it’s not just about the players, it’s about how well you guys do together, how often you train together. You can’t just assemble players from different areas, different leagues, different clubs, different regions and expect them to go and win against people that have been training together for years. So, if they can assemble these guys and get them to start training together early enough, they will develop an understanding. If you look at football, it’s about the passes, the timing, and I think that was what we missed in terms of the game. If you watch the Brazilian team, it’s like you’re listening to music; it’s so interesting to watch. Our guys are that skilful as well. I think we have some of the best players in the world, but we don’t just utilise them well enough. I believe that if the players are selfless enough to ignore any kind of condition they find themselves in and just go for the win, they can win the AFCON and the World Cup, both of them. Trust me, my own is practice, our boys are good, but they don’t play often together as a team. We have beautiful players, but we don’t have a team. You can have the 11 best players in the world, but if they don’t train together, and you put them together, they will lose. If you look at our players, the time of Sunday Oliseh, when we won the Olympics in 1996. Those guys were the team, the dream team, that was the team, we need a team like that again, that’s all we need. And once we get a team, we will win, and the best part is they have the support, Nigeria has the support. With the excitement, the energy, and the support, we will win. (PUNCH)

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