I’m proud to be
Nigeria’s only albino comedian – MC Lyte
By FEMI MACAULAY
Friday, February 29, 2008
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•Yellowman
Pix: Sun News Publishing |
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Whenever he takes the stage, people immediately notice from
his appearance that he is an unusual stand-up comedian. Benjamin
Denton Igbokei is an albino.
He jokingly calls himself “Yellow in Comedy”,
and claims to be one of a kind in the country. “I’m
the only albino stand-up comedian in Nigeria,” he boasts,
adding, “Many people see albinism as a stigma, but albinism
is uniqueness.”
He hails from Ogwashi- Uku, Delta State, and is based in Lagos.
“I’m over 40 but not as old as Methuselah,”
he jokes. Popularly known as MC-Lyte, Igbokei is also a singer,
actor and voice over artiste. He spoke with Daily Sun about
his experiences as an albino comic.
How I started
I got into showbiz when I was in school. I started with the
Root Reggae Club as a singer, then as an anchorman or master
of ceremonies at events such as beauty contests Mr Macho,
birthday parties, weddings and seminars. I later started doing
voice over and making radio jingles. I will confidently say
that I’m experienced in all areas of entertainment in
the showbiz world. But for now, I’m a comedian with
a wide sense of comedy. I serve humour with a difference.
As a comedian, I see myself as an Aspirin, I’m a pain
healer. I just found myself on stage doing comedy and people
appreciated my show. I’m a unique comedian, the only
albino in comedy. I’m not saying there are no other
albinos in entertainment, but. I’m the only albino doing
comedy for now.
Why I’m called MC-Lyte
The name MC-Lyte mirrors my complexion. I coined the name
myself and that is what I’ve been called since I entered
showbiz. There was a time I stood in front of a mirror in
the dark. To my surprise I could see myself clearly in the
mirror. Then, I just said to myself: I’m a source of
illumination, a source of light. And that was it. That’s
how I came about the name, and I became known by the stage
name MC-Lyte.
Challenges in showbiz
In the showbiz world, I have come across uncountable challenges
but I would rather talk about just two. I almost got intimidated.
First is the fear of competition among my contemporaries in
the industry. What I know I can do, I have to do and do it
better than others. That’s a very big challenge. As
a creative interactive comedian with a wide sense of humour,
I always try as much as possible to create my jokes, which
have to be different from jokes by other comedians. For instance,
many of my jokes are centred on my person and a few on my
audience. I kind of extract from what has happened to me in
real life and a little from the nature of my audience. My
biggest challenge as the only albino comedian is that clients
sometimes do look down on me just because of my complexion.
They see it as a stigma. No, damn it! To me, it’s uniqueness.
That’s the biggest challenge I face in the showbiz world.
That reminds me of one experience I had recently. My manager
got me a job to anchor a 40th birthday party organized for
a lady at Victoria Island. Of course, my manager, sealed the
deal on my behalf; the client paid my fees through my manager
unknown to the client and her husband that I’m an albino.
A few days to the event, the client called my manager to remind
me of the date, and to find out how good I am as an MC/ Comedian.
They got talking; at a point my manager blew it open to our
client that the MC is a creative interactive comedian. She
laughed and said no problem if the man is an albino; what
matters most is how good he is as an MC. Based on this discussion,
our client informed her husband who never liked it. He wondered:
“As an MC, you are the centre of attraction at any event.
How can an albino be the centre of attraction on my wife’s
birthday, considering the distinguished guests that are coming?
As a matter of fact, he was kind of taking me for what I look
like and not for what I’ve got in my most superb computer,
my brain. Or I would rather say he mistook my complexion for
my intelligence. That was an intimidating challenge but at
the end of the day, my client and her husband were highly
pleased with my unique sense of humour delivered in fluent
Queen’s English. To cut the short story, I held the
invited guests spell bound and my client rewarded me with
extra cash for a job well done. I have a very high self-esteem,
which greatly boosts my confidence.
Stage shyness?
I’m not stage-shy. People tend to wonder – what
is this person doing on stage? But when I give them my jokes,
they enjoy them. I don’t see albinism as a stigma. It’s
uniqueness. In fact, it gives me prestige being an albino.
Right from my school days, I’ve been doing shows. As
an MC, I’ve done stand-up comedy; I’ve been at
weddings, beauty contests, fashion shows. I was in entertainment,
singing, doing voice over back up for artistes and so on.
I don’t see myself as a shy person. In fact, being an
albino gives me the adrenaline to keep going. Normally, here
in Nigeria many people look at albinos as abnormal or disabled
persons who can’t do what others are doing. So, usually
when I get on stage, people look at me strangely. But when
I get talking, they find out that there is no dull moment
with me. At times, when you’re walking on the road,
people look at you as if being an albino is a curse or a disease.
But I’ve been able to face such challenges because I
see myself as a unique person. Take for instance, there was
a day I was coming back from a show and a policeman who asked
me to identify myself stopped me. I told him: “I’m
like a gold fish that has no hiding place. I’m an identity
on my own. The ratio is one albino to 10,000 black Nigerians.
I’m a unique person, someone who is above crime, who
cannot commit a crime, someone who has an everlasting immunity
from crime.” I think being an albino is a great advantage.
Godfathers
Some people have actually dominated the comedy business. I’ve
done shows with Julius Agwu. I was in Crack Your Ribs in Abuja
in 2005 and Muson Centre in Lagos. I did Crack Your Ribs advert
with Julius Agwu on Silverbird TV. I’ve done shows on
campuses- foe example, Most Beautiful Girl in Yabatech. But
there is politics in the business and you must have a godfather
in order to excel. I’ve been getting jobs but not the
big shows sponsored by the corporate bodies where I would
really like to perform. However, I believe there is a time
and season for everything.
Jokes
One night, I was taking a walk and the police stopped me.
They shouted: “Enter motor! Enter motor!” I replied,
“Oga, why I go enter motor now?” One of them looked
at me closely and recognized me as a familiar face in that
neighbourhood. Then he asked: “Why is it that you as
an albino, you’re always walking about at night? You
no dey sleep?” I replied, Oga, look, for afternoon sun
dey enter my eyes. Na only for night I dey see well. Na im
make me dey waka for night.” That’s how they let
me go.
Another joke: I was driving one night with one headlamp on
and the police stopped me. One of them asked me: “Why
are you driving with one headlamp on at night – don’t
you know it’s an offence?” I said, “Oga,
sorry o!” He said, “Can I have your driver’s
licence?” I gave him my driver’s licence.
He then found out that there was no photo in it. He asked
why I didn’t have my photo in my driver’s licence.
He said, “Don’t you know it’s an offence?
He then gave me a three-count charge: Driving a car at night
with one headlamp, using a driver’s licence without
photo and driving a car without an inner light.
I replied: “ Oga, I don’t even need to drive at
night with headlamp – na for night I dey see well. Talking
about inner light of my car, I’m the inner light of
this car – abi you no see me well without inner light?
On the issue of using a driver’s licence without photo,
any time I take photograph I appear negative. Most of my jokes
are built around my person, although at times, I pick my jokes
from my audience. The event determines the type of jokes I
crack. |
