OPINION: Ghanaian comedians are missing on social media

Anytime issues about GHComedy comes up, I become so passionate because I love people who make others laugh just as I love to make people laugh and I have said it time and again that stand–up comedy in Ghana has not been given the shot and has most times been trenchantly criticized for failing to live up to the billing.

Well, enough has been said about how we can make stand–up comedy in Ghana better but there is one issue that has not been touched on yet.

Social media have become so powerful in our times that any artist can just create and promote their brands there and would soon skyrocket into the limelight.

Comic actor Kalybos started on social media and today, he's a hot cake. He is at the noon of his career. I have been monitoring and observing Ghanaian comedians on social media, and the truth is that most of them don't portray their brands at all.

I expect that as a comedian, things you post, how you couch your statements, how you tackle topical issues and even how you respond to people's comments evinces the 'comedian' in you.

I am not saying they should share all their comedy materials on social media but at least if you are a comedian, even a word from you can make people know what you're worth.

There are some of these comedians who for even a month and over have posted nothing on their walls. And I ask myself: “do they know the power of social media?”

Others also just post videos and pictures of shows they have held before, which is not bad though. It is all part of the promotion, but my worry is their inability or unwillingness to on the spur of the moment, interact in humorous or comic manner with their fans on Facebook.

It even gets annoying when some of them instead of proving their salt on social media, go about insulting people who disagree with them on certain issues. It baffles me because if people say you are not funny, you prove it with 'the comedian' in you wherever you find yourself.

People get to know I am a writer and a radio presenter just by the kind of posts that I put on my Facebook and twitter pages. Because I trade in radio and writing, I almost always write about them. You don't necessarily need to see my profile information to know what I do.

Just by observing my posts, you get to know what I represent.

Apart from sports, I am a keen follower and critic of other fields of human living but I seldom write anything outside my territory but rather limit myself to my radio, newspaper and entertainment stuffs.

I always say that Derrick Kobina Bonney aka DKB, who is one of the best comedians in Ghana today, didn't sell his brand as a comedian well when he once represented Ghana at the Big Brother Africa contest.

If he had lived as a comedian in the house, he could have had some great deals after he had left the show. Instead, he went about slapping Zainab and became notoriously noted for that.

To me, in whatever you do; try to utilize any available platform and opportunity to project your brand. If you are a comedian and you only look 'comedian' on stage, no one would kill you but you might not be doing your brand any good.

The showbiz industry has become very competitive, and if one wants to excel in whichever field of the showbiz industry in which they are, they should not despise any platform. Let people feel your brand and presence wherever you find yourself.

Ghanaian comedy, by God's grace, is growing steadily and by dint of hard work and support-for–our–own, we shall get there but not until some of these petty mistakes are corrected.