7th July, 2023
By Mateen Badru
Prime Video unveiled Nigerian comedian, Bright Okpocha also known as Basket Mouth, as the host of unscripted African Original ‘LOL’ (Last One Laughing Naija).
Mr Ned Mitchell, Head of Originals, Africa and Middle East, Prime Video, disclosed on Friday during a news conference.
According to him, the platform would keep collaborating with Nigerian comedians to maximise talents in the industry.
He said that the platform was committed to helping comedians in Nigeria to realise their goals and vision.
“It is a big deal for comedy especially in Nigeria and we wanted to bring it in ways that people have never seen before as it is about authenticity and its uniqueness.
“We are working with various people behind the scenes so that our customers would know that prime video is the place to get local and international contents.
“We are building and expanding our coast to different parts of Africa and this will also serve as a form of empowerment as different indigenous people will be involved in the production of various contents,” he said.
Mitchell who said that the show was shot and produced in Lagos, noted that the company was committed in encouraging local productions.
“We did everything in Lagos as Livespot production handled the entire setup of the venue and other things associated with it.
“In the coming months, there will be several indigenous based content coming to the platform including contents that will appeal to people at the grassroot level,” he said.
Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Head of Originals, Nigeria, Prime Video, said the show would showcase the talent of Nigerian comedians to the world.
She noted that the uniqueness of the show would help in solidifying the authenticity of comedians.
“It is the first unscripted show as it is the first of its kind in Nigeria and we intend to keep it that way.
“We wanted to use the show as the platform to show our talent to the world as we are in 240 countries with over 200 million subscribers, who would have access to the show when it premieres on July 14.
“We implore everyone across the globe to watch the show,” she said.
Bright Okpocha, a Nigerian comedian, popularly known as Basketmouth, said that the show would help to create a unique spot for Nigerian comedy across the world.
“I have always imagined Nigerian comedy in different ways and I believe this would help it to own spot and space, the same way afrobeat did around the world.
“The spontaneity of it would enable the world see comedy in a different way and this would be beneficial to Nigeria comedy,” he said.
The news conference also had other cast members in attendance including Buchi, Dat Warri Girl, Taaooma, Senator and IGoSave. (NAN