The Nigerian comedian, presenter, MC, TV host and actor called Basketmouth, is popularly considered a driving force in the country’s stand-up comedy industry. In this biography about Basketmouth, you will get to know important details concerning him.
For example, you will find out the real name of Basketmouth as well as details from his childhood and education. We will also chronicle how he started his career in comedy and made it big to become one of the most sought-after comedians in Nigeria and other parts of the world as well.
To start, let us first summarise the most important facts about Basketmouth that everyone should know. See them in the section below.
10 important facts about Basketmouth
- Basketmouth was born on 14th September 1978. His real name is Bright Okpocha, he will be 42 years old in 2020.
- Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, is from Abia State, a South Eastern state in Nigeria.
- He graduated from the University of Benin (UNIBEN) with a degree in sociology and anthropology.
- In 1994, when Basketmouth was 16 years old, he and his friends formed a rapping group named “Da Psychophats”.
- Basketmouth began his journey into the comedy business while he was at the university around 2000.
- He and Bayo Adekeye put together shows on campus and promoted artistes like Plantation Boiz, Remedies and others. They also organised Laff n Jamz in 2001, which featured celebrities like Ali Baba, Paul Play, Teju Babyface, Mandy, Mr Patrick and others.
- Basketmouth’s big break came when he performed at the 2005 edition of Nite of A Thousand Laughs.
- Around 2006, Basketmouth started a comedy TV show titled, My Flatmates with popular OAP Steve Onu, who uses the moniker, Yaw and actor Kayode Peters.
- Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, married his wife, Elsie Okpocha, on 6th November 2010. They have two children, Jason and Janelle Okpocha.
- He won the Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards in 2017, an award that recognises African comedy talents.
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Basketmouth Biography: Early life
Basketmouth was born on 14th September 1978; his real name is Bright Okpocha. While Basketmouth was born and brought up in Lagos State, his family is originally from Abia State, a South Eastern region in Nigeria.
He started his primary school education in Apapa, Lagos State and went on to complete his secondary school studies in the state. From childhood, Okpocha had developed an interest in entertainment. He could play the drum. He even tried charting a path in the music industry at an early age as we will see in the next section.
However, it is important to mention that after completing his secondary, he got admission into the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and graduated with a degree in sociology and anthropology.
Basketmouth Biography: Career (Before comedy)
In 1994, when Basketmouth was likely no more than 16 years old, he and his friends formed a rapping group named “Da Psychophats”. The group had seven members and they performed at events and concerts in 1995.
Da Psychophats eventually broke up before they could release any song. Not giving up, Basketmouth was soon part of another rap group called “Da Oddz”, the group also included his brother, Godwin, and Muyiwa Osunrobi.
This group also broke up again after they could not get a tangible following for their kind of music. Around this time, Basketmouth started to gradually make a name for himself through comedy.
But how did Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth transition to comedy?
Basketmouth Biography: Stand-up comedy career (2000 – 2005)
As the celebrity himself revealed in an interview in 2019, he said he had always liked to make people laugh. Comic American actor Eddie Murphy was one of his earliest influences. Meanwhile, he admitted that he had not even known that Murphy was also a stand-up comedian when he was not acting in films.
According to Basketmouth, his journey in the comedy business began while he was at the university around 2000. After he realised that he was funny and could make people laugh, he started doing it for free. He said that he just liked the feeling of being able to make his listeners laugh.
But he soon got to know that he could make money off of it when his friend suggested that he should charge people to attend his shows at the university back then. Slowly, he began building his confidence from those early shows in UNIBEN.
Then, he and his friend Bayo Adekeye started putting together shows on campus and promoted artistes like Plantation Boiz, Remedies and others. They also organised Laff n Jamz in 2001 which featured celebrities like Ali Baba, Paul Play, Teju Babyface, Mandy, Mr Patrick and others.
Ali Baba allegedly brought Basketmouth to Lagos, and he was running some gigs and shows before he finally hit a major break.
Basketmouth’s big break came when he performed at one of Nigeria’s biggest comedy shows of the early 2000s, Nite of A Thousand Laughs. The comedian stole the highlights at the 2005 edition of Nite of a Thousand Laughs by Opa Williams. Here is a throwback video of the show’s volume 16.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYkvU6IdGP0[/embedyt]
Immediately after eliciting uncontrollable laughter from the audience, Basketmouth became the name on everyone’s lips when it came to comedy. That year and the following one, he bagged major comedy awards. See a list of Basketmouth awards at the end of this article.
2005 till date
After this early start, Basketmouth returned to several other editions of Nite of A Thousand Laughs to crack ribs with witty jokes. He also started to feature at other comedy shows and even corporate events as well.
According to an online profile, he began his own one-man stand-up comedy show in 2006 named Basketmouth Uncensored. That same year, he also started a consulting/event & artist management company called Barons World Entertainment.
In 2008, he hosted the Hip-Hop World Awards (now known as The Headies) with Dakore Egbuson-Akande. He hosted the first edition of Lord of the Ribs in 2010 at the 5000-seater Expo Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. Big brands like Coca-Cola sponsored the event which featured many comedians and musicians from Nigeria, South Africa, the US and Britain.
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The comedian and popular OAP Toolz hosted the 2012 edition of FAB Magazine Fashion Night. He hosted the Nigerian Kings of Comedy show in Manchester, UK, that same year.
Basketmouth hosted the 2013 edition of the Nigeria Entertainment Awards and Nollywood Movies Awards. He also became the first Nigerian to host a comedy gig on Comedy Central, a popular South African comedy channel.
In 2014, Basketmouth and Toke Makinwa co-hosted The Headies Awards. He and Uganda’s comedienne and actress, Anne Kansiime, co-hosted 2015 African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA). In 2016, Basketmouth hosted Soundcity MVP Awards.
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