Eben Ace Sarfo writes: “GHANAIAN BY CARD… An OB Amponsah Epic Comedy”

The influx of comedy shows has proven the past wrong and shown that comedy indeed is taking on an impressive shape in the country.

It is commendable to the mastery of involved comedians, serving the masses with their gifts. Humor, I say, is man’s companion when the mind is muddled by economic hardships and financial drain. In all the unbalanced happenings, the turnout for OB Amponsah’s “Ghanaian By Card” proved the aforementioned right.

The line-up of creative comedians didn’t disappoint. Though most of them were slated to perform for five minutes, they gave the audience multiple ‘orgasms’. Jerry Ashinyo was the first horseman to break the ice for the evening. It is only Jerry who has been called by an AirtelTigo customer care service with an MTN number because of insufficient credit on their airteltigo number.

This line “wo wo sradeɛ ɛnso wo srɛsra adeɛ” got everyone laughing. The beggar who praises people for earning alms joke. The weed joke. The streetlight joke was my favorite. That was too much thrusting for five minutes. Khemikal came next with the styles by which people apply expensive and cheap perfume joke. To our education, rich people call perfume cologne, and the poor call cheap perfume spray, or the popular “tulaley”.

He veered into the economic hardship of the country and pointed out that Ghana’s inflation is streaming live— the hardship keeps upgrading by the second. An item costing GHC5 upgrades to GHC6 before you dish-out money from your pocket. My favorite was the joke imagining ‘wee’ joint with school fees, rent, fuel prices, and salary as humans, passing ‘brunt’ to get high except for salary. Of course, everything in the country is ‘high’ except salary.

Ebenezer Dwomoh took the baton after Khemical. His opening dance was hilarious with his small butt and petite waist wiggling. He referenced his dance to TikTok dance trends in a comely joke. He mentioned his profession as an architect. Such brilliance of architecture involves creativity as much as comedy. Gone are the days comedy was seen to be a role for the lesser intellectuals but not anymore.

Oh, his dissection of the difference between design requirements by the rich, and poor clients is a reality. Poverty gets you the desire for taste but creates an abyss between taste and pocket. Papa Yaw thrilled the audience with the joke of amateur Ghana fraudsters claiming to be Queen Elizabeth and Rihana and asking for mobile money online.

His joke on the stripper who took him home to ask that he pours libation to seek permission from her deity before making love was a good one. Oh-Joo Sammie Madjitey looked tall in his shoes, and his jokes were taller than him. He didn’t cut his jokes according to his height but raised the bar beyond his head. He had gotten out of a broken heart recently only to break our ribs with his jokes. He confessed his admiration for breasts and butt and narrated his ordeal dating a lady bodybuilder in a joke. Gademit! Kojo PJay joked about the recent investment haircuts and raised the thought that most presidential candidates are bald but are the ones causing haircuts.

The exchange of envelopes with the deaf and dumb lady in a troski was hilarious. His next-door neighbor using bandanas as napkins, Ghanaians comparing hardships of each other to feel comfortable in their mess is one relatable joke, as well as the trigger to discuss the country’s economic drift in the troski. The “wo yɛ barima aa krossi” joke by Lekzy DC awakened a childhood nostalgia. The policemen bargaining with items in the car joke is just one indicator of the economic hardship.

All I can say to the policeman who tasted a passenger’s weed-induced-brownie is, ayekoo, your highness. His joke took a turn to the report of the fake soldier at the Burma camp. Certain details of the story haven’t been reported yet, but Lekzy chipped in a brilliant storytelling concept to add flesh to the little information known to the public. Short men indeed tell tall tales. Putogo. Putogo. Putogo. As a lover of puns and witty wordplay, he got me on the good side of my jaw. Pun-chline after pun-chline, he leveled up the humor.

“Your mates are driving Ford and you’re driving Affordable” was a good one. “GTV has been lying since but they want us to pay lying-since (license)” was a spectacular pun. The 3D of Ghanaian men: eat your food, ‘eat you, and ‘eat’ your money was banger-creative. He aced it with his “Half a loaf is not better than none, it’s 8 cedis” line. Trevor Gumbi from South Africa brought a taste of South African comedy to the show.

The narration of his ordeal with the Customs officers at the Ghana airport, it emphasizes that comedians can make a joke out of the tiniest occurrences beyond imagination. The humor culled from his divorce is another intelligent means of carving sweetness out of a mishap.

His joke about his father going into exile, and he later realized a year after that Exile is the name of another woman his father secretly married, crowned it all. He easily exhibits his style, connecting twists and turns to put out the message. While the audience waited through a pause in the course of the show, a surprise was served. Out of the crowd emerged Kuami Eugene singing to the audience towards the stage. He moved the crowd back-to-back with his hit songs. The response was massive anytime he raised a song and left it to the audience to sing on. That, I must say, was a tasty surprise.

OB Amponsah, the man of the moment made an entry through the smoke with his fiery prowess. He began by adding his side of the jokes on the economy, relating the recent happening between a doctor and her father, and one nurse. He maneuvered with a twist to the famous “Sika mpɛ dede” and dropped icings of humor it. The Kevin boy, Patapaa, and Kizz Daniel at old age joke was off-the-hook-hilarious. The funny attitude of Ghanaians calling radio stations to warn Putin wasn’t left out of the party. My favorite joke before the top favorite was the American visa refusal; I could relate, recounting my similar encounter years back. Chaley, being refused a visa was a funny and heartfelt moment. Top of the evening joke was he using the lyrics of Moses Bliss’ “Bigger Everyday” as responses a Christian couple would sing whilst having coitus.

That was bliss. That was excellent. He fed the audience with enough jokes to last them days. The pressure in the nation sure deserves well-cooked jokes from such astute comic. Ghanaian by Card was undoubtedly a success. The audience was amazing at welcoming the jokes and giving feedback through laughter. Not forgetting C-Real and Pappy kojo as the MCs for the night, they did great with their command over the show. Pappy Kojo didn’t disappoint the Fante humor in his “jeans”— pun intended. Bravo to OB Amponsah and everyone who had a hand in one way or another to make the show a success.

I’ve said it once, and I will repeat it when the sound of the drum appeals to the ear: Ghanaian comedy has a future, and that future is now and beautiful.

 

About the Author: Ebenezer ‘Ace’ Sarfo is a Ghanaian writer, poet, spoken word artiste. His poems and writings journey through all walks of life and experiences creating an image in the reader’s mind. He’s also an entrepreneur of the Ace Up T-shirt brand, a concept of ‘wear words’, where people can wear quotes, short poems, and inspiring wordings. His works have received some notable recognition and inspired many.