Mandy is the undisputed queen of stand-up comedy in Nigeria. She started out with The Charly Boy Show in 1992 and is still cracking ribs presently with no intention to retire anytime soonest. An Award winner, and with many events to her name, including the burial of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's father earlier this year, OSEYIZA OOGBODO met with her and she had so much to say.

Tell us about yourself.My name is Mandy, I'm a stand-up comedian, a mother, a proud mother, I've lived an eventful life, I'm still living it, but it has been fun all the way. I'm very grateful to God for that. You've told us you are a mother. Are you a wife? You didn't mention that you're a wife.

No. No. I didn't mention I'm a wife. But I'm a mother.Can you please explain that? How can you be a mother without being a wife?We have people that are mothers and not wives, you know. I'm a mother, that's all.

Is the normal thing not to be a mother and wife?

It should be. It should be.Then what's going on about you?I'm just a mother, a great mother, but not a great wife. I'm not a wife, but I'm a great mother.

You don't want to say anything about your marriage?

No. You can't push me down there. You can't even box me into the corner. I'm just a mother.

They say you're the first female comedian in Nigeria? Is it true?I don't know.

But you claim it yourself.

Because I know it.

Why do you say you're the first female comedian?

Because I'm the first lady Nigerians ever saw doing stand-up. And you see when people talk, like in abroad, they talk with statistics, with points, reasons, this one did this in so-so-so year, etc.

And thank God, if I say I'm the first, I have proof. Why? The first time we had the first-ever Ayo Animashaun's Girls' Nite Out was the first time we had all the girls in the industry under one roof, performing. The ones that were into sound were on the console, those that were behind cameras, and it was like that, everybody was doing something. If you were not on stage, you were off it.

They were looking for a stand-up comedian and they wanted to get Binta Ayo-Mogaji who stays in Ibadan to crack jokes. I went there to do my normal afro beat or reggae. They kept looking for a female comedian. I remembered that in that same year, on February 14th, 1999, I had done something for Bacchus Lite.

I was the MC and I was just cracking jokes unknown to me that that was stand-up comedy. So, at Girls' Nite Out, when they said it was important, I told them I could do it and I did and brought the house down.

Do you feel justified in being the first, when it seems that Princess is more visible than you?

But that's where we make a lot of mistakes. There are places Princess is needed and places Mandy is, just like Ali Baba and Basket Mouth. Where Ali goes, Basket Mouth doesn't. I've been lucky in the jobs I've done. I'm not talking about peanut jobs here. I'm talking about doing one job and resting. I don't hustle for jobs. People know me for the queen I am and they call me. When it comes to feminine products, I'm always first choice.

I don't do anyhow jobs cos I'm a mother. Provision for my daughter comes first. I listen to Sasha singing that she's tired of not getting paid for shows. When someone told me sometime ago that Princess was everywhere and I wasn't, I replied that the time I was everywhere, Princess wasn't born.

I don't have to be in every newspaper cos I've done that in the past. If I bring my bag of newspaper cuttings, it's a full Ghana-must-go bag. A few years ago, CNN, BBC, Reuters were running after me. Why must I still be doing it? Seyi Law as a small comedian will be everywhere but Ali Baba will not.

So what's the relationship between you female comedians?

Pleasant. We are together. It pains me that female comedy has not taken the center-stage, it's not where it's supposed to be. But it doesn't bother me because there are professions where the females are more favored, like Nollywood where the female stars are so plenty while you can count the males on your fingers. There are so many reasons why female comedy hasn't taken center-stage. But one of the reasons can never be that we are not good. We are good. Continued    Source: OSEYIZA OOGBODO