The hardship in Nigeria has made skit making the new gold of content creation in the country. With the current situation of the country, it is rather difficult for its citizens to laugh genuinely in reality, hence the rave for online comedy. With the surging numbers of skit makers blowing up everyday, thanks to Instagram and Tiktok, it is crucial to note that only a selected few have the tendency to stick around for a long while and one of these selected few is the hysterical Layi Wasabi.
Skit making became a thing in the mid 2010s when popular creators like Mark Angel and Twyse broke the internet with their quirky yet captivating comic contents. This once small niche has now boomed into a N50 billion industry, ranking it the third largest entertainment industry in the country as reported by Dataleum. This booming industry has now birthed cutting edge local and international stars like Taooma, Mr Macaroni, Broda Shaggi, Brain Jotter and Layi Wasabi amongst others.
Isaac Olayiwola popularly known as Layi Wasabi stepped into the comedy market in 202, had a few viral moments but didn’t take off significantly until a year later, one of his videos, the “Ki lo gba ni JAMB?” video, blew up and paved the way. Every second of the video was funnier than the last. From pronouncing the word “issue” as “EU” giving the audience a reminiscence of those teachers and university professors they encountered back in school who had these unseemly pronunciations, to his mocking play of words when he heard that the boy wanted to study Medicine with a flat score of 130 in the JAMB exams. He said, “130, is that the time you wrote the exam or that’s your score?”. That was indeed a defining line!
It’s been about three years since his breakout and Layi has since then created a content style that no other comic creator has been able to replicate.
Decency
Right now, in the comic space, there are a billion and one creators creating contents that revolve around women, sexuality, and relationship jesting, making some of these contents unsuitable for the younger audience. This is just to show Layi’s preeminence in creating contents that people can relate to without experiencing them.
Relatability
All of Layi’s characters feel like the everyday guy. “The Law”, that one lawyer that has only one suit, no office and takes on hopeless cases. “Mr Richard Of GNCC”, that one guy who is always asking you to pay money to learn how to make money but doesn’t look like someone who can afford a two-square meal. And “Officer Roberts”, the roadside police with no knowledge of the law.
Wordplay
But there’s one thing you can be sure of, after every skit, you will definitely learn a new wisdom quote you never knew existed. These are some of our favourites;
“A man who doesn’t like to spend money will spend money in a way that he doesn’t like.”
“Romantic is another word for less busy.”
“Any ex that did not meet our expectations was an experiment.”
“When you are broke and heartbroken, take it as an avenue for breakthrough not a breakdown.”
“Without the right information you will keep walking about, info leyan fin fo (It is information that can make one fly).”
His videos will have you going “hmmmm’ from start to finish, wondering how he comes up with such paradoxical statements. These words may seem empty and just funny but thinking about it on a deeper level will convince you that truly, Layi Wasabi has lived all of these lives.
Layi is a graduate of Law from Bowen University. He has once said that the old fashioned suit “The Law” wears is older than him, almost thirty years old to be precise. The “The Law” character was born out of the observation of some of the lawyers he encountered during his NYSC and internship at the Ministry of Justice, Ibadan. It is interesting to see how he has managed to keep the Lawyer character very simple, natural and packed with humor, regardless of how much knowledge he possesses about the field. There has not been any form of ambiguity with the use of legal terms or references. He has been able to show how much experience he has with the character while keeping it as natural as he can.
Everyone loves Layi and these are some of the reasons. We know Layi Wasabi is going to take Nigerian comedy to great heights and we are up for it!
