Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Little Miss Jocelyn

Jocelyn J Esien playing a parking attendant on her show

Having watched 3 episodes i think i can now comment on Little Miss Jocelyn, a new comedy sketch show on BBC 3 featuring Jocelyn Jee Esien.

Its official I hate it....

The show is full of sketches making fun of Nigerians (one sketch is about a Nigerian park attendant with the catch phrase 'this will take a looong time', in another sketch she plays a Nigerian wife, with three husbands and in another one she plays a nigerian cab driver/driving instructor)

Some of the sketches did make me laugh especially the Nigerian couple seeking marriage counselling but i couldn't help thinking she was trying to outdo Gina Yashere, who has built her whole standup routine on making fun of Nigerians.

Gina is naturally funny while Jocelyn is trying too hard to be funny and its just not working...
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Like my peeps will say 'abeg make we talk about beta person jo', Metro (Wed aug 30) did an interview with upcoming actor, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje . Talk about someone with his head screwed on properly, i was quite impressed with his reponses.

Q: Was there pressure to make your name more Westernised to fit into Hollywood?

A: I’m of Nigerian descent, from the Yoruba tribe. Names are very significant in that culture. It basically states your purpose in life. Ade is ‘the crown’, Wale means ‘to arrive’, so that means ‘the crown has arrived’. Akin is ‘warrior’ and Agbaje is ‘prosperity and wealth’. Every day when someone calls my name, they remind me of that purpose and for me to renounce that would be sacrilege. The name caused a lot of scrapes growing up. Having come this far, I wasn’t going to abandon it for Hollywood. People are getting used to it. They abbreviate it to triple A.

the full interview in metro

After reading the interview, i've become a big fan, although i still have misgivings about his roles in Lost and The Bourne identity, but i guess 'man got to chop now'.
Hopefully as his profile rises he'll be in a better position to choose his roles rather than playing the usual 'stereotypical' parts that Hollywood gives to black Africans (Drug dealers, Slaves, criminals etc)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

LMJ was bad. It elicited one or two chuckles and that's about it!

As for Agbaje, since when he is an "up and comer", the man is already established, he's been established since OZ. Can't stand LOST though, got bored watching the first episode and I can safely say Bourne Identity couldn't identify Nigerian ethnic groups properly if their lives depended on it. Their Nigerian characterisations were hilarious!

ijebuman said...

In Hollywood terms Agbaje is still 'up and coming'.

Anonymous said...

I think LMJ is brilliant, extremely clever. Why can't naijas support their own for once? Envy too much abi. Na war o. Or is this typical naija male sexist drivel dressed as something else.

Personally, I can't wait to see the second series. I don't see any similiarity between her and Yashere. To say one is trying to outdo the other is rubbish. Anyone can see they are two completely different acts. Both funny but JJE is just cleverer and more accomplished in her act. To come up with 50 different characters, excellent acting and comedic skills and writing is no mean feat. JJE is a genius - an extremely gifted individual and that's all there is to it!!!

ijebuman said...

yes it's "typical naija male sexist drivel dressed as something else"
Now go back to your room and play with your toys