Prince Phelar: Mentorship is key for a successful comedy career
Adefela Adeigbe, a comedian with stage name Prince Phelar, who also double as a digital marketing enthusiast, has opened up on his journey as well as the role of mentorship on his comedy career.
Q: You’ve been in comedy for how long now?
A: Officially I’ll say 8 years.
Q: So unofficially dey?
A: Yes sir
Q: Oh which one
A: So this is how it works, Istarted counting my years on stage when I met legendary Gbenga Adeyinka D’1st, because that was when I actually have the opportunity to be mentored and trained by a true veteran and someone who actually has the depth of the of the craft, but before 2016 I’ve always been doing you MC for friends back then in University, friends birthdays, Fellowship events and all of that.
Q: Interesting, so one thing that I wantto ask you, what did your height do to you? (Laughs)
A: (Laughs) I get this a lot, but I’ve come to see it more as a blessing.
Q: (Laughs) Thank God you are never going to join a gang of robbers because it’s easyto just sneak in and out.
A: (Laughs) Imagine I want to rob you and shout ‘your life or your money’, you will just be like ‘what is talking’ you won’t even say who is talking, because you will just be there looking for who is talking. I’ve literally jumped through the window of a molue in Ikeja, too many people want to enter at the same time and I saw the opened window so I used the tires and helped myself in. Why I also said it’s been a blessing is that every comedian has this go-to jokes on bad days on stage, mine most times is about my height and it always works for me.
Q: Which is your favorite?
A: That I cannot keep a relationship (both laugh)
Q: How did I get that so fast?
A: Because you have a good sense of humor.
Q: How did comedy start for you?
A: I would say it’s a trait I picked from my mom, she’s always been and up until now a traditional wedding MC. Back in the university I’d see some of my seniors Honeytongue and Notrespass were the trending comedians back then and I’d always walk past their shows posters and tell myself ‘you can be you are funny too’, my friends Olumide Akinola and Theophilus Adewale (The DOT brothers) would always encourage me, they’d laugh to my jokes, but then I didn’t have that courage until after school.
What actually prompted the courage is a brother of mine in Fellowship, when I was in 500 level just called me one a Tuesday evening and asked what my plan for after school was, it was at that moment it dawned on me that I didn’t have a plan for post school other than my certificate, I mechanical engineering anyway but please don’t let me touch your car, after the conversation with my brother by help of God I just felt okay maybe this is something I can pursue later, and bythe time I started my service in 2015, God bless my dear Uncle Mr. Laolu Emmanuel and his supportive wife Mrs. Ann, they gave me a room in Port Harcourt and it was right there in that room everything I do today started. My being a comedian, MC digital marketing, everything started in that room. I’d always lock myself up, ingesting information, content, practicing things on my own. I moved to Ibadan in 2016, the year I met veteran actor Ayo Adesanya on Instagram, God bless her for me, I told her that I’m an upcoming comedian and I would like her to link me up with one of her comedian friends, she’s like oh well I don’t have too much friends but I have Gbenga Adeyinka D’1st, I was like uh uh what do you mean you don’t have too many friends Gbenga Adeyinka is a crowd own his own (laughs), both in achievements and insize the man is a crowd, I sent Gbenga Adeyinka a friend request on BBM, it was BBM those years and in 5 minutes he accepted, I’ve never seen that level of humility at such level of achievement, you know, to be able to to come down from your high house and relate with ‘commo. people’, he offered me a job in 2016 that’s why I moved to Lagos.
Q: Alright maybe me I should ask for a job now (laughs), so I’m trying to draw a lesson for someone who is watching and who needs to get the same kind of courage that you have, there are many people who are stuck in careers that they don’t want to be in right now, I have a friend Bukunmi Da Preacher, he was a bank person before he decided that you know what that I’m done, what does it take to drop your fears and embrace your destiny?
A: It takes a lot, backtrack to when that my brother had a conversation with me like what was your plan for after school, right after that conversation I made up my mind that I’m going to, whilst I work on my craft before I become big in my own in my ownspace, pick up a 9 to 5 job that can allow me to do my thing on the weekend so it’s always been my own compass.
Q: What would you say is a major challenge for you when you got into the industry, what kind of push back have you had, what kind of feedback have you received, and how have you navigated?
A: I didn’t have so much and I’m grateful to God for that because of my mentor, Gbenga Adeyinka D’1st, this is where people need to understand the place of mentorship you don’t necessarily have to launch if you are not ready that is what a mentor does for you. I’ll give you an instance, don’t forget I said 2016 I moved Lagos because he offered me a job, so one of those times we went to Ibadan, we were preparing for Laffmattaz With Gbenga Adeyinka And Friends, October 1st, one of those nights I went to late Peteru’s comedy club with Omobaba No.1, all those all those times I was still under-studying Gbenga Adeyinka. So I took the mic in my mind I was killing it, in my mind a superstar was born that night and after the performance, sorry I won’t call it performance, after talking to the microphone I went to Omobaba and asked far how was my performance, and Godbless him for being so honest he was like ‘was that a performance?’ I was dumbfounded, I had no words. He said ‘I didn’t even know when you started, I didn’t know when you finished. When we got back to Legos he told Gbenga Adeyinka D’1st about it and Gbenga said ‘I don’t want you near a microphone in the next 3 months’. This generation needs to understand the place of mentorship, and mentorship doesn’t mean looking for somebody to sort your bills, no, when it comes to mentorship it has to be both ways, what do you have to offer? With the help of God, don’t forget I’m a digital marketer so when I met Gbenga Adeyinka, I noticed he didn’t have a fan page in my in my own little way I felt if I can contribute to him in this way I won’t to be a parasite to him, and he was gracious enough to allow me into his team, soI can say it’s a symbiotic kind of relationship. So during the mentorship process he groomed me and by October 1st, in less than 3 months, I was ready to perform at Laffmattaz, October 1st and that was my introduction to the comedy industry, the biggest platform in Southwest, Nigeria.
Q: You said something about mentorship, and you said that people mustrecognize its place, how easy is that to sell to a 20-year-old idealist who believes that he’s got everything that he needs.
A: Oh well, guess what, you don’t have to sell it to them, just leave them, let them go and do it, if you feel you don’t Mentor don’t need a mentor, don’t worry just go, it’s only a matter of time, you will learn.
Q: What should we expect from Prince Phelar?
A: Like I said up till now, I’m still undergoing mentorship, because I believe mentorship is a lifetime activity, you’d never know it all. Even my mentor, sometimes when we are talking he still references Alibaba despite the fact that they are colleagues and friends. He told me ‘it takes greatness to identify greatness’, so it doesn’t even matter how long it takes, mentorship is always good. And I will always be improving on my craft, taking as many as many MC gigs as I can, taking as many stages as I can, God helping me. And someday I’ll stage my own comedy show as well.
Q: And continuing to Design Cakes (laughs)
A: (Laughs) and that as well, God bless you sir.
Q: Thank you for your time Prince Phelar
A: Thank you for having me, the Fela that doesn’t smoke or drink. Gbenga Adeyinka D’1st and Omobaba will say I’m just wasting my name, that how will I be called Fela and I won’t drink or smoke (laughs)
Follow Prince Phelar on social media @princephelar, you can also contact him for bookings via calls/WhatsApp on 08102009733.