He was vilified by some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for making a joke about 'Mahama' and was subsequently devastated to the extent that he considered quitting comedy.
OB Amponsah, a popular comedian, during a performance at last year’s edition of Decemba2Rememba made light of many things, including names and meanings as well as the impact of names on people where he mentioned that the name ‘Mahama’ is synonymous with corruption in Hausa.
A day after the performance, some NDC sympathizers who found the joke sensitive and expensive 'unleashed venom' on him while others incited violence against him for injuring the reputation of the party’s flag-bearer, John Dramani Mahama.
He recovered but that was not without some words of inspiration from colleague DKB, filmmaker Socrate Safo and a friend who took him to a strip club to please his eyes.
"DKB... Mandem called me after my December wahala to check on how I was doing. Then he asked me 'So are you going to do political jokes anymore?'. I answered 'Me? Never!!'. He replied 'Coward. This is the time to rise above the storm and crack more of those jokes to make people know that jokes are just jokes. You shock me waaa'.
"That statement from him was what fueled the idea of Political Refuge, because earlier, Socrates Safo had called to suggest that I try put up a show about my plight, and I declined. DKB then went ahead to push some few funny bits I could develop and then asked me to look sharp.
"We all have our shortcomings Charlie, but when you look past them, you realize that young man is quite supportive and cute. Bigups dude," he recounts on Facebook.
OB Amponsah's recognition post was after a successful show, Saturday, which he had said was meant to laugh at his pain.
“The show [Political Refugee] is basically about me sharing my pain about the stuff I went through when I tried telling a political joke. It’s me laughing at my pain,” he explained.
During his performance, the comedian projected screenshots of some of the insults he received from NDC folks via social media.
"When they call and you don't pick, they text you the insults," he said amidst resounding laughter from the audience. "It was crazy, man."
As captured on the screen, the comedian was labeled a ‘Congolese chimpanzee’, a ‘stupid, idiotic’ man with ‘a gear-box head’ whose ‘stupidity could have been avoided’ had his ‘father used a condom’.
Check out details of the insults below
1. Insipid goon, dunderhead, nincompoop
2. Congolese chimpanzee
3. Idiot, do you know your father?
4. Useless fool
5. Aboa bi ba [Son of an bitch]
6. Aboa, idiot, waste sperm
