Dennis Boateng is a the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Comedy Awards
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Comedy Awards, Dennis Boateng, has appealed to the government to give more attention and support to the Ghana’s comedy industry.
Speaking in an interview on Hitz FM, he emphasised that comedy has the potential to promote Ghana on the international stage just like music and tourism have done.
Dennis Boateng believes that the government has limited its view of the creative arts by focusing on only certain areas, while comedy, which is also a part of the creative space, is being overlooked.
“I think the government should go beyond looking at creatives in a certain way. When it comes to comedy, comedy is big. Trust me, if you pay attention to it, the music that is selling Ghana, the tourism that is selling Ghana, it will blow up. The comedy will blow up Ghana,” he stated.
He pointed out that comedy, if properly supported and promoted, could help market Ghana to the world and create opportunities for comedians and other performers.
He suggested that the same energy and investment being put into music and tourism should also be directed toward comedy.
Dennis also spoke about the Black Star Experience, the government’s flagship program for the creative arts.
He noted that after doing some research, he found festivals for film and theatre under the Black Star Experience but did not find anything dedicated to comedy.
“I did a little check. I saw the Black Star Movie Festival, I saw Black Star Theatre, but I didn’t see a Black Star Comedy Festival. I think that is a platform where we can actually do something nice for a weekend,” he noted.
He proposed the idea of introducing a comedy festival under the Black Star Experience. According to him, this festival could feature different forms of comedy including stand-up, skits, comedy films, and even performances from jugglers and magicians.
“We can have comedy theatres, comedy skits, comedy movies, stand-up comedy, jugglers, magicians, let’s put them all together for one weekend and say we are doing a Black Star Comedy Festival. It will be mind-blowing. This will put Ghana on another pedestal on the world market. It’s a big deal. Anyone listening can look at it. The government should also pay attention to it,” he said.
AK/EB
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