Ghanaian comedian and content creator, Timothy Musah Junior Abaadu, popularly known as Mjthecomedian, has mentioned some people whose works inspired him to nurse his stand-up comedy career.

He told aKorfa on Joy FM's Cosmopolitan Mix that while at K Boateng Academy of Performing Arts, he was prodded by his mates to enter into stand-up comedy.

According to him, his motivation hugely came from some of the stand-up comedians who came before him.

"I was much focused on the stand-up comedy before I ventured into content creation. So I was looking at the likes of DKB, Foster Romanus and David Oscar, and Basket Mouth," he said.

He added that in the world of comic acting, he looked up to Mr. Ibu, Agya Koo, Mr. Beautiful, Santo, Judas, and others.

MJthecomedian also noted when he started, he would copy the jokes of the stand-up comedians and perform at events because he didn't know how to write his own jokes.

"At that time there internet was not as it is today so if you had the opportunity to go and hack someone's joke you would present it as if it was yours and everyone would be hailing you. But growing up, I realised I needed to sit up, learn, research and write my own jokes. That is why I am here today," he told aKorfa.

"One day, I went to perform DKB and Foster's jokes for them [at their show]. I knew I was performing their joke but it was the confidence," he further noted.

MJ indicated that these comedians did not get angry with him for copying their jokes; they rather kept him closer and taught him the ropes of the trade.

"They helped shape me, groom me, they taught me how to write jokes and how to go about it," he stated.

While commending Fritz Baffour, KSM and the older stand-up comedians, he recounted how difficult it was for Ghanaian stand-up comedy in the English language to be accepted by the Ghanaian community.

"At that time, it was difficult for Ghanaians to consume Ghanaian comics so it was only a handful of people who knew about our stand-up comedians at that time.

Truth be told, the Nigerians comics were consumed at that time because the Ghanaian market focused more on them and the people who would organise the shows preferred bringing them from outside [the country] to come perform so they had no choice than to consume the foreign comics," MJ said.

He acknowledged that the successes the new crop of stand-up comedians is chalking now is as a result of the sacrifices the older ones made.

Apart from his comedy specials and comic skits, he also runs the Dashiki Festival. The 8th edition of the festival took place on July 6, 2024.

Thousands of patrons thronged the forecourt of the Accra International Trade Fair Centre for the event, as they started with aerobics sessions.