Nigerian comedian Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, has cleared the air on whether he is leaving comedy for filmmaking or not.

He stated that he has no intention of leaving comedy for movie production, regardless of its financial appeal.

He made this disclosure while fielding questions from journalists at the exclusive premiere of his first feature film, A Ghetto Love Story, explaining that the success of the movie will not fully take him away from comedy.

However, he noted that he will embark on a comedy tour starting in 2025.

He emphasized that he is still fully committed to stand-up comedy but will stop taking private gigs, such as acting as the master of ceremonies (MC) at weddings.

His words: “I am still into comedy. From next year, I’m going on tour. Already, I have my UK tour, and then I have a US tour. I’m also doing a show in Nigeria next year. Comedy is still going, and I’m not going to stop.

“The only thing I’ll stop is private gigs, like weddings. Although a lot of money comes from there, that is a sacrifice I had to make. You know, because I do stand-up comedy.

"That’s what I do. I didn’t enter this industry to be an MC at weddings and events. I felt like I was adulterating the art. You understand?

" I felt bad about it, so I had to stop. So if I’m doing a private gig, I have to be doing stand-up comedy, not MCing. Let me just do my 30 minutes and leave. But I can’t do MCing at any event anymore, because I can’t do it. That’s cheating. I’m cheating on my art,” he said.