Akpororo

Akpororo came to comedy by way of gospel music. Born Bowoto Jephthah Oluwatiseyifumi Tanimola and raised in Warri, he was a gospel musician when, in 2008, he entered the National Comedy Challenge run by Opa Williams and won its Calabar zone. He studied sociology at Lagos State University.

His act fuses secular jokes with humour taken from church life, and he never dropped the singing, so music and acting sit next to the comedy in his work.

The climb went through the Lagos showcase circuit. In 2009 he finished second at AY's Open Mic Challenge and won it on his next attempt, and his set at Basketmouth's Laff and Jam in 2013 is remembered as his breakthrough. On 12 August 2014 he headlined his own show, Akpororo vs Akpororo, at the MUSON Centre in Lagos. The same year brought film roles in Headgone and The Antique; he had been named comedian of the year at the Naija FM Comedy Awards in 2014, and in 2015 he won Best Comedic Act at the Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards.