A Selection of Top Black Comedy Talent Teamed Up At The Famous O2 Arena & Launched An Official Comedy Takeover Led By Comedy Star Mo Gilligan

Friends

A Dream Came True For Comedian Mo Gilligan On Wednesday December 8 2021, At The O2 Arena Greenwich, As He And A Selection of Comedy Friends Performed At The World Renowned Entertainment Venue, In Front of Thousands of Fans & Some Celebrity Guests.

The Guest List Included The Likes of Funny Guy Munya Chawawa (Pictured Below, On His Phone, Bein’ Pointed Out Indiscreetly By A Somewhat Unsubtle Fan), Mercston, Big Narstie, Paapa, Don’t Jealous Me, Jazzy And Stormzy (Also Pictured Below With The Big Man Himself And A Couple of Friends @official_stormzy (@official_stormzy).

The Cast of Comedians Included The Headliner Himself, Mo Gilligan, And Five Fellow Funny People. A Different Kind of Famous Five. His Googlebox Co.Star Babatunde, Recent Palladium History Maker Slim, Proud African Congolese Comic Eddie Kadi, Who Loves To Regale Audiences With Funny Tales About His Congo Culture, Thanyia Moore Who Featured In Mo’s Groundbreakin’ Channel 4 Comedy Documentary “Black British & Funny’, And Ola Labibi Who Was Introduced As A Bright, New, Fantastic Comedian On Mo’s Late-ish Show In August 2021, During His TV Comedy Series Last Summer. She Describes Herself On Instagram As A Comedian And A Black, Muslim, Sudanese Women. Her Slogan Is “Laughs With Labib”. Together They Billed Themselves As “The Black British Takeover”. Interestingly There Is No Mention of Comedy In That Title Which Is Arguably Something of A Missed Archival Opportunity Given The Importance of This Comedy History.

Large Queues & No Time To Lose

Comedian Munya Chawawa, Waits His Turn At The O2 – Come M0’2 , Greenwich, Weds Dec 8 2021. He’s Focused On His Fone As A Rather Indiscreet Fan Is Focused On Him. Photo: Zayyad Lawanson TheOrator.Press Photographer

Since He Began Uploadin’ His Laughin’ & Joking Years Ago Whilst Workin’ For Covent Garden’s Levis Store, His Fans & Followers Have Witnessed Mo’s Journey From Innovative Comedic Social Media Mimic To Co-hosting The Big Nastie Show On Channel Four To Hosting His Own Mo’s Lateish Show Also on Channel 4, To Both A Bafta Nomination In 2019, And A Royal Society Television Win In 2019 And Then Two National Television Society Awards The Followin’ Year. He Has Come A Long Long Way From His Denim Sellin’ Days. He’s Done Extremely Well & His TV Success Is A Joy To Behold. Especially His Joinin’ The Masked Singer & Dancer Franchise As A Judge (See TheOrator.Press Review June 2021 – www.TheOrator.Press).

Now He Boasts “I’m On Netflix” After His First Ever Sell Out Stand Up Tour ‘Coupla Cans’ Caught Their Attention. And He Can Afford To Pour Premium Brandy on The Floor At Award Shows, Which He Did On Screen At The Mobos Earlier This Month. He Has Previously Revealed That He Believes In Havin’ An Accountability Partner & So No Doubt He Will Be Duly Guided Such That He Can Avoid The Pitfalls of Self-destruction Caused By Believin’ In His Own Hype As Has Befallen Many A Star Before Him. No Doubt Too Whoever Is Bestowed With This Role Will Always Have The Strength To Keep Him Accountable By Supportin’ Him Remainin’ Funny, Respectful And Humble To Help Keep Him Where He’s Managed To Get To Thus Far.

He Has Great Potential To Keep Goin’ And It Will Be Wonderful If He Can Continue To Work His Way Up And Reach Mainstream Executive Level And Become A Powerful Decision Maker Sittin’ Around The Table. The Black Community Definetely Need More Relatable, Authentic, Versatile Voices Helpin’ To Make Entertainment, Media And Progressive Choices.

In The Meantime It Was Reported That Many of The Thousands of Other Guests And Press Arrivin At The 20,000 Capacity Venue Experienced Huge Long Slow Queues Which Caused Significant Confusion And Delay, Resultin’ In People Missin Part of The Show. No Doubt That’s Something The Brilliant Management Team Will Address As Part of Their Feedback Debrief. The Overall Show Was A Great Success And With Most Professional Large Scale Productions There Are Always Areas of Improvement That Need To Be Addressed For Continued Success. In Fact, Later On Whilst On Stage Mo Did Have The Good Grace To Acknowledge The Queue Situation.

Babatunde (@babatundecomedian) and Ola Labib (@theolalabib) Had Performed By The Time Our Team Worked Their Way Through The Apparent Chaos Entered The Arena. They Just Caught The Final Moments of Thanyia Moore (@thanyiamoore). Finishing Her Set Thanyia Asked The Crowd To Give A Generous Round of Applause For Mo Sharin’ His Platform With Her & Allowin Her “To Show The World Who She Really Is.”

World Class Band The Compozers Chime With The Vibe Durin’ A Studio Session

Mo’s House Band The Compozers, Musical Giants In Their Own Right, Once Again Occupied Their Role As In-house Music Maestros On The Night (TV Audiences Have Seen This Outstandin’ Group Perform With Him On The Lateish Show And They Perform Throughout The World). They Provided Audio Accents Throughout The Night And After They Played Moore off The Stage At The End of Her Set, Eddie Kadi (@comeddiekadi) Was Played On.

Eddie’s Endearin’ USP Is That His Comedy Is Clean, Which Ultimately Allows For Genuine Family Entertainment And This May Yet Prove To Be His Secret To Longevity. As Well As Bein’ All About His African Authenticity. He Is Sincerely In Love With His African Heritage & Loves Bein’ Part of Black British Culture. It’s The Fact That “We Get To Teach People About The World” He Says.

He captivated The Audience With His Observational Comedy On Different African & Jamaican Audio Communications From His Friend Tunde (Nigerian) and Leroy (Jamaica) And How African Women Only Need Two Sounds To Communicate How They Feel. The Crowd Loved The “Ahh-ahh” And “Eh-hhh” Respectively Back & Forth Like A Glorious Hilarious Game of Audible African & Patios Ping Pong.

All Hail The King. Comedy King Slim!

Slim With Mo (Who Thanked Him In His Channel 4 Documentary Black British & Funny For Inspirin’ Him). With Thanyia Moore, Also In The Documentary. With Fellow Comedian Ola Labib Who Also Performed At The O2-Come-Mo2 Wednesday December 8 2021. Photos: @slimcomedian on instagram

The CompoZers Composed Yet Another Rousin’ Rhythmic Introduction That Lifted The Audience Out of Their Seats As They Heralded The Arrival of The King. Comedy King Slim! Hailin’ From South London, Fresh From His History Makin’ Performance At The Royal Palladium Last Month, AnD Skipping Through The Cheers Onto the stage, Slim Acknowledged The Compozers & The Crowd With A Danny Dyer-esque “No Dj, Live Band…Ave it!” One Black & One White. One A South Londoner & One An East Ender. Both Middle Aged, Both Famous, And Both Funny. One Face Value They Appear Seemingly So Different, Yet As Human Beings They Both Have So Many Things In Common. Being Working Class, Down-To-Earth And Easily Likeable Bein’ Amongst Them.

Slims 15 Minute Set Cleverly Took The Audience on A Variety of Emotions Includin’ Acknowledgin’ That We Are Always Under Threat of Lockdown, Telling Us What Led To Him Buying A Cat, Talking About The Loyalty Of Dogs Compared To Cats That Purr & Twerk, And Poignantly Transitionin’ Into Dealin’ The Racism Shown After The 2020 Euros (Summer 2021). His Namesake Physique & Performance Energys Level Belie The Fact That He Will Celebrate His 50th Birthday Next Month (Jan 2022).

NextvIt Was Time For Eddie To Introduce The MVP, Which He Did After Takin The Crowd Down Memory Lane Back To Old School Garage Days. Employin’ The Art of Physical Comedy He Hysterically Illustrated How “Man ‘Dem” Used To Dance With Oxygen Or Paint The Sky, The Girls Had That One Killer Move, And Fast Forwarding To Today Oh How Things Have Changed.

Mo’ Mosey’s On Out & ‘G’ees Up The Crowd

Recently Returned From His National Tour Called ‘A Coupla Cans’ – And Now At The O2 Arena – Make That ‘The Mo2 Arena’ – Mr Gilligan Electrified Those Fans That Have Followed Him On His Magical Journey From “The Endz” In South London & Feel Like They Knew Him As A Friend & Bona Fide Funny Fam’. In Touch With His ‘Fan & Fam’ Base He Took The Time To Find Out Who Was ‘Reppin’ From North London, East London, West London, North West London And Ultimately South London – His Endz. The Whole Crowd Were On Their Feet Hyped Up & Lappin’ It Up As He ‘G’ eed Them Further Up With His Famous Chantin’:

“When I Say Mo, You Say Gilligan“

“Mo” – Gilligan; “Mo“- Gilligan

“When I Say Get a coupla, You Say Cans“

“Get A Coupla” – Cans

“Get A Coupla” – Cans“

Gentrification, Roadman Etiquette, Friendship Diversity Helpin’ With Social Media Videos, The Difference Between “The Lads” And “Man ‘Dem”, Enjoyin’ Different Holiday Experiences Depending On Who You Go With, And The Definition of The Word “Boom” All Had Their Turn As Figures of Fun In A Powerful 30 Minute Set.

Movingly Mo Said A Huge Special Public Thank To His Mother, Who Raised Him As A Single Mum And Without Whom He Wouldn’t Be At The Dizzy Heights He Is Today. He Also Individually Thanked Each of His Fellow Performers As He Called Them Back To The Stage One By One And Outlined What They Each Meant To Him.

In The Festive Spirit Mo & The Compozers Also Produced An Amazin’ Musical Moment Called ‘Rasta Christmas Rhymes’, Which Caught On So Well The Audience Left The Venue At The End of The Night Happily Singin’ “Fire Bun Christmas” As They Headed For The Underground. It Was An Ode To Mo’s Father Who He Described As A “Proper Rastaman”, Who Hilariously Hates Christmas But Loves Singin’.

Mo Had Magic Beenz‘

To Cap off A Jam Packed Evenin’ of High Energy Entertainment, Music, And Comedy, Mo Revealed His Incredible Talent For Self-restraint And The Art of Surprise As He Announced He Had One More Trick up His Sleeve. A Surprise Performance By Beenie Man!

On Hearing “Oh Na-Na, Na-Na, Na-Na ” People The Arena Erupted In Estatic Dancin’ And Singin’ Delight.

‘The Black British Takeover’ At The O2 Was A Dream Come True For Mo. As Well As Achievin’ His Aspirations, He Created Another Historical Comedy Legacy, December 2021, Just As Slim Had Done The Month Before At The Palladium. The UTC Management Team Have Done It Again. The Black Comedy Scene Is Definitely Changin’ And The Notorious ‘One In One Out Policy’ Is Totally On It’s Way Out. At Long Last!

Oh No He Didn’t? Oh Yes He Did?

Oh Na-Na, Na-Na, Na-Na!