Julius Agwu's Crack Ya Ribs in New York City - Photos and event gist

Julius Agwu at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

                            

Julius ‘Da Genius’ Agwu certainly lived up to the name of his popular stand up comedic show. Aptly titled ‘Crack ya ribs’, the show has had a very successful run over the past 12 years in Nigeria and this year Julius brought the fun and laughter to the United States.

More photos and gist abpout the event when you continue 

While it was a huge success for those who attended the New York show; it was a financial failure for Julius who bemoaned the fact for the entirety of the show – albeit in a humorous fashion.

Billed to start at 8pm the show didn’t start till almost 9pm – Freeze of Cool F.M took the stage and got the (small) crowd going with jokes and funny skits about life in Nigeria, the entertainment industry and what it was like being a radio D.J back in the day when all he had was a cassette and a ‘biro’.

Freeze of Cool FM Crack Ya Ribs 2012 NYC

Julius came on shortly and for the first 5 minutes, humorously consoled himself for the poor crowd turnout; and then with the clapping and singing support of the crowd, launched into a ‘praise and worship’ session which ironically was done to the beat of Ying Yang Twin’s popular (and dirty) ‘Whisper Song’

Julius Agwu leading Praise and Worship Session at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 NYC

Audience During Julius Agwu’s Praise and Worship Session at Crack Ya Ribs NYC 2012

The first ‘scapegoat’ of his joke that evening was Susan Peters who was sitting up front and did the unthinkable – laughed out loud at Julius while he was lost in thought on stage. He went in hard on her – making fun of her ability as a model (she’d participated in the Nigerian Entertainment Awards fashion show the day before) and of her “non existent” butt. The crowd roared in approval.

Susan Peters at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

His next ‘target’ was A.Y and so nasty was the joke that I won’t even bother repeating it here (A.Y actually ran on stage to try and mock wrestle Julius), needless to say the joke was about AY’s immense passion for and addiction to ‘gourmet’ food.

AY mock wrestling with Julius Agwu at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

‘Lil Miss Miss’ an upcoming rap artiste took to the stage next – spittin’ lyrics and dropping it like it was hot in hot pants, a sparkly tube top, flaming red hair and 6 inch heels; she was definitely a sight to behold. The song was kinda catchy but the C.D was being played too loud for her to be heard above her recorded voice – but she certainly didn’t let that deter her. She had great stage presence and was ably assisted by Enzé, who also showed off her amazing vocal prowess.

Lil Miss Miss and Enza performing at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

My Favorite of the night definitely  had to be ‘Chigurl’. I laughed from beginning to the end of her performance. Having listened to every single voice note of hers, it was absolutely brilliant singing along with her to her ‘classics’ – ‘Kilode’  and ‘I’m not gonna be a waste’

Chigurl at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

A bundle of talent she definitely is as she wowed the crowd with her tone perfect imitation of a Mexican/El Salvadorean store worker and a horny Puerto Rican housewife – the crowd was in stitches.

Music act ‘Oloye’ was on next and got the crowd bobbing their heads to his song.

Oloye at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

The greatest ‘comeback’ of the night definitely has to go to comedian ‘Namo’. When it was time for Julius to introduce him, he got the worst introduction ever witnessed in stand up comedy history as far as I was concerned. Julius made it a point of saying at least 5 times how he had never heard of him, how he was literally ‘forced’ down his throat to perform at the show ( and all the while when referring to him as a comedian, he would draw exaggerated quotation marks in the air).

Namo and Julius Agwu at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 – NYC

Namo got on stage and proved himself- what could have easily been a disaster for him, got turned around to his advantage as the crowd was laughing heartily to his jokes.

Next up was Funnybone who took it a notch further to the laughing approval of the crowd.

Funnybone talking about what it seems he’s talking about at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 – NYC

Senator followed next and ended his performance with help from Funnybone as together they performed a rib cracking skit about the difference between the Northerners, Westerners and Easterners when it comes to dancing to a certain song.

Senator and Funnybone at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 – NYC

At some point Julius kept asking for the whereabouts of the Ghanaian comedians but for some reason, they couldn’t be ‘found’.

Juliet Ibrahim at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 – NYC

Now keep in mind this show was tagged ‘Ghana meets Nigeria’ but so far there were no Ghanaian performers in sight on stage, of course the gorgeous Juliet Ibrahim was present in the audience, so I’m sure that made up for their absence, at least as far as the men were concerned.

Two more music acts took the stage – the ‘Yoruba speaking with phonetics’ and Eddie King; they got the crowd moving and singing along to their funky beats and catchy lyrics.

Julius Agwu grooving on stage at Crack Ya Ribs 2012, NYC

Seyi Law was the last comedian of the night, at this time, it was past 11pm which meant the organizers had gone over the allotted time given by the Symphony Space theater, so the theater crew not only turned off the air conditioning, but also started flicking the stage lights on and off to indicate the show was over. However, like the pro he is, Seyi Law was not deterred and made sure he concluded his act on a high rib-cracking note.

At this point, Julius had all the performers and those who didn’t get a chance to perform (like ‘Yaw’) come on stage.

All in all it was a great night out – the only draw back obviously being the low turn out. Yet again another poorly advertised and promoted show – hopefully the lesson’s been learnt and next year will have a better turn out.

Looks like Africa Bambaataa Jr. was at Crack Ya Ribs 2012 – NYC

Either way, great oaks from little acorns grow, and I’m certain if Julius keeps this going, the time will come when he’ll be able to fill arenas in the USA, for truly, everyone gave a 5 star performance.