Comedian and talk show host Teju Babyface, born Gbadewonuola Olateju Oyelakin, has said he might not have started the Deep Dive Podcast had he been in Nigeria.
The 45-year-old, widely known for his Teju Babyface Show, stated this in a recent interview with QEDNG publisher Olumide Iyanda.
“We’re in the era of podcasting. When you consider that Trevoh Noah with all the machinery of the Daily Show behind him, left that to go and start a podcast. We’re in that era now even if I was still in Nigeria. I had the Teju Babyface Show there is a degree to which I would have been greatly conflicted right now that whether the best move was not to stop that and go do a podcast,” he said when asked if podcaster should be added to his titles.
He continued, “So yes you can add podcaster but in the end it’s just a talk show that goes to market faster. That’s what a podcast is, a product whose turnover time is faster than the traditional talk show.”
Teju Babyface, who is now based in the United States, said his relocation was not planned as he only intended to holiday for a couple of months until COVID-19 struck and kept him longer than intended.
According to him, the holiday was for him to reset from the hectic work of putting the show together and getting it aired on television.
Teju Babyface said he regularly takes breaks, which are transition periods for him. He said one of such breaks led him to move from being an actor to a comedian, and another saw him switch from a comedian to starting the Teju Babyface Show.
He noted, however, that transiting from a big television show with a studio, audience and band among others, to a podcast which was far smaller in logistics was not easy.
“It was not easy for me I must confess to you,” he said.
Teju Babyface confessed that he initially returned to Nigeria to start the show again but realised that podcasting was a no-brainer as it would require less work to get the same or even better results.
He said he also tried to go into thought leadership, to become an inspirational speaker but it didn’t work the way he expected.
