How comedian Jalang’o joked his way to emceeing Obama’s event – PHOTOS
Celebrated Comedian Jalang’o, real name Felix Odiwuor, has described how a joke during his morning radio show on Hot 96 FM landed him an emcee job at an event presided by former US President Barack Obama.
President Obama visited his ancestral village on Monday to launch the Sauti Kuu Resource Centre started by his sister Auma Obama to help educate locals about utilising their talents.
Jalang’o narrated how his morning joke on radio, that he will be the emcee at President Obama’s event, earned him a phone call later in the evening from the public relations firm that was organising the event.
The caller, the managing director of Gina Din Events Lorna Irungu, began the telephone conversation by asking Jalang’o whether “he knew some dreams do come true”.
A clueless Jalang’o, is response, asked Ms Irungu “what dreams was she talking about”.
She replied that her company was handling President Obama’s public relations in Kenya and that he had been chosen to emcee the event.
‘THE TONGUE IS POWERFUL’
“Sometimes what you say is powerful because you never know who is watching or listening, the tongue is very powerful,” said Jalang’o told Citizen Extra.
Jalang’o, with a bit of bragging, said that when Obama took to the stage in K’Ogelo on Monday he appreciated him for the “good job” he was doing as an emcee.
The comedian could not stop gushing about the fact that he had greeted the former US president and that they even exchanged a few words.
“Obama held my hand as he was coming to the stage and patted me on my shoulder and told me good job and I said thank you Mr President,” he added.
According to the comedian, the event was not like any other that he has hosted. He had to undergo security vetting ahead of the event.
‘SECRET SERVICE’
“I had to go through meetings and interviews, where I would meet the secret service. It was a long process. I could not use my phone a few days to the event due to security reasons.”
He added that he was nervous because he was not sure if he would be able to handle such a big event.
But he kept drawing from his vast experience of hosting big events, including emceeing for presidential events and the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
On his social media pages, Jalang’o shared several pictures with prominent personalities he met during the event.