Godfrey (comedian)

Godfrey

Godfrey at a 2007 American Music Awards after-party
Born Godfrey C. Danchimah, Jr.
(1969-07-21) July 21, 1969
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Occupation Actor/Comedian
Years active 1996–present

Godfrey C. Danchimah, Jr. (born July 21, 1969), professionally known as Godfrey, is an American comedian and actor[1] who has appeared on BET, VH1, Comedy Central, and feature films, such as Soul Plane, Original Gangstas, Zoolander, and Johnson Family Vacation. He was also a spokesperson for 7 Up during the popular '7up yours' advertising campaign. He was also a cast member on the first season of The It Factor, a reality television show. Currently, he is a regular performer at the comedy club Comedy Cellar in New York City. He is also known for doing the voices of Mr. Stubborn and Mr. Tall (Season 2) in The Mr. Men Show and hosting the FOX game show Bullseye.

Biography

Godfrey's parents are members of the Igbo ethnic group from Nigeria, who immigrated to the USA to escape the Nigerian Civil War. Godrey is a nephew of Nigerian musician Sonny Okosun.[2]

Godfrey was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 21, 1969. Soon after, the family settled in Chicago where Godfrey grew up. He attended Lane Technical College Preparatory High School and received an academic scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majored in psychology.

Here he made the varsity football team, where he performed at a traditional talent show for new team members. He stole the show performing impressions of his coaches and teammates and discovered his comedic talent.

Godfrey honed his stand-up skills at the All Jokes Aside comedy club in Chicago in the early 90's. In 1995, Godfrey made his New York debut at Carolines on Broadway and the Comic Strip Live and was soon signed by the William Morris Talent Agency. He began working regularly in television, first behind the cameras as a warm-up comedian for The Cosby Show and Soul Man. His first on-camera appearance featured him performing stand-up comedy for NBC's Friday Night Videos, followed by more small television and film roles. In 2000, Godfrey appeared in the Aspen Comedy Festival and on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. He also played a comical role in the movie Soul Plane, acting as an African pilot. He has also been in numerous episodes of BET's Comic View.

A self-styled karate master, he continues to do film and television work alongside his stand-up career in New York. His first one-hour special, "Godfrey: Black by Accident" was shot for Comedy Central on January 22, 2011 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City to a standing room only audience.[3]

As a guest of Mike Ward's show called "F*ck les varietes", part of the Just for Laughs 2012 festival of Montreal, his performance was highly acclaimed.[4] In the following year, he had his own solo show called "The Godfrey Complex" in the same festival for a whole week.[5]

Television

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Yeung, Bernice (January 28, 2007). "Step Into the Attic. Enter the Jazz Age". New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Episode 611 - Godfrey". WTF with Marc Maron. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.theblacklistnyc.com/godfrey.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.lapresse.ca/arts/festivals/juste-pour-rire/201207/19/01-4557067-gala-fck-les-varietes-vulgaire-et-choquant-a-souhait.php
  5. ↑ http://www.laughstub.com/events/306140?

3. Place of birth, KQRS Morning Show, Dec. 6, 2012

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.