Saturday, July 18, 2015

Comedian and 2015 MAMAs host Anthony Anderson's advice for African artists and producers: 'Be truthful with the product that you put out'.


The American comedian and host of the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards, Anthony Anderson, has advice for African artists and producers: "Be truthful with the product that you put out".

Anthony Anderson also declared his love for the South African comedian Trevor Noah, set to take over as host of The Daily Show on Viacom's Comedy Central (DStv 122) from 28 September.

The 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards will be broadcast live on MTV Base (DStv 322), MTV (DStv 130) and BET (DStv 129) on Saturday night.

TV with Thinus asked the star of the American comedy Black-ish at the pre-event press conference held at the Playhouse Threate in Durban on Friday evening, what advice he has for Africa's artists, entertainers and producers - given the rapid emergence of much greater diversity in the American TV landscape with hit shows like Empire, Blach-ish, Power and others now seen around the world at the same time as its shown in America.

"When Black-ish premiered a year ago, I don't think there were any African-American shows on the air produced by an African-American star about an African-American family. We're only standing on the shoulders of those who came before us."

"People resonate with our show because we're just telling honest stories, as truthfully as we can. And that's our responsibility. We entertain, we're having fun but we're also opening the door for the next generation of story tellers to come through who have are minorities," said Anthony Anderson.

"Because of the success of Blach-ish, there's room for show like Fresh Off the Boat. Eventually we will kick the door off its hinges for everybody to come through and tell their stories."

"My advice for Africa is to keep pushing on, and to keep telling your stories and to keep creating. Because that's what we do and that what we're doing."

About the South African comedian Trevor Noah, Anthony Anderson says "Trevor Noah is a friend of mine, I love that brother".

"Hopefully we can come up with something great for his show," said Anthony Anderson.