Comedian Emmanuel Sonubi to bring his hit show Emancipation to Chorley

Emmanuel Sonubi from North London began his comedy career in 2016 but since then has catapulted up the comedy ranks.

After a sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run earlier this year, which earned him a Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nomination, Emmanuel is currently half way through his first ever live tour, called Emancipation.

The father of two spoke to the Post about his career so far, and why the people of Lancashire should buy tickets whilst they still can…

What is Emmanuel’s background?

Born the youngest, and only boy, of five children, Emmanuel has had a much varied CV before becoming a comic.

He told the Post: “I never wanted to be a comedian, that was never my dream as a kid but I’ve always loved comedy – film, stand up, anything that would make you laugh was what we watched as kids all the time. But we also watched a lot of musicals so I fell in love with performing and I did musical theatre for many years.”

As well as having a career in the West End, Emmanuel has been a doorman in some of the scariest clubs in London, and most recently worked in IT, data, and network security, joking “I was basically a digital Batman”.

How did Emmanuel turn to comedy?

Emmanuel said: “I went to see a comedy show that my friend was doing, she’d just done a comedy course, and because I'd had a drink, when they were like, ‘you're funny, you should do it’, I was like ‘yeah, that's a great idea’, and I gave them my details. I woke up the next morning, and I swear to God, I was so full of regret, I was like please don't call me, I did not want to do this. But then they did call me and they said, ‘we've got a five minute spot for you. do you want to do it?’, and I thought well I've already said yes now.

"Then literally, from the first punch line, I was hooked, and it just felt like everything I've ever done, now made sense. Theatre taught me how to be on stage, being a bouncer, taught me presence – even working in IT, because a lot of it is dealing with people and how to relay a message in a way that they can understand – so all of these things came together quite nicely and made for good stand up.”

What has his comedy career been like so far?

When asked for his career highlights, Emmanuel said he could pinpoint three main ones, the first being his first full weekend at the prestigious Comedy Store in London, as “that’s when I felt like a professional comedian”, and the second being Live at the Apollo “because that was the big goal”.

Emmanuel added: “The amount of times I've watched episodes of Live at the Apollo, and seen the lights go up and the comic walk out, it actually got quite frustrating at one point, because I wanted it so badly that I found it hard to watch, so having that opportunity to do it, and for it to go well – that was a big thing. Then the last highlight is when I supported Jason Manford on his arena tour. We did Leeds arena, I think 11,000 people, and that was when I realised I can actually do this to this capacity, and it gave me new goals.”

As well as appearing on numerous Comedy Central programmes, Emmanuel has also been on The John Bishop Show and Sorry I Didn’t Know for ITV1, The Stand Up Sketch Show on ITV2 and can be heard on number BBC Radio shows inluding The Now Show and The Likely Dads.

On a less glamorous note, Emmanuel mentioned one other stand out moment from his career so far – when he suffered heart failure live on stage, all of sudden losing his ability to breathe.

He explained: “All that's done is made me appreciate stuff a lot more. It was scary, but it wasn't necessarily a low point because that show was awesome, and the funny thing was, as it kicked in, because I couldn't breathe properly, it changed the timing of the joke that I was telling, which made it better, so now I've got that constant reminder, because I always tell that joke slower.”

What can we expect from Emmanuel’s first solo tour?

Called Emancipation, Emmanuel says he talks about “everything”, from his childhood, to life as a parent himself to two young children, and of course his many careers, such as “how being a bouncer is very much like being a parent”.

Emmanuel summarised: “I try and talk about as much as I can, that people can relate to, because it's that feeling of ‘I'm not alone’ and when you see that on an audience member’s face, it's really, really special.

“It's an hour of escapism fun, it’s having a laugh for an hour with a room full of other people. It's not designed to make you cry, make you think, it's just meant to entertain, which is my favourite part of comedy. There isn’t an agenda, it's just like, here's some fun.”

When is Emancipation coming to Chorley?

The show is coming to Chorley Little Theatre on Thursday, May 18, and there are still some tickets available.

When asked why people should grab them before it is too late, Emmanuel answered: “It'll make their day, and they'll be so upset if they miss it. I did see someone that missed a show, and they said it was the worst decision they've ever made. Now their whole life has broken down, and I don't want that for the people of Chorley.”