Comedians are some of the funniest people on the planet. Which means it is hard to sometimes take them serious where they are attempting to turn a new leaf or work on projects not bases in humor. For some, this is accomplished by taking on more serious roles in film, while others strive to tackle more meaningful projects in their real life. For actor and comedian Michael Blackson, he is looking to take the platform he has build as one of the funnest comedians in black Hollywood, and turn it into a successful president bid in Ghana.
Blackson was born in Ghana on November 28, 1972. He then moved to the U.S where he settled on the east coast, first in Newark, NJ and eventually in Philadephia. He was encouraged to pursue comedy by a friend and eventually became pretty popular. His breakthrough appearance was in 2000’s Next Friday. From there he’s been in Repos, Meet The Blacks, 30 Rock, The Chappelle Show and Coming 2 America.
He has been known for his frantic humor and poking fun at his african heritage. However we recently saw a softer side of Blackson following the death of his friend and fellow comedian AJ Johnson. Blackson was one of the first to send his condolences to Johnson and his family. He posted on instagram “if he’s ever made you laugh let’s all contribute and send him home the right way. I’m not sure what anyone is doing but I’m going to raise my own money for him.” He was able to eventually raise over $10k for his friend and help his family in their time of need.
Blackson is looking to do more good for the world, and he wants to start with his home country of Ghana. Back in May he tweeted “I’m going to clean up my act and run for president of Ghana in 4 yrs. No joke I’m too passionate about my people. Who will vote for me? Let me know now so I won’t waste my time.”
I’m going to clean up my act and run for president of Ghana in 4 yrs. No joke I’m too passionate about my people. Who will vote for me? Let me know now so I won’t waste my time
— Michael Blackson (@MichaelBlackson) May 15, 2021
While the verdict is still out on who will vote for him, he is wasting no time putting his money to good use now. He is currently back home helping get a school built. He has been posting pictures of kids in the village as he preps for the school to be completed sometime next year. In one post he said “Only thing that matters to me are the kids. Education can help them understand everything so I’m building them a school in my village. By the grace of God they will be in class next year.”
In the clip he can be heard reassuring the kids that a school would be built very soon. “Next September you’ll have a school, OK?” he told them. “You’re standing in your classroom right now. School is coming very soon, OK? Uncle promise you. School is on its way.” While there he is also looking to contribute to the Ghana film industry, which he admits is not its best. Speaking about he said “The production looked terrible and i’m like we need a better television. I think that has got better you know, like i’m ok where the entertainers at.”
He reveals plans to take his character Nexdorian Lieutenant from Coming 2 America and create a spin off film for him based in Ghana. By shooting it there he hopes to create jobs for local actors and film makers. Nexdorian Lieutenant was General Izzi’s (Wesley Snipes) aggressive second in command who introduced him at the start of the film. Speaking on the talent in Ghana Blackson recently told Ghanaweb.com, “Ghanaians are so talented, you know we have to get out of us, you know people dont know where to go. The actors don’t know where to get acting class.” He also revealed plans to open a comedy club for future comedians out of Ghana. “My goal is to come down here – and even if it’s a comedy club or something, to start with, to give the funny guys the platform, I’ll do that,” Blackson told Ghanacelebrities.com.
