Taaooma, speaking on the sidelines of the United States Mission in Nigeria’s 250th Independence Day celebration in Lagos, admitted to occasionally running out of ideas, but finds creative ways to recharge.
“It’s not like I don’t run out of ideas, but I obviously recoup and rejuvenate,” she said. “But one of the primary sources of my thoughts is my mother and everyday African parents, what they do and how they do things.”
“I just take the ideas and put my own spice on them. If you sit down and think about the things your mum does, there are so many funny and crazy things.”
The skit maker also revealed that she is intentional about the kind of content she consumes, saying she avoids contents that does not positively influence her creativity.
“I don’t just consume any kind of content. I consume things that I know will inspire me, things that are good for my brain, not just brainwash content,” she added.
Speaking on motherhood, the content creator said becoming a mother has influenced her creative process, adding that many of the things she now portrays in her skits are drawn from real-life experiences.
“There are so many things that I’m doing now. I’m doing them for real, for real,” she said.
Taaooma also opened up about the origin of Quadri, one of her most popular characters, revealing that he was never intended to become a recurring figure.
“Quadri was actually a waka-pass role. It was never meant to stay,” she said
“I think I created the character for an advert or maybe I just needed another neutral character. When I did it, I realised people liked it and I said, ‘Okay.’
“Quadri is just a regular Ilorin boy. They’re very rebellious. They can insult you. They don’t take nonsense. That’s just the Quadri character. Everybody has a Quadri character in their life.”
She also dismissed suggestions that she intentionally creates characters to reflect Nigeria’s different ethnic groups and regions.
“Even if I am intentional about putting Nigeria on the map with my content, I don’t think that part has been very intentional,” she said.
“I don’t sit down and say, ‘Let me pick a character from this region or that region.’ I just do it according to how it comes.”
