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Eddie Kadi, the multi-award winning African comedian based in the UK, is currently in Ghana and has expressed hopes of becoming a resident. He has been rated as one of the top five stand-up comedians in the world and also had a record audience at the O2 Arena in London. His presence in Ghana has started raising eyebrows and reports say he would soon be signing onto BBnZ, the record label handling E.L. and Cwesi Oteng. Eddie, in an exclusive interview with NEWS-ONE, explained why he is in Ghana, his love for Ghanaian girls, his job as stand-up comedian and what should be expected of him. NEWS-ONE publishes excerpts of the interview which sounded more like a free comedy talk show: WHY ARE YOU IN GHANA? I�m in Ghana to discover a new part of myself. This is my third year performing in Ghana. I was here recently to host a musical comedy show featuring EL, Kevin Jay �another comedian from UK- and a few other acts. I have enjoyed the past three years and it felt like the Ghanaian audience I have performed to, take on to me pretty well. When you have former president John Kuffour sitting right in the front laughing, it�s a beautiful thing. There were several special guests that were there like Jim Ike, Nadia Buari among normal civilians laughing. It makes you feel at home. When I first came to Ghana I extended my stay because the environment was nice. I�m from Congo and I�ve been to Congo but it is not like Ghana. Ghana is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa but the people here do not know it. In Ghana, I saw a man at 3 in the morning jogging in the streets. You cannot jog in Congo like that, if you jog in Congo at 3am suddenly, it will be dark and when you wake up, you are somewhere you shouldn�t be. WHAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED OF YOU IN GHANA? In the short term, hopefully you should be seeing me on your TV screens, hearing my voice on the radio, watching me walking around your beach, watching me buying Fan Ice on the streets. That for the short term, I want people to start to understand who I am and get to know me and I�m also taking my time to understand the Ghanaian culture because it�s very important not to be ignorant of the culture. There is nothing worse than doing comedy and your comedy doesn't translate. I�m in my process of studying so I want to be everywhere. I was at Tawala Beach Resort yesterday and it was a different experience. I listened to them play reggae music all night. I had yam with sausage and Shito. I�m not a Shito person but because of peer pressure I ate it. There were girls there who kept asking �are you a man� and I said �I�m a man�. By the time I finished the Shito I was not even a woman, I had turned into a goat because the pepper was so hot. Long term wise, it would be nice to have more of a presence in Ghana, it will be nice to become a household name just as I am in the UK. I believe in every opportunity to be an ambassador for my culture not just as a Congolese but an African and when I�m performing in the UK, they don�t just see me as a Congolese man but an African. It�s nice to be back home �I consider Ghana as a home because I�m an African- and be able to share the joy with your people. It will be nice to walk around Ghana as a resident one day. YOUR LOVE LIFE I�m not married and I have no children, I�m single right now and at the moment I�m just trying to discover. HOOKED TO A GHANAIAN GIRL? The word hooked is very special because you can come into a house, get a coat and put it on a hook but that coat eventually will have to come off that hook when you have to leave. I�ve been studying, I know all the clubs from The Office all the way to Shaka Zulu. Ghanaian girls are very pretty, they are very well brought up and that�s me generalizing because one of my first girlfriends was Ghanaian. We went out for two years and she went away to study and we grew apart. WILL YOU GET HOOKED? It will be nice. Why not? But there are all types of ladies available; there are Congolese, Ghanaian girls -beautiful girls and well brought up. I don�t see why that will be something impossible. HOW DO YOU REMAIN A WORLD CLASS COMEDIAN? Consistency is really important. You have to love what you do. People like to step in and soon think �ok so right now move on to the next thing�. I�ve been a comedian professionally consistently and it is paying me. Laughter is the best medicine and I�m your local pharmacist. I�ve been doing this since 2006, that�s when I won my first award as the Best New Comer at the Black Entertainment Comedy Awards in the UK and that really shot me up to another level but I�ve been doing it for that long and it�s like you have to stay on top of your game, you have to be consistent, you have to understand your brand. I brand myself as a young UK based African comedian. Everybody knows that and my comedy is based around my experiences as a young British man who is of an African background. So all the challenges that comes with balancing both cultures. I�m proud of both cultures. I�m proud of the fact that I grew up in the UK but when you step into my house you are in Congo. These are the things that you put on stage and you know your people go like �at least there is someone up there who is representing us�. In order to keep doing this you have to standout, you have to have a purpose HOW DO YOUR PARENTS TAKE ALL THIS? My dad did not want me to be a comedian. He said �I sacrificed everything to bring you to be a clown. You could have stayed back there.� My dad came to watch my first show and he did not laugh, everybody laughed but my dad. When your dad is not laughing, it doesn�t matter who laughs. After the show I went to him and I said �dad you didn�t laugh�. He said �you are good you are talented�the reason why I didn�t laugh was I was counting 15 pounds per head while they were laughing because this is all about money�. YOUR CONCLUDING MESSAGE I love Ghana. The reason why you we don�t hear of war in Ghana is you people are laid back, you are too laid back. You are so laid back even your traffic is laid back. In Ghana the traffic is so tight is looks like a painting and it wasn�t moving at all. And this your, Azonto thing is one of the reasons I love Ghana so much. Ghana has introduced the world to something different even Prince William and his wife were doing Azonto. I�ll like to say to Ghana that I�m here to stay. I�m grateful for all your hospitality. I�ve come to Ghana to bring Makosa in exchange of Azonto.