Art virtuoso changing the face of Kenyan TV

Jason Corder does not sit still. He fidgets, he twitches, he moves in his seat, he looks ready to leap out of the door and charge out into the world any minute. And this quality, too, is seen in his work. It pulsates, it is alive, jumps out at you and infects you in the same manner, enlivening you and leaving you, too, wanting to go, go, go!

You get a whiff of this in "Oh-bama!", the just released humorous web-series, featuring a zealously right-wing American investigator, here in Kenya on a mission to dig dirt with which to impeach US President Barack Obama. There, amid the star-studded cast (includes Mugambi Nthiga, Chichi Seii, Nini Wacera, and Ajuma Nasenyana) you will find Jason Corder playing the lead role as the whacky Donald John.

While created by Nigerian producer Ose, the series nevertheless captures the witty, irreverent and untrammelled flavour of Jason Corder’s own productions. In this age of non-carcinogenic wheelbarrows and highly acclaimed cattle dips and village bridges, this actor-cum-producer suggests that the absurdist age in Kenya is upon us. 

See, Jason’s is an irreverent, outlandish and un-PC type of comedy. There’s a scene in season one of his TV series "Stay", for instance, where he is decked out in a sisal skirt with tribal markings on his face, beating his chest with his fists, acting for all the world like Tarzan or King Kong.

And then his first script set to debut on stage, "Chang’aa Delivery", which revolves around a white man selling chang’aa in a very serious and professional home delivery business. It combines the outrageousness of Salvador Dali with the groundedness of Trevor Noah.

FUNNY SKITS

His style is not surprising, given that his own sense of humour was shaped by another renegade band of comedians — Monty Python — the British actors that were at their peak in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jason Corder is no new face to viewers. He’s been on TV in "Mali", "Changes" and "Stay", not to mention local films such as Intellectual Scum, The Rugged Priest and the Japanese The Lion Standing in the Wind.

But while famous on the streets of Nairobi, many don’t know that he started out late in this area and now also ‘makes’ TV, with his TV and film production house Corder Productions.

Just having turned 47, this tall actor-cum-producer ventured in this direction barely six years ago, inspiration that even after 40 one can still make new grooves in their life path. As if a child of fortune, Jason’s entire career life is tinged with serendipity.

“I was a math geek growing up and I just sort of fell into art. I had a girlfriend doing art and followed that, I had no talent to begin with. After seeing my work, my professor who was a hyper-realist (painting real life images in sharp focus) advised me to go abstract. He gave me the biggest brush in the class!”

For the first 15 years of his life as an artist, Jason traipsed across the world, painting images that took his fancy and learning from ‘the masters’. “I did an apprenticeship in France under Ousseynou Sarr. I wanted to do art with abandon, but I also wanted something that touches the viewer.”

If Kenya was the birthplace of mankind, then it was also the place that birthed new creative paths for this artist, his creative juices exploding when he found himself in Nairobi.

“I came to Nairobi with my now ex-wife in 2008, for what was initially supposed to be nine months. We got divorced along the way and I found myself as an abstract painter with no idea of how to get by. I had a few exhibitions and they were well received but I still needed to find other ways to make money.”

Of his own writing, Jason says that while he always had the idea for funny skits, it was a friend that encouraged him to write scripts, after which "Chang’aa Delivery" was born.

“I look out on the world and see the absurd. Coming to Kenya and watching the culture clash was, therefore, a minefield for this; like seeing white people almost lose their minds when the taxi was five minutes late.”

Following this, in 2011 Jason wrote another show, "Creativity Rocks", a children’s show aiming to emphasise the importance of creativity to children, following which he again took on the more adult issues of race and culture clash.

“We had first given 'Stay' the title 'If Only'. I worked with Kwame Nyong’o, Justin Purefoy and Ash Jivu to make the video and we shot a pilot, took it to Nokia and they said they would sponsor it. Just like that, I found myself as a producer.”

NEW TERRITORIES

At "Stay", this American artist found himself doing the work of writer, producer, head actor and composer. The series features more than eight of his songs on its soundtrack, the most mellifluous and recognizable perhaps being the title tune "Stay". How did he manage to do it all? “It sounds cliché to say but I had an awesome team around me, great professionals.”

Race is a fairly unexplored issue on Kenyan TV, never-mind that it’s an issue that immediately gets the Twitterati up in arms (remember Art Café, and then the guy that shoved the policewoman?). "Stay" aside, Jason, along with Claire Ash Meadow (director of Season 2 of "Stay"), produced "Coffee with Milk", a reality TV series revolving around the dating lives of Kenyans in mixed race relationships which came out in 2015. Season 1 having aired on StarTimes across Africa in 2015, season two is set to be shot this year, with shoots taking place in Nairobi and Johannesburg.

Season two of "Stay", meanwhile, aired on KTN, and has been presented to Netflix and, if taken, will air there as well as on other digital platforms such as Amazon and Hulu.

What motivates this man to keep going in his multivariate life?

“Very practically speaking, one thing would be providing for my children — I have three sons. My other inspiration is the earth itself, the physical world. I have a fond appreciation for nature and the world.”

Contemporary artists he admires are the actress Marion Cotillard and the singer and visual artist Beck, of whom he says: “He’s been a lifelong inspiration. For me, he’s the greatest white songwriter of my generation. Deep, poetic and a consummate artist.”

Despite Jason’s penchant for surging into new territories, he is not headed towards nuclear physics any time soon.

“I’m developing a lot of new stuff, mostly reality shows. Like one on new African migrants in the States. I’d like to start airing and shooting some of my content in the States. I’m also writing my first feature films even as I continue with TV.”

And then there’s also an upcoming TV show, "Tonight with Jason Corder", slated to be on the "What’s Good Live" TV channel. As for his more recent music (he released his first album, "Reptile Land", in the US, and became available on iTunes in 2004), Jason contemplates putting it together in an album.

“I should make it a goal. I do have enough material. It would be fun, so let’s put that on the bucket list for 2016 or 2017!”

When Jason Corder is not cracking our ribs, he is doing other serious things to change the world, including making documentaries about gender-based violence.

To sample his most recent work, catch "Oh-bama!" online on YouTube. But you’d better have a doctor or first aider near you as you do this. To make sure you don’t die laughing.