Godfrey Danchimah
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Godfrey C. Danchimah Jr. (born July 21, 1969), professionally known mononymously as Godfrey, is an American comedian, impressionist and actor who has appeared on
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,
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,
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, and feature films, such as ''
Soul Plane ''Soul Plane'' is a 2004 American black comedy Parody film, parody film directed by Jessy Terrero (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut). The film stars Tom Arnold (actor), Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Method Man and Sn ...
'', ''
Original Gangstas ''Original Gangstas'' is a 1996 action-gangster film filmed and set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Ron O'Neal. It is the final film directed by Lar ...
'', ''
Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' televisi ...
'', and ''
Johnson Family Vacation ''Johnson Family Vacation'' is a 2004 American road comedy film directed by Christopher Erskin in his directorial debut. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams, Bow Wow, Gabby Soleil, Shannon Elizabeth, Solange Knowles, and Steve Har ...
''. He was also a spokesperson for
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during the popular '7up yours' advertising campaign and a cast member on the first season of '' The It Factor'', a reality television show. Currently, he is a regular performer at the comedy club
Comedy Cellar The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York City comedians perform; it is sometimes referred to as the "Harvard of comedy clubs". Operations It was founded in 1982 by then-stand-up comedian, and current televisio ...
in New York. He is also known for doing the voices of Mr. Stubborn and Mr. Tall (season 2) in '' The Mr. Men Show'' and hosting the
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game show ''
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''. Godfrey also hosted his own radio show on
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until he parted ways with the show in July 2019. He now owns and hosts a podcast called 'In Godfrey We Trust' on the “ Gas Digital Network”. He is also known for collaborating with other social media stars such as
King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), better known by his stage name King Bach ( ), is a Canadian-American Internet comedian and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, on which he was the most-followed user w ...
, Destorm Power, etc. He was once a regular guest on
VladTV DJ Vlad (born Vladislav Lyubovny, June 28, 1973) is a Ukrainian-American interviewer, journalist, and former DJ. He is the creator of the news website ''VladTV.com''. His namesake YouTube channel hosts interviews of prominent entertainers and cel ...
.


Biography

Godfrey's parents are from Nigeria. Their Nigerian heritage is of the
Igbo tribe The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and historically also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', / / ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Their primary origin is fo ...
. They immigrated to the US to escape the
Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...
. Godfrey is a nephew of Nigerian musician
Sonny Okosun Sonny Okosun (1 January 1947 – 24 May 2008) was a Nigerian musician, who was known as the leader of the Ozzidi band. He named his band Ozzidi after a renowned Ijaw languages, Ijaw river god, but to Okosun the meaning was "there is a message". ...
. Godfrey was born in
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, on July 21, 1969. Soon after, the family settled in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
where Godfrey grew up. He attended Lane Technical College Preparatory High School and received an academic scholarship to the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
, where he majored in psychology. At the University of Illinois, he made the varsity football team and performed at a traditional talent show for new team members.


Career

Godfrey honed his stand-up skills at the All Jokes Aside comedy club in Chicago in the early 1990s. In 1995, Godfrey made his New York debut at
Carolines on Broadway Carolines on Broadway was a venue for stand-up comedy situated at 750 Seventh Avenue, on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The club operated from 1981 to 2022. History Caroline H ...
and the
Comic Strip Live The Comic Strip Live is the oldest stand-up comedy showcase club in New York City, located at 1568 Second Avenue (between 81st and 82nd Streets). History The Comic Strip was opened in 1976. Richard Tienken and Robert Wachs were two of the club ...
and was soon signed by the William Morris Talent Agency. He began working regularly in television, first behind the cameras as a warm-up comedian for '' Cosby'' and '' Soul Man''. His first on-camera appearance featured him performing stand-up comedy for NBC's ''
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'', followed by more small television and film roles. In 2000, Godfrey appeared in the
Aspen Comedy Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...
and on
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's ''
Premium Blend ''Premium Blend'' was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005 the show was changed, and now known as " Live at Gotham". The show ...
''. He also played a comical role in the movie ''
Soul Plane ''Soul Plane'' is a 2004 American black comedy Parody film, parody film directed by Jessy Terrero (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut). The film stars Tom Arnold (actor), Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Method Man and Sn ...
'', acting as an African pilot. He has also been in numerous episodes of BET's ''
Comic View ''Comic View'' is an American stand-up comedy show that aired on Black Entertainment Television, BET on Tuesdays and Fridays from September 1992 to December 2008. In May 2014, BET announced the return of ''Comic View''. The show has been the lau ...
''. A self-styled karate master, he continues to do film and television work alongside his stand-up career in New York. His first one-hour special, "Godfrey: Black by Accident" was shot for Comedy Central on January 22, 2011, at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City to a standing room only audience. As a guest of Mike Ward's show called "F*ck les variétés", part of the Just for Laughs 2012 festival of Montreal, his performance was highly acclaimed. In the following year, he had his own solo show called "The Godfrey Complex" in the same festival for a whole week.
? His second one-hour special, "Godfrey: Regular Black" was shot in Chicago, his home town, on August 12, 2016.


Filmography


Film


Television


Documentary


Comedy releases


See also

*
List of Igbo people The list of Igbo people includes notable individuals who have full or significant ancestry traced back to the Igbo people of South-East and South-South geopolitical regions of Nigeria. This page also contains names of people who traced their ...


References


External links

* * *
Comedy Central entry for Godfrey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey 1969 births American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors African-American male actors African-American male comedians African-American stand-up comedians American stand-up comedians Illinois Fighting Illini football players Living people Male actors from Lincoln, Nebraska Igbo male actors American people of Igbo descent 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Comedians from Nebraska