Nigerian comedian Ayo Makun, known as AY, has apologised after his Cardiff show failed to deliver the advertised performances. He has asked the organisers and his UK tour management to provide ticket holders with refund information following a dispute over payments.
The Cardiff leg of AY Live: Single and Not Searching was scheduled for Sunday, 25 October, at Valegate Retail Park in Culverhouse Cross. In a statement issued on Monday, AY said he and fellow comedians travelled to Cardiff and eventually entered the venue, but their appearance was delayed.
According to his account, most of the audience had left by the time they reached the hall. He attributed the delay to unresolved payment commitments and apologised to people who had bought tickets and attended.
“You deserved a properly organised show and timely information. You should never have been caught in the middle of a payment dispute,” he said in the statement, reproduced by QED.
The statement, signed by Ayo Makun for Corporate World Entertainment Ltd, asked the organisers and UK tour management to set out a clear resolution. AY said verified updates would be shared through his official channels.
He did not set out a refund timetable or confirm that repayments had begun. The event’s public ticket listing also contained no refund arrangements when checked on Tuesday morning.
The Fatsoma listing names Nero Xperience & Entertainment Limited as the promoter. It advertised doors opening at 4pm and the comedy performance starting at 4.30pm, with AY, Akpororo and MC Monica named in the programme.
Tickets were sold in several categories. An early-bird option was listed at £15 plus a £1.50 booking fee, while standard admission options ranged from £25 to £45 before fees. A four-person table cost £350 plus £35, and an eight-person table was £550 plus £55. Those table prices covered groups rather than individual admission.
The advertised programme also included food, music and networking from the afternoon, followed by an Afrobeats afterparty from 9pm. The listing gives an overall event window of 4pm to 11pm. These were the advertised arrangements, rather than confirmation that each part of the programme took place.
In a separate explanation reported by Premium Times, AY said his team arrived in Cardiff before 5pm ready to perform. He alleged that the outstanding balance for their appearance had been due at the end of September and remained unpaid.
He said the team had raised the issue before travelling and received assurances that payment would be settled before they left their accommodation for the venue. He also alleged that an earlier performance in Leicester had gone ahead after similar assurances, without the outstanding balance subsequently being paid.
Those payment claims are AY’s account of the dispute. An independently verified account of the contractual arrangements or the promoter’s response was not available for this report.
AY said his remaining UK dates were still scheduled: Birmingham on 30 October, London on 31 October and Manchester on 1 November. He did not announce a replacement date for Cardiff in the statement.
Image: Ayo Makun at AMVCA, 14 March 2020. Ayokanmi Oyeyemi / Kaizenify / Kaizen Fotography, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Archival portrait, not the Cardiff performance. Display versions resized; social adaptation adds branding and text under the same licence.
