Idringi brings the house down in Mauritius

Jul 01, 2014

He may be the target of unfair jokes in Uganda, but comedian Patrick ‘Salvador’ Idringi is making waves across Africa, and he is a very popular person.

By Kalungi Kabuye

He may be the target of unfair jokes in Uganda, but comedian Patrick ‘Salvador’ Idringi is making waves across Africa, and he is a very popular person.

Last Friday he took his particular style of magic to Mauritius, on the final day of a week of a media extravaganza organised by the pay TV company Multichoice. It was the MTV party where everyone gathered together for one last big blast.

I have seen Idringi ever since he came third in the Stand Up Uganda reality TV contest in 2010, and have watched him at several events. I thought I knew most of his jokes, and didn’t think I would laugh. But I did.

I was also curious how he would tailor his jokes to such a mixed crowd of people, most of them journalists, notorious for their cynicism. Somehow he did it, and when he left everybody wanted to have a picture with him. He was the celeb of the moment.

Just before he came on stage was South Africa’s Kagiso Lediga, whose Richard Pryor-like delivery, complete with monumental four-word laden punch lines, left a somewhat shocked audience.

Idiringi did not pretend to be somebody else, just a guy from a small village in Uganda. And the crowd loved him, although they did not seem to understand the peculiarities of people from Mbokolo.

He told jokes about Ugandans, about Indians, and about white people. His delivery was strong, fast and furious, and the people enjoyed his show. And I found myself laughing too, which kind of surprised me.

Idringi is a good ambassador to Uganda, and wherever he goes he leaves that more good feeling about Uganda. After Mauritius he was off to Nigeria where he built a kind of cult status.

 

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