Stand up comedy finally finds its feet

Mar 05, 2009

A decade ago, comedy went almost unnoticed in Uganda. Today, stand up comedy or whatever passes for it in Uganda is, by far, the most rapidly growing art. From the stage to their television sets, Ugandans are falling in love with comedy.

A decade ago, comedy went almost unnoticed in Uganda. Today, stand up comedy or whatever passes for it in Uganda is, by far, the most rapidly growing art. From the stage to their television sets, Ugandans are falling in love with comedy. Emmanuel Ssejjengo and Ernest Bazanye examine the phenomenon:

Stand up comedy in Uganda? Is there really a market for that sort of thing around here? Yuppies might like American comedians like Chris Rock but most Ugandans prefer clowns and sketch comedy like Amarula Family.

To that I haughtily reply, oh really? Today, from The Orions, Amarula Family to Theatre Factory, comedians no longer play second fiddle to musicians.

They can hold and sustain their own big sold-out shows as opposed to a time when they were only featured as opening acts at popular concerts.

About 700 people per week throng the National Theatre every Thursday to watch Comedy Nite, a show by Theatre Factory. Amarula Family has recorded phenomenal numbers at their popular Akabadi as well.

One of the reasons our comedians have become household names is television. There is Barbed Wire (by Theatre Factory) on NTV every week, Side Mirror (by Amarula Family) on WBS TV and Noisy Class on Record TV. The fact that comedians made the transition from stage to television, attests to the art’s popularity.

Companies have jumped onto the bandwagon and not only staked millions of shillings to find new talent, but also promoted the craft.

In 2007, East Africa Breweries Uganda Limited (EABL) under its Pilsner Lager brand, reportedly invested sh250m in a countrywide Stage to Fame project.

It was a stand up comedy competition whose eventual winner Dolibondo (Felix Jesero) won a recording contract.
Marion Muyobo, the head of marketing for EABL, justifies their involvement thus: “Stand up is new in Uganda and it attracts crowds. It was an opportunity for us.”

uganda telecom took up the popular Comedy Nite and entered a sh51m deal with Theatre Factory to sponsor their show on NTV.

Dstv is the latest to jump on the band wagon with Stand Up Uganda, a reality TV/talent search show in which the eventual winner will receive $10,000 (sh20m) while several other participants have been winning $100 (shs195,000).

They are reportedly spending over sh150m on the search. With all this attention, life for the comedians has not remained the same.

Like their American counterparts, they now sell DVDs of their work! From Amarula Family DVDs, Theatre Factory’s Barbed Wire seasons I and II and Kenneth Kimuli aka Pablo’s DVD cost sh10,000.

Phillip Luswata, the founder and director of Theatre Factory, attributes the trend to the emergence of a different kind of middle class.

“In the 1980s, it was the politicians who had money and there were a lot of politically-oriented plays in theatre,” he says. “Today, 20-year-olds pay for entertainment.”

Skeptics, however, argue that Ugandan comedians are nothing but clowns who powder their hair white and contort their face to panders to the least common denominator.

And, if truth be told, the only regular Stand Up comedian is Pablo. Ndere Troupe’s Sam Okello Okello was at it about three years ago, stopped and is only contemplating to resume his comedy shows at Ndere Centre.

Granted. But then again, there is no need to be subtle or sophisticated to achieve success in comedy in Uganda. From Dikuula to the Ebonies to Amarula, no one ever went broke from aiming too low when it came to comedy tastes.

Sneer at them, deride their silliness and their dumb, predictable routines; but one theory of comedy, as immutable as Newton ’s Law is: If you don’t laugh, it doesn’t mean the joke isn’t funny.

It probably means you don’t get it. And the fact that many people laughed at the Ebonies’ Bob Fred Mpiima (Okitegeera) proves that they did find him funny, and that is how the clowns came to represent professional comedy in Uganda.

Interestingly, looking back at the roots of stand up in the USA, you will notice something striking. Modern stand up rose from old American variety stage shows that included sketches and songs, just like Amarula and Theatre Factory.

Occasionally, a single performer would deliver a monologue or a series of jokes in front of the curtain. When these monologuists were really good, they evolved into top-billed performers who could headline a show themselves and by the 1970s, when stand up became a major showbiz genre, they were stars in their own right.

The essentials of stand up are familiar to all of us. Sitting in an audience to hear one person tell us funny stories? We have all done that –– in our churches, school and at political rallies.

Only that to succeed, our comedians need to speak our language and talk about our lives and, most importantly, be funny, be very funny, and soon, we will be stocking their DVDS next to our PAM Award winners’ CDs and Ugawood movies.

Additional reporting by Sebidde Kiryowa

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