Author of Kony comical expose coming to town

By Mildred Apenyo
HERE’S a comedian cum author who has dared to present to you the story of the rebel Joseph Kony and the war in northern Uganda in a comical but clever way. Jane Bussmann is her name, and she will be performing at Mish Mash on Acacia Avenue this Friday April 20, 8:30pm.

Do not be fooled by the comedy, Bussman makes real homeruns that will get you deep in thought. She is a British stand-up comic and author, who has been touring the world with a unique show about Uganda.

The author of Worst Date Ever, or How It Took A Comic To Expose Africa’s Secret War, was doing celebrity interviews with Hollywood stars until a twist of fate led her to Northern Uganda in the midst of the LRA insurgency.

The Guardian review of the book calls it “Funny, excruciating and utterly exhausting, her book tells of her desperate blundering around Uganda, being spied on and befriended, and her gradual discovery of the evil surrounding Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.”

Worst Date Ever is a memoir that tackles the various complexities of the LRA problem, from NGO issues, to corruption, to expatriate “saviours”, to the victims of the war. The memoir was converted into a one-man play that was staged on Broadway and the famous Edinburgh Festival, as well as here in Kampala, at the Kampala Serena Hotel in 2010.

Now Bussman is returning to town, in the wake of the controversial Kony2012 YouTube video to perform again in aid of charity. Proceeds from her upcoming show will aid efforts to recovery of victims of the LRA war. She had this to say in a phone interview with New Vision: “Uganda’s is a most incredible story. Instead of all the fey trivia in columns the world over, all these human angle stories should be written. We could have two years’ worth of Oprah from Uganda alone!”

Want to crack a rib? Be at Mish Mash this Friday at 8:30pm, Bussman will be there. Advance tickets at the hangout go for sh40,000, while at-the-door entrance will set you back by sh50,000. “It is impossible to stop laughing,” that is how The Guardian UK further reviews Jane Bussman’s work.