A comedian is a person who uses jokes, amusing observations, and satire to entertain an audience. Over 15 years ago “comedian” was not a known profession in the land but today, Uganda’s comedy industry has slowly crawled through the woodwork and taken shape.
Back in the day, the hippest comedy nights took place in the backrooms of bars, restaurants, theaters, and makeshift performance spaces. Today, Comedy has claimed one of the top positions in the entertainment world, Comedians are as funny as ever, and can turn your bad day into a better day with their hilarious jokes. Various kinds of comedy have gained pop and appreciation, Comedians are becoming household names, earning fame, and recognition.
Local comedy is going through what the music industry has enjoyed for years. Daily comedy shows are happening, every week that comes by, a comedy outfit is formed and in every new structure, bar or hotel trying to sell themselves to the market, a comedy night is set up. With this background, the big question that arises is, Is Comedy slowly taking over Music in Uganda?
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
In the early 2000’s, Ugandan comedy was starting to enjoy some attention with groups such as Amarula Family, the radio duo of Abby Mukiibi and Kato Lubwama among others. Later in the years came other groups like the Theatre Factory that ran a weekly show at the National Theatre, Fun Factory then at Pan World and other drama groups that had made it a point to have comic relief in scripts and others.
We spoke to Felix Jesero, populary known as Dolibondo in the comedy circles about the journey of comedy to where it is today. According to him, comedy was there since with acts such as Amarula family who ruled for a longtime with a mixture of comedy types, he however emphasizes that comedy then was appreciated more by the local audiences. It was not until around 2007 – 2008 when the “Pilsner Stage to Fame” countrywide contest happened that comedy started to slowly be appreciated by the urban and uptown market. Dolibondo took part in that contest and surprisingly emerged winner.
In 2008, news started making the rounds that the M-Net Stand Up televised comedy franchise was coming to Uganda. It finally came in what was known as the Stand Up Uganda Contest, its here that Kenneth Kimuli AKA Pablo and Patrick Idring AKA Salvador won. Stand Up Uganda gave us names such as Patrick ‘Salvador’ Idringi, Daniel Omara, Emmanuel Ssebakigye and Alex Muhangi. Dolibondo says that this show was the turning point for comedy by giving it more hype in the urban market and it publicized stand up comedy. He however adds that the entire face of comedy was changed at Effendys Lounge in Centenary park with the Crackers comedy show. Comedy later grew to Laftaz Lounge and other bars over time to finally where it is today with big brands such as Comedy Store.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
In early 2020 when the COVID 19 pandemic kicked in, a reality that saw the Entertainment and entire arts sector physically closed down, musicians and comedians were put to a quest for a long standing solution to keep them relevant in the faces of their fans. Since most people were redundant at the time, the lasting solution for both the musicians and comedians was to go digital. True to that, Comedians resorted to doing short clips that they posted on social media platforms and they kept trending whereas on the other hand, musicians resorted to holding virtual online concerts to also stay relevant.
As time went by, reality hit and some artists resorted to doing small skits to remain relevant too simply because the costs of holding online concerts were high, they took long time to be watched unlike video clips by comedians that were relatively short and easy to consume. Comedians and comedy at large are believed to have been given more time and concentration in the lockdown times, no wonder upon the full re-opening of the economy early this year, comedy is changing the narrative of entertainment and slowly eating up the music space.
True to that, just this Easter weekend, there are various comedy shows that have been staged at big venues with either only comedians as the entertainers or them as the main acts and one, two musicians coming in as curtain raisers. Some of these shows include, Easter Fun Package Comedy Show happening at Freedom City on Easter Monday, Comedy Store happening at X-Hub in Najjeera on Easter Sunday and Comedy Podium happening at Akamwesi mall along Gayaza road on Easter among others.
With comedy taking over the country more so in the capital Kampala, comedy shows taking place, coming off as a wrap and the weekly menu continuing to grow each passing day, its only a clear indicator that despite the obstacles and difficulties, the comedy industry is blowing a favorable wind into the space and direction of the music Industry.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR COMEDY TO CLAIM ITS RIGHTFUL POSITION IN UGANDA?
Although Comedy is on that rising trail where almost all comedy shows sell out sending pundits into questions whether comedy has eventually usurped music’s magic, there are still a few bits that need to be put right within the comedy served to the audience. Issues like quality of the jokes need to addressed! Many comedians, mostly stand up comics turn their jokes to be Tribalistic, sexual, appearance, Gender based, Vulgar, Political, Residential amongst others. Although many are successful and happy while at it, the success is coming at the expense of creativity and morality.
Above it all, some of these comedians usually tend to repeat their jokes very often, unlike music where a hit song will forever be sweet and nice to listen to any day any time, its not the same for a joke, a repeated joke comes off as predictable and nagging! Richard Tuwangye, a comedian with Fun Factory, also famous for his onstage character Amos, an arrogant rich man from the west says that there a things about tribes that everyone knows and comedy can’t run away from.
“As a Munyankole, there are things I can say about my tribe and I will evoke laughter but regardless, there are some borders I can’t cross,” he says. He adds that as a Munyankole, he usually jokes about things people already know but would never craft lines about their women; “there is a thin line between what makes people laugh and what offends them. When you craft a joke, you know that someone will be offended.”
Much as comedy is a form of entertainment, using a section of people to derive humor promotes negative perception. These days it is common for comedians to make jokes that prejudice against people with special abilities, such acts and jokes make comedians come off as inhuman. According to Hannington Bugingo, the TUCA – The Uganda Comedians Association president, the association isn’t taking the trend lightly and besides talking and nurturing comedians and groups that are attached to the association, serious measures are being set in place.
“Today, people don’t want to write proper jokes, they only pick a tribe to the other. The danger is that many are not comedians but are only giving it a try. We have always asked them to be sensitive in regards to race, gender and tribes and we also push them to desist from being vulgar.” he said. He later gave an example of how for the association had already begun cracking its whip onto their own singling out a 2019 incident where Maulana and Reign apologized after they were summoned over foul language.
