Laughter is served

Seated in what appears to be a living room, and in a serious conversation, Kapere interjects, making a loud sound, an indication of irritation. He frowns then taps Abby Mukiibi as he continuously fans his nose.
“Stop putting up a serious face. You have just spoilt the air,” he says, bulging his eyes through specs that rest almost at the tip of his nose. The audience is thrown into bouts of laughter because Mukiibi seems surprised, or is pretending to be.
Almost immediately Patriko Mujuuka and Patrick Ssembusi start giggling because Mukiibi is their boss and they do not want to openly laugh or appear to be disloyal to the man that calls the shots at the workplace.

Men behaving badly
Embarassed, Mukiibi smiles sheepishly and sends a hi-five to Kapere who won’t take it, and continues mumbling about how ill-mannered grown-ups have become. This only gets the audience laughing more. The facial expressions on all the men’s faces are hilarious.
It is a Tuesday night and Uganda’s top actors and comedians are on stage to reduce men and women to baby laughter. It is the weekly dose of comedy served under the dub Akandolindoli, a Luganda word for a group of people meeting and engaging in funny loose talk.
Ridiculing society
Be it political or social issues, they are all served in a light form, weaving comic satire and good acting for people to wind down a busy week, through comedy.
The comical dramatisation of actual events and word on the rumour mill, with social and political undertones, is a sure way to keep a crowd returning week after week.
Uganda has recently experienced some bizarre happenings as police has its run-ins with supporters of former presidential candidate, Retired Colonel, Dr. Kizza Besigye, which have created material to the comedians that will leave the audience in stitches.
Every last Tuesday of the month, be sure to catch a popular artiste as one of the headliners for the fetes, adding musical entertainment to the comedy shows that feature other actors and comedians like Leila Kalanzi alias Kachapizo, Musa Male, Ssenga Justine Nantume “Nanyinizo”, MC Mariach and a dual of Madrat and Chicko.
Revellers pack up Red Nite Pub, just outside Bat Valley Theatre, to partake of the wit that sometimes borders on utter clowning from one Kanyanya, a radio presenter with CBS FM, a popular radio station.
The idea of Akandolindoli was developed about half a decade ago when comedy started getting popular
John Segawa explains that stake holders in theatre industry felt left out so they decided to take it on. “It is an idea we harboured between myself, Patriko, Abby and the late Paddy Bitama. We later formed a group called The Spotlight to be the flagship to this endeavour,” he recollects. There is some work that goes into the night’s acts. The crew meets for rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday.
Entrance to the routine shows is Shs10, 000 and Shs20, 000 for the shows where artistes are featured. From a small crowd, Akandolindoli now attracts over 1,500 patrons a month. The shows are filmed and televised.

Themed acts
The shows are themed in form of seasons with code names. One of the recent ones has been dubbed Tyetyemuka and another Just Relaxing, mainly targeting a different new audience. There is a fixture on the weekly programme, Jjaja Bruce, who performs mimes, on addition to a dance troupe.

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