Finally, Uganda gets a comedy club
Some of the stand up comedians share a light moment during the launch . PHOTO/ANDREW KAGGWA
What you need to know:
A comedy club will provide different comedy nights, a free night on Tuesday, a Mic Cheque on Thursday and a live show featuring one comedian. On Friday 21, the comedy club was launched in an exciting event.
If you have heard even the slightest bit about the reality TV show Stand Up Uganda, then you likely have some idea of how the modern stand-up comedy scene has evolved. MultiChoice Africa courtesy of M-Net started a Pan African reality show, Stand Up. They created versions of the show such as Stand Zambia, Stand Up Nigeria, Stand Up Kenya and the Ugandan version, Stand Up Uganda.
At the time, Uganda had a burgeoning comedy scene thanks to the Amarula Family who had taken sketch comedy to the public, but what most of them were doing was in Luganda and mainly did acts in twos or threes. Amarula was a big part if not the face of Ugandan comedy in the late 1990s and the early 2000s; they were the only comedians with the licence to joke about almost anything and people took it lightly.
They made fun of the president, the Kampala mayor of the time and were the only comedians who had a performance slot at the peak of a concert; it wasn’t out of this world for Amooti Omubalanguzi or Paddy Bitama to take on the stage slightly before Jose Chameleone or after Bebe Cool to do a parody of Saida Kaloli, that’s how big Amarula Family was and is on the local comedy scene.
But it was in the 2000s that stand up comedy as we know it today started taking shape, and this was thanks to Philip Luswata’s Theatre Factory. Then, Theatre Factory performed for food changing venues mainly because wherever they went, most of their patrons could hardly understand what they were trying to do.
When they found their home at the National Theatre gardens however, they settled in and turned Thursday evenings into laugh Thursdays.
It was on the Theatre Factory stage that Kenneth Kimuli alias Pablo transitioned from acting to a standup comedian, at times he and Anne Kansiime would duet for epic performances but it was mainly him.
Pablo did stand up comedy long enough without a lot of competition, he made mistakes but these built him that after two years of practising, he was playing in his own league, it was at that time that Herbert Mendo Ssegujja birthed his famous Museveni character, also at Theatre Factory’s Thursday nights.
When M-Net launched the show Stand Up Uganda, the country quickly learned that there were funny men and women waiting to be discovered; from Daniel Omara’s intellectual wit, Patrick ‘Salvador’ Idrigi’s larger than life shrek likeability, then there was Pablo, he was the comedian we had all experienced, the three manhandled the competition until Pablo won it all on the final day.
But the competition judged by South African comedian Joe Parker, Abby Mukiibi and Kaya Kagimu Mukasa had also introduced us to musician and comedian Kenneth Tusubira, Mercilus Opio, Emmanuel Ssebakigye, Kizito Makanga, Alex Muhangi, and Cotilda Inapo among others.
It is after the show that many comedy shows started showing up with acts that were almost the same but in different places. There were shows at Theatre Labonita, Lafters in the Centenary Park, National Theater and later Diners’ Lounge in Bukoto.
In Bukoto, two shows once happened on the same day at Diners Lounge and The 400, a new neighbouring bar at the time. With all comedy was achieving at the time, a lot was missing such as mentorship, testing grounds and intimate spaces specifically tailored for comedy.
Which made last week such an important day for the comedy fraternity in Uganda. On Friday, comedian Timothy Nyanzi in association with fellow comedians Salvador, Omara, Cotilda, Hillary Okello and Okello Okello among others came together to form a comedy club; The Laughing Maraboustork.
A comedy club is a venue where a variety of comedy genres are performed but it serves a bigger role, it is more than just a venue, it is a home of comedy. It is a place you will go to any given day and it has something to offer in the form of comedy.
Most of these places are also bars or restaurants, thus the name comedy bar, at times. But regardless of the other services, it remains a place where comedy is the main dish but drinks are also on the menu.
The Laughing Maraboustork is not Uganda’s first comedy ‘club’ but is probably the one that takes itself seriously. It is a society of comedians mainly but not limited to those doing their art in English.
“A comedy club is a venue specifically designed to host comedy events regularly, something the Ugandan comedy scene has lacked in recent years. While most comedy shows have been sporadic, ranging from one-offs to monthly or occasional weekly events, the Laughing Maraboustork brings something new to the table,” Nyanzi says.
The comedy club will provide different comedy nights, a free night on Tuesday, a Mic Cheque on Thursday and a live show featuring one comedian. On Friday 21, the comedy club was launched in an exciting event at Donel’s Bistro in Ntinda, this will also be the home of the comedy club.
In recent times, comedy shows have struggled due to the distractions found in venues like bars, where events are often held. To make ends meet, these venues allow football games to air during comedy nights, people playing pool, shisha smokers, and other activities that take away from the focus needed for a comedy show.
“The more often a comedian performs, the sharper and more skilled they become. With more regular shows, comedians will create new content and refine their craft. This will enhance the quality of comedians and foster the development of more one-man shows in the future,” Nyanzi says.
A comedy club also builds a comedy culture. For example, when Dave Chappelle performed in Kenya last year, it was at Punchline Comedy Club, a venue recognised for its contribution to the local comedy scene. It was Chappelle's team that reached out to Punchline, acknowledging its excellence in the industry.
On the contrary, when Canadian-based comedian Arthur Simeon returned to Uganda for his homecoming show, he had to settle for a venue like Shisha Nyama because Uganda did not have a strong, established comedy club to support his event. The introduction of a comedy club in Uganda will contribute to a more vibrant and organised comedy scene.
“This will raise the bar of professionalism in the industry. Comedians to uphold high standards of discipline. This was evident during our Opening The Stork show, where 20 comedians performed five-minute sets, and not a single comedian went over their allotted time,” Nyanzi says.
