Comedian Jacques Rwothumio. Photo | Courtesy
Jacques Rwothumio, who is from Zombo District, has been a public speech practitioner since 2021. He spoke to Philip Matogo about his public speech undertakings that see him figure as both a professional stand-up comedian and MC or master of ceremonies
Talk us through your undertakings as a professional
I have performed on quite a lot of stages [and many events]; not counting Open Mic events. Apart from curating my own comedy platform called Laughters at the Cave, I have featured at the Funny Bunny Comedy Club, opened for Fun Factory and robbed the show at many more comedy showcases.
What, according to your experience, is the difference between stand-up comedy and MCing?
MC is simply a person who coordinates the programme agenda—his role is to keep the audience engaged in the activities taking place. Whether he is funny or not doesn’t really matter a lot, but his ability to be audible and commanding, though being funny, is an added advantage for an MC
While a stand-up comedian has no option but to be funny when he holds that microphone, the audience expects to laugh. That’s why a comedian can be a great MC, but a great MC may never be a comedian.
The road ahead seems promising for you, what future plans do you have as a comedian?
My plan is a global plan—I want to be a great comedian globally, but coming from Uganda you see how the world views Trevor Noah? [It views him as] a great global comic, but from SA [South Africa].
My plans (starting this year) is to always drop a special every year—tour at least three districts upcountry by the end of the year. Then I want to start crossing the borders to perform in different countries
I am looking at Kenya this year and Rwanda with plans of SA, US and UK as well. But all in all, the plan is to write more and become better and better every day.
Do comedy and music go well together in Uganda?
For a long time in Uganda, Comedy Store has been the face of comedy, which gave birth to viewing comedy as something that can only breathe when mixed with music—something I don’t believe in totally, though I highly respect Comedy Store.
I often do shows and sometimes I meet people who tell me, “Jac why can’t you bring for us an artiste, it will attract more people?” I always tell them, you either come for comedy or you don’t come, I think the two don’t need to mix, because once mixed, you are having two separate crowds. And not everyone loves comedy. So it’s better to keep the audience pure.
What was the impact of Omara, Salvado, Muhangi and the rest of Uganda’s first generation of stand-up comedians?
I love the fact that most of them are still in the game. Comedy is for the thick skin. To me, that means a lot. And most of them have become mentors, you meet them and they give you pointers to navigate the craft, and their stories are always inspiring to me…that’s a very big impact and driving force for young comics to keep the craft alive.
Imagine joining a craft where all pioneers have left—you can’t be motivated enough to hold on. And some are still writing hard and the brand they have is still impactful. You do a show and you put Omara, Pablo, Salvador on the line-up, you know the show will have a good crowd and that is good for the industry.
Comedy in Uganda seems to be in decline. What will improve comedy in Uganda?
The answer to this is money. I’m just kidding. Seriously, though, comedy has been in decline. But from 2013 to 2014, comedy, especially English comedy, has been on the rise. I would say last year was the best year. 2025 has started on a high and I believe it will be better than the previous year, so I don’t believe comedy is in decline. I believe comedy is on the rise.
We now have many shows around—I have a monthly show I run called Laughters at the Cave, we have Funny Bunny comedy, Comedy Black Friday, Risen Laughs, A Time to Laugh, Church Laughs, Arise Woman, Pablo has started a monthly show too that resumes [this month].
A lot of comedians are doing one-man shows, a weekly Open Mic hosted by Timothy Nyanzi, Kings of Comedy… a comedy club is starting soon that will be having three nights of comedy in a week. We are putting a lot of things in place.
All I can say is we are working harder than before. And we have also a breed of young comics working so hard and coming up with material faster, we are growing.
What different things should people expect from your comedy special?
A story that I can only tell. Comedy is written based on experience because all jokes come from reality. So people should expect my version of how I view things.
My story was delivered in a funny way. I always want someone to leave my show with a broken rib from laughter and inspiration from the jokes.
You know, you do a set-up as a comedian, and the crowd is like, ‘That’s very true.’ That to me is very important. We must educate and cause laughter.
