The good, bad, ugly of Ugandan comedy

Timothy J Nyanzi is a comedian, writer, comedy mentor, director and producer, chief executive officer of The Laughing Maraboustork and an Executive Committee member of The Uganda Comedians Association (TUCA). 

He began doing comedy in 2014, performing every Thursday with an outfit he co-founded known as The Punchliners.

Nyanzi went on to feature on The Haha Show, Comedy Files, Just Another Comedy Club, performed twice at The Bayimba International Festival of The Arts and got to be part of the comedians who featured on Comedy Club Live In Kampala that aired on Africa Magic (DStv). He has run gigs like Funny Tuesday, Kubby’s Open Mic Night, More Coffee More Comedy and currently hosts the New Material Night and Laffé Little comedy show.

Asked about the growth in comedic spaces, creativity and performers in Uganda, he says: “Despite the growth in performers, comedy spaces largely remained stagnant, with little or barely any new venues opening up. Shows like Africa Laughs were absent and while Kenya played host to comedians like Dave Chappelle and a plethora of other international acts, we could only get hold of Sabinus and should-already-have-a-Ugandan-passport-by-now, Eric Omondi. There was also buzz of Nick Cannon bringing his famous sketch comedy and battle rap TV show Wild ‘N Out to Africa but with 12 children to look after, I guess he couldn’t find the time to come through.”

Creativity, he confesses, struggled, pointing to the fact that comedians “faced challenges with political correctness and woke culture.” Others, he further noted, “still relied on old material.”

Pressed about the unique challenges besetting the comedy industry in Uganda, Nyanzi is unequivocal—a lack of enough comedy rooms.

“There are few venues for comedy, with only a handful of open mic and monthly shows. Venues still remain a challenge. Shows like Comedy Store and Stress Clinic faced constant venue changes [in 2024]. New spaces dedicated to comedy should be created to stabilise the scene,” he offers. “There were emerging new trends that comedians need to adjust to platforms like TikTok and Podcasts where younger audiences are increasingly consuming content.”

Nyanzi also reckons it is foolhardy not to be alive to competition from other art forms.

“Comedy shows often feature musical acts to survive. For comedy to reach its full potential, comedians must build their own fanbases, similar to music artistes with dedicated followings...,” he notes. “With the decline of TV comedy shows and the slow adoption to streaming services like Showmax, comedians must diversify their content and tap into new formats such as roasts, improv, debates and festivals.”

His thoughts about the so-called uncultured audience?

“Some audiences, he says, “treat comedy shows as background entertainment. They attend as a plot—like how people go out to Kyadondo for a good time instead of rugby. Phone distractions during performances also remain a challenge. There’s a need to cultivate more engaged audiences who understand the attention required for stand-up comedy.”

The question around financial hardships inevitably comes up encapsulated by the fact that many shows barely break even.

“Comedians,” Nyanzi advises, “need to adopt entrepreneurial strategies such as merchandising or start up new business ventures to sustain their craft. Imagine a dairy product from Mariachi called Mariacheese. Or a wedding events company by Hannington Bugingo called Bugingo Bells.”

What of the government? Is it pulling its weight? No is Nyanzi’s short answer.