Omara: Always remember it is your brand on the line

Omara says he seeks advice from his more experienced colleagues. PHOTOs/courtesy.

What you need to know:

Art. Daniel Omara has done comedy for 13 years. And in these years, he has not only entertained but passed on his craft. The comedian has consistently kept his jokes clean and witty and now shares his journey.

What is it that sets you uniquely apart from other comedians?

I want to be that person who is welcome into people’s houses on a Sunday afternoon to have lunch with the children, talk to them and give advice. The one thing I picked up from Stand-Up Uganda is to keep my content clean. I am a role model to nieces and nephews and my parents are church elders, so I am not just looking at my image but my family too. Many people have told me that it is not a burden I need to bear but I keep telling myself that I need to practice with the family I have so that when I have my own children, I am familiar with the concept of building a family-based brand, so that has been my motivation.

How would you say Daniel Omara got to where he is today?

Artistic discipline. We were mentored by Al Podgers and Joe Parker, and they taught us the art of personality development, writing comedy, delivery, physical humour, teamwork and trusting your teammate because stand-up comedy is about trust.

If you are not sure about the guy going on stage next, you are going to have a hard time. And it is a show. It is not a one-man performance, so each of you must be on your peak and all these things set the bar for what stand-up comedy became.

 I think artistic discipline is very important because you can be funny, but discipline will give you consistency and it is what keeps you on the grid, and I started applying that knowledge to everything.

If you are an actor, no matter how hangover you are, get up and go on set or do not drink the night before if you are supposed to perform the next day. Read your script when you receive it and practice your lines so that even if you are caught off-guard on a day when you are not supposed to shoot but are free and able, you are there and prepared.

At the end of the day, it is your brand on the line. You are not doing it for the person who is paying you. You are the face of the product. No one is going to attack the writers, the camera guys, it is you. Artistic discipline is stuck in my head, and I think it is the same for the other comedians from class  of 2009; Salvado, Muhangi, Pablo and Mendo.

When you look back at your journey, what has kept you relevant 13 years later?

Bluntly, I hit so hard at the beginning of my career so no one can argue about my capability. My career picked within the first four years. There was Stand-Up Uganda, the Airtel ad, the Big Brother Africa performance then The Hostel hit and that was all in four years so I got to a point whereby I was trusted, so people would invite me and say, ‘We wrote a character, and we think it is for you’.

I check in to perform not to compete, no offence. I honestly believe that there are better actors and comedians than me out there, but I created a brand and that has kept me going for a long time.

Also, I have been in many things; I did the morning show on Urban TV, Business Unusual which was a parody, an animation with Creatures- Kalabanda Ate My Homework, I have done radio with Xfm, now I am on RX Radio with Fatboy. I have done film and series in which I have played six different characters, so I think the range and capability is well defined. That has kept me relevant.

How do you separate Daniel Omara the comedian and the ordinary person?

That is a hard one. I am going to be very honest. At some point I lost Daniel. I had to redefine Daniel. I lost him in Odoch and got him back afterwards. I had to learn the concept of separating myself from what I was doing.

Yes, I was attached to a project but not to the character and I would go get counselling afterwards. Many people do not believe in the value of therapy. People take it for granted.

I am not saying you must go and see a professional therapist. You can see someone who is more qualified than you in the field you are working, so at radio, I talk to Fatboy, Crystal, K.K, Rudende or Siima.

Those are the people I know. In film, I will go talk to Raymond Rushabiro, Symon Base Kalema, and Cleopatra Koheirwe;  my more experienced people. You will tell them something and it is always the same thing, ‘Eh, finally you are also experiencing it. Welcome to the club. Do not worry, it will blow over but here is what you can do to figure the situation out’. 

In comedy, I will talk to Abby Mukiibi, Patrico Mujuuka and Ann Kansiime. There must be people you can talk to in your field who are more experienced than you so that you can get help in what you are facing because they have probably been through it.

How have you been able to build a serious brand as a comedian?

For me, it has always been in the delivery. If you pick me for something, I am going to go extra. The first official corporate gig I did was the Airtel end of year party, and I went on stage after doing research in the telecom engineering department.

Salvado is a telecom engineer, so I called him and asked about the key phrases that engineers use when they are communicating with customers.

He gave them to me and other phrases that only engineers know.

By the time I walked off stage people were asking if I was in engineering. There is always that extra touch you can add to your performance. That has kept my professionalism where someone knows if they hired me for a gig, I will go with something unexpected, and different in perspective.

There are the generic jokes you will throw but the first five to 10 minutes of your performance should be based on the event. Research, rehearsal and re-invention. A joke might be old, but it can be delivered in a new way to a new audience.

If there was one person you would invite for coffee, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Chris Rock. I have loved that guy’s comedy since 1997 when I saw him in Lethal Weapon. His character was dating Danny Glover’s daughter. 

He delivered a line I will never forget.   He was like, “Oh Lord, as if there isn’t enough death in America”,  upon seeing a container full of dead Chinese immigrants. “ Now we are importing victims” and I remember that line being so funny for me as a child. It is the basis for one of my favourite jokes from earlier in my career where I tell guys I saw a mad Indian in town in tattered clothes.

In my head, I am offended because we have enough black mad men but now we are importing insanity.

You see how you can flip an idea. I am just wowed by Chris Rock. I would want to sit and talk to him about how much I love his comedy and ask him what inspired him to deliver so intellectually that he could talk about American Congress and I, in Uganda, understand what he is saying.

I had never been to America. I only know our Parliament- the house of jokes and then there is Chris talking about American Congress and I understand what he is saying because of the way he packed it so eloquently.

I like Dave Chapelle, but Chris Rock is the guy.

When it is all done in your professional world, how do you let loose?  

I play video games to let myself get over the frustrations of life sometimes. In game you can murder as many people as you want.

I also hang out with friends. My circle has reduced significantly, which is the lesson that in life not everyone is around you for the right reasons. Entertainment has been a lesson in life, but my fallback is always family.

Who is your best friend?

Isaack Kaizen. I work with him on everything. He is the muscle and a bit of the brain, and I am the creative. He handles logistics very well, he is good with mobilisation, amazing with graphics and marketing.

He was the one doing marketing for Comedy Files and the reason it blew up the way it did in 2014. 

We have known each other since 2001.