The ‘dry’ month of January will have a silver lining of rib cracking laughter. Comedian Patrick Salvador Idringi will stage a one-man comedy show in Kigali on January 16 at Hotel Villa Portofino in Nyarutarama starting at 6p.m.

Eric Mugisha of Kings of Komedy, a local company in charge of the show, shared details about the show. Excerpts;

Why did you go for Salvado yet we have many talented standup comedians here in Rwanda?

Salvado is currently ranked as the most fast rising comedian in East Africa, having seen him become the first ever comedian from East Africa to appear in Comedy Central, the flagship comedy event in Africa. I have seen him become a leading stand-up comedian capable of successfully putting up a one-man show. Besides, I’m quite confident he’s going to put up a very successful show for his fans and comedy lovers.

What are you doing to promote local comedy?

By bringing in outstanding comedians from neighbouring countries, we hope that our local comedians can learn a trick or two from them. Our strategy is to organise more comedy events involving both local and international comedians, and we hope that it’s going to help hoist our comedy industry to a higher level. We want also to exploit mass and online media to create awareness about comedy and we hope this strategy will also help in uplifting our local comedians.

What’s your assessment of the performance of the  local comedy industry?

Kings of Komedy has been organising comedy events since 2006. With the vast experience we have, we think that comedy as a platform hasn’t been fully exploited. But still, we continue to concentrate on organising such comedy events so that we can help develop it. We are ready to work with all comedians, mostly our homegrown ones, so long as they deliver and appeal to wider comedy fans. There’s always a room for everyone to prove his or her talent.

Do you think that local comedy has a bright future?

Yes. Local comedians have in the past done a good job. Many of them are also coming of age.  They should keep up upgrading their content because this is what the comedy consumers value most. Content is the major challenge that we still face.

What’s the way forward?

Kings of Komedy has lined up a host of local comedians in its calendar this year. We are intending to engage more local comedians since they are going to benefit more when we organize more shows. This will also help them maintain closer affinity with their fans.

What should comedy lovers expect from Salvado’s show?

Salvado has promised to give his fans a VIP treatment. He has promised to put up a great show, to entertain them and also to give them a reason to crack their ribs. Everyone is going to be a VIP in our event. As long as you are there, you are going to be treated as a VIP since this is among the values that Kings of Komedy stands for.