Comedy kings come to town

IT WAS FIRST held in Nigeria, then moved to Kenya, Uganda, and now is our turn. Come March 29, a buffet of East African comedians will serve Kigali up on their funny antics at the first ever Kings of Comedy show in the country. The event, to take place at the Royal Car Wash Gardens, will showcase a line up of the region’s funniest; including our very own Senjuva, a Paul Kagame look-alike who has curved out a niche parodying the president, as well Kenya’s Eric Omondi, and Ugandans; Anne Kansiime and Patrick “Salvador” Idringi. The night’s MC has been named as H.E PK Ndahiro.Many that have seen Senjuva on the concert’s fliers and posters have mistaken this dude for the president himself. And you can be sure that many comedy lovers will be flocking to the Royal Car Wash just to have a glimpse of this young man with the balls to act president. The organisers have been thoughtful enough to include a Kenyan act on their line-up, which was just the right thing to do for a venue that strives to bring a little bit of Kenya to Kigali. (Car Wash is famed for its nyama choma (barbecue meat), a traditional Kenyan bar delicacy.)And acclaimed Kenyan funny man Eric Omondi will be on hand to make sure laughter compliments your nyama choma experience well. Eric is arguably the most recognised comedy face in the region, leading the fray in the who-is-who list of Kenya’s, and indeed East Africa’s comedy scene. Opinion polls rank him the highest paid comedian in Nairobi today, and he has major corporate endorsements with a few Kenyan companies. Omondi draws his fan base largely from the corporate crowd. Off stage, he is a presenter at the Nairobi-based Jambo FM, but he also does a lot of freelance gigs as an MC at corporate and private events in and around Nairobi.The 2nd born in a family of 4 siblings, Omondi describes himself as a doctor who cures stress and other ailments through nothing but his rib-cracking jokes. A Mass Communication graduate, it took Eric a whopping 7 years to graduate. Apparently, he could not foot all his tuition in time, so he broke off after the first semester. Luckily, he scooped a scholarship, eventually donning his graduation gown in 2010. ANNE KANSIIMEAnne is the only female comedian lined up for the night; the only queen in a contest of comedy “kings”. That should be a pointer to how adept she is at her craft. She plies her trade with the Fun Factory, a Kampala-based comedy group, and also co-presents an interactive show, Mini Buzz on NTV Uganda. A Social Sciences graduate from Makerere University, she is brand ambassador for GOtv, a pay-per-view TV channel. She has actually recorded a song for the campaign, dubbed “My name is Anne Kansiime and I watch GOtv.” Anne joined the comedy fray while still at university. She is known for the fluidity with which she fits into various personas while on stage, and can perfectly mimic a six-year old girl’s tantrums. Her bold, uncompromising yet witty manner has further endeared her to fans. Once, during an interview, she was asked is she used pads or tampons during “that time of the month”. Her response: “Okay, that one I won’t answer. Oh my God! What if I say that I sit in the sand for three days?”When asked what she thought of men with pot bellies, her response was; “Those guys are very lucky; they can’t drown because they have natural floaters.”PATRICK IDRINGI AKA SALVADORHe co-hosts the Dream Breakfast, a morning show on Uganda’s Capital FM. His comic skits largely revolve around saying that which can’t be said, and that usually involves sex and race jokes. This has earned him a love/hate relationship with his (mostly) female fan base. While some love him, others simply love to hate him. Together with a few other comedians, Idringi also does Mic Check, a comedy show that airs on NTV Uganda. He is one of the founders of The Crackers, a Kampala comedy ensemble. A graduate of Telecommunications Engineering, Salvador now earns a living tickling people’s ribs. “I gew up with dreams of becoming an engineer, but at school my friends always praised me for my jokes. It was then that I realised I had another calling as a comedian”, he says.Usually, he goes by the stage name, “Salvador”. He explains that, “I once cracked a joke about a girl who was in a shopping mall and when she saw me, she dropped all her groceries and ran to me shouting Salvador….! That’s when people started calling me Salvador; a name that has become my own.”He claims to “fear” girls who are born-again, arguing that they limit him from expressing himself, which of course includes being funny.