Being a stand up comedian in Zimbabwe – A Carl Joshua Ncube Version

By Carl Joshua Ncube

I was watching a documentary the other day on stand up comedy and the path of a stand up comedian is quite simple. Once you have figured out that you are a funny kinda guy or lass the first thing to do is to go to an open mic show and showcase your 5 minutes of comedy.

You may attract the attention of other comedians who will in turn recommend other clubs to perform at to do open mics. At some point your 5 minutes becomes better and better and you will get booked for some spots during comedy nights, as you progress over the years people will then request you to headline some shows the rest is now  a case of corporate bookings, tours, perhaps some TV deals here and there or a special recorded for television by a production company.

This process is not as simple as it sounds and requires plenty hard work and performances or stage time. This process may be very difficult but there is something even more difficult and that is being a stand up comedian in Zimbabwe. I shall tell you a little story.

Stand up comedy in the past was seen as an anti establishment tool set to bring down the government and push the agenda of regime change, or at least that is what the policeman told me the day I was trying to get a police clearance for my first show Carl Joshua Ncube’s BIG announcement.

It almost sounded like comedy was outlawed, I was warned against making fun of the President and instructed by the cencorship board to bring in my script for the show to be approved. I complied and the show was on.

We performed stand up comedy around the country, considering we had no comedy clubs we had to negotiate to have partnerships with the local cinemas in order to do the shows. Barter arrangement gave us accommodation at some of the hotels and by barter arrangements am not talking about doing a performance for rooms, I am talking about designing fliers/adverts or anything my graphic design skills could be exchanged for.

Remember that there was no TV station backing the production of my first DVD, I had to agree a barter with production personnel in Zimbabwe in order to get a 3 camera setup for the show.

The objective was to do a national tour which would attract lots of press coverage, primarily in the digital domain so that my google search result could reflect my standing as a comedy pioneer in Zimbabwe. This and the footage from the shows would be uploaded on youtube to court the comedy community internationally to perhaps get the first step in comedy which was getting an open mic spot.

But before that we needed a place to practice before embarking on this project of going to South Africa. Book Café through Tomas Brickhill decided they wanted to have a monthly comedy night, and working with Doc Vikela and Simba the Comic King decided to form SIMUKA COMEDY.

First show at the Manenberg went well but I wasn’t happy with the branding and feel of the shows and set to working on the image, changing the poster designs and setting up the social media platforms, blog and domain. So now Zimbabwe had a home of comedy, its first comedy club.

2000 emails later we received a reply from Joe Parker of Parkes Comedy and Jive the biggest comedy club brand in Africa offering to give me 3 spots at the club in August of 2011. With only 150 to my name (thanks to $50 from editor of Zimbojam Fungai Tichawangana) We proceeded to South Africa (We as in Nelsy, Rufaro and I).

Rufaro Dhliwayo is one of my closest friends and the best technical graphics mind we have in this country. The objective was simple, we needed to demonstrate to Zimbabwe that at least one person would laugh at a joke by a Zimbabwean comedian in South Africa.

We worked out a deal to get our first month’s rent and deposit paid by a sponsorship from Schweppes, the deal would mean all our tweets we were going to mention that our house was called Mazoe Mansion and that I would perform in a Mazoe t-shirt in all my South Africa shows. This is what it took to get to stage one of the other comics in other countries. Next we noticed the structure of the comedy clubs and came home to establish a plan to grow more comedians.

I made myself available on facebook to everyone who thought they were funny and wanted to join the small but growing list of comedians. Advising comedians on where to go to do their first performance which would be the BOCAPA open mic at Book Café, then to Simuka before they started getting bookings at the new upmarket comedy club formed by CDE Fatso called BANG BANG.

We saw a bigger number of comedians starting to come through the ranks and more grew to become credible comedians under the guidance of Doc Vikela and Simba the Comic King in the SIMUKA camp. This wasn’t enough! We needed a bigger push, more comedy clubs, more comedians.

So the plan was to go around the country to guage the thirst for comedy around Zimbabwe. Luckily a Bulawayo camp of comedians let by Ntando formed the UMAHLEKISA comedy brand so having Bulawayo covered the issue was about getting the other cities on board.

Thankfully a comedy fan and promoter Muneer Walele stepped up during one of Carl Joshua Ncube’s National Tours. The tour was about performing comedy but also holding workshops to inspire young people to take on the craft.

What I found was inspiring, not only was there an apetite for comedy but Muneer Walele managed to put together a sold out comedy show in Gweru despite skeptics and prospects of a dud show. Muneer would go onto create the brand under COMEDY INC called Gweru Comedy Nights, a show that had 3 established comedians performing with 3 local (Gweru) comedians.

Workshops were now a clear indicator of growth as every workshop would give birth to more comedians. Perfect example is a workshop held by SIMUKA comedy gave birth to over 8 comedians who enjoy a thriving career today. Someone needed to take the burden to lead from the front by going to new territories and breaking new ground.

It was obvious and imperative that I take on that responsibility through sharing more information about my tours, speaking to young comedians, conducting workshops, engaging members of the press educating them on comedy, speaking to politicians and performing at high powered events to get the powers that be to warm up to the idea of comedy as a tool of national building and promoting truthful and honest dialogue.

Comedy in Zimbabwe now enjoys a space it never had before with more young people finding this as an alternative form of expression. The industry begins to grow as the area of comedy entrepreneurship is growing under the Carl Joshua Ncube brand and influence.

Zimbabwe can expect to see new and exciting prospects like Zimbabwe comedy on the international stage, international tours, local stand up comedy bar franchises running in established hotel groups, training academy’s and talent agencies serving not only the comedy sector but also the arts community.

Carl Joshua Ncube has also demonstrated the ability to mobilise various partners under the FEEL GOOD ZIMBABWE banner, giving corporates great mileage through social media.

The Future is bright for Zimbabwe comedy and I am humbled to be a servant of the consumers of comedy one laugh at a time. I would also like to thank the hard work of pioneers like CDE Fatso, Q, Simba the Comic King, Doc Vikela, Ntandoyenkosi, Clive Chigubhu, Muneer Walele, Tswarelo, Butshilo.