By Kundai Marunya
After realising that television opportunities are not heading their way despite having worked tirelessly for years, top stand-up comedians have joined hands with actors to create their a comedy series.
Dubbed “Special Class”, the show was created by veteran comedian Doc Vikela through his company Doc Vikela Ent collaborating with Midlands State University alumni who form College Central.
It features a star-studded cast of top comedians Doc Vikela, C Kanyiso That Guy, Louis the Prince of Comedy, Kadem the Comic, Tinaye Wayne, and Maya Banks.
“Special Class” also features veteran actor Chati Butawo popular from television series Gringo, and other big names in the film industry namely Lisa Gutu and Melinda Shumba.
It is directed by Derby Bheta.
Doc Vikela said the project aims to bridge the gap between stand-up comedy and television.
“What prompted the project is the need to bridge the gap between stand-up comedy and mainstream media.“As you can see all over the world, they have the bridge where stand-up comedians go on to do television shows. So we are saying for the first time ever local stand-up comedians are going to have a television show,” he said.
In the past stand-up comedians have been creating video skits that are shared on social media.
Doc Vikela said the show will start broadcasting on social media platforms including YouTube next Tuesday.
“We will start with web shows that will be five minutes in the beginning as a way of getting into the market but we will later develop into 30 minutes episodes we could sell to television networks depending on demand.
“The cocktail of people in the class will give people every reason to watch it,” he said.
In the series Doc Vikela plays Professor, a temporary teacher who tries to bring balance in a class of ‘fools’.
“Special Class is about a high school class that has a mixture of students with different characters. You have the bullies, the Constable (played by Tinaye) of the class who is full of I know, you have Saru (played by Melinda Shumba) who is hot bae of the class, Petronella the gospel girl, Rudo (played by Maya Banks) the cry baby, Tito (played by Kadem) an avid fan of everything,” said Dock Vikela.
“I believe the new series will push local comedy even further.” The Herald
