Be it a funeral, wedding or birth celebration, comedy has a way of making its way into Ugandan events. Which is partly the reason this past week was a historic moment for the comedy industry in Uganda.
It was a three-day celebration of laughter, learning and live performance. From September 2, the Marabou Laugh Fest took place at the Laughing Maraboustock Comedy Club, at Donel’s Bistro in Ntinda, Kampala. Organised by the Laughing Maraboustock Comedy Club, the festival is aimed at bridging the gap between comedians in Uganda and their international counterparts, and above all, foster networking and professionalism.
These were workshops that delved into topics such as writing, performance and the business of comedy. The festival brought together comedians across Uganda from different divides; those who have been at it for more than a decade to those who are just starting out. For instance, the first day, which also had a rapid fire session, had new comedians who most people in the audience were just learning about. When the comedy club opened its doors at the beginning of the year, the founders observed that they had set up the club to nurture and build the industry.
Timothy Nyanzi, one of the founders of the comedy club, said for a long time, local comedy has lacked a home and the club was providing a space where comedy could be enjoyed the way it is meant to. Besides the laughs, they understood that the new crop of comedians needed educating, training and mentoring. Daniel Omara held a masterclass on writing and creativity at the National Theatre. During the session, he told comedians that unlike the earlier days of Uganda’s comedy, today, the audience is aware and writing is a must.
“Whenever you think about a joke, write it and say it out aloud. It helps you to know how it will land. You cannot take a joke to the stage because it sounded funny in your head. The audience may fail to react in the way you anticipated,” Omara said. He said unlike before, today, comedians always have back-up sets in case the initial planned set does not work the way it was intended or in case of an event that could make the planned material unfriendly. In another masterclass, Doug Mutai, a Kenyan comedian and founder of Comedy Collective, reminded comedians that he was in Uganda seven years ago to benchmark Uganda’s comedy scene.
“Uganda has the biggest number of working comedians in East Africa. But Kenya has an ecosystem which Uganda does not have. It is easy to find a Ugandan comedian performing in Soroti, Gulu or Arua. In Kenya, much of the comedy is based in Nairobi,” he said. Mutai urged comedians to understand that what they are doing is a business and run it as one. Touching topics around branding , marketing and pay, he cautioned comedians to be careful while accepting some gigs.
