upepo
Elder Lister
What you need to know:
- Yesteryear Comedians had everything they needed - the talent, passion and audience. But today, the industry is no longer an easy walk
In the early 1990s, as part of the economic liberalisation process that came with the free market, air waves too, were ‘freed’, which led to the establishment of private TV stations. Unfortunately, the content remained foreign. In the absence of local content at the time, Kenyan and Western content dominated the programming. Comedians and comedies from across the border became a big hit gaining large following with shows such as Vitimbi and Vioja Mahakamani becoming the talk of town. These shows beamed on ITV, which was one of the first private stations to be established courtesy of a partnership with KBC.
Comedians such as AmkaTwende (Benjamin Otieno), Othorong’ong’o (Joseph Anyona), Mutiso (Kimunyo Mbuthia), Masanduku arap Simiti (Sammy Muya), Wariahe (Said Mohammed Said) and Otoyo Obambla (Samuel Mwangi) were some of the names that featured prominently. These with others, who were to come later, set the bar and whoever was to do comedy had to either be at the same level or had to be above. For some, the fun was in listening to Kenyan Kiswahili, but for others, it was all about the attraction of novelty. “Vitimbi show was just the best at that time, they knew how to keep us entertained,” quips Paul Mihambo, a chemist at SGS Buzwagi Gold Mine in Shinyanga.
According to Mihambo, even with revered rib breakers such as Mzee Small, King Majuto, Mzee Jangala, Mzee Pwagu and Muhogo Mchungu, there was still no competition against their counterparts from across the border. “It doesn’t mean that we didn’t have our own comedians, the problem is that they just couldn’t match the likes of Mzee Ojwang,” says Mihambo. Later day comedians who came in to fill the gap such as the Ze Comedy group, which became popular as they satirised social and political events were a hit and an instant success. However, with time, despite having established themselves as a popular brand in Tanzania, their allure and fortune has in recent years plummeted.
Even with such amazing talent in the group squabbles that led to their migration left them struggling for audience, in the process affecting their market share. It is at this point that questions begin to emerge, with many wondering whether this generation has failed to produce comedians that can match those in the past. Others would argue that comedians in the past could have set a bar too high for the current rib breakers to surpass. But also, there is a school of thought that argues that the current generation of TV viewers is spoilt for choice. “When you compare the production of these shows to those that we see on other TV stations you find that there is such a huge gap at the production level,” says a local pundit who preferred anonymity.
Unlike back in the day when the source of entertainment was just a certain TV station, in the digital era with more stations with varied programming viewers cannot depend on local content alone.
“The medium of entertainment has changed greatly in this age to the extent that people don’t have to spend their time on TV alone and worse still the easy access to Western TV gives viewers more choice,” says a pundit. Just like any other career in the modern day, many aspiring comedians are driven into the field for potential monetary gains.
“It is this commercialisation that many think has diluted the comic creativity, because artists lack passion for what they are doing and instead they focus on the money,” adds the pundit. At the end of the day, however, you can’t take away the money element, though when it becomes a sole motivating factor for a career choice it turns into a recipe for a full blown disaster, as what we are seeing today even in sports.
