Chigubhu: the future of Zim standup comedy

19 Apr, 2015 - 00:04 0 Views
Chigubhu: the future of Zim standup comedy

The Sunday News

Mbongeni Msimanga
IT is a revolution that started off with Zimbabwe’s standup comedian Carl Joshua Ncube. But as the story goes that a discipline like tennis had its origins in France, but the Americans came, saw, took the formula and perfected it.
Such may be the case with Zimbabwean standup comedy. Carl may be the vanguard, but he stands aside and looks in awe when Chigubhu displays his comic prowess on stage. His comic prowess with no doubt gets a crowd entertained when they laugh at Chigubhu’s jokes.

A sure short rib cracker who is known by his Ye Ye Ye trade mark statement, it seems the essence of this fast-rising meteor in standup comedy is miles ahead of the comedian pack because of his ability to intertwine current affairs with personal experiences, not hoping to score on the everyday street joke but in fact researching his jokes.

The result has seen him offering well-polished acts that flow seamlessly from his rather mischievous looking lips.
You never know what he is going to spew out next, and this rare talent has no doubt taken him far and wide as recently evidenced by his Malawi trip.
His trip earned him a ticket to perform with Malawi based comedians Izeki Ndijakebo, Mr Jokes and Zambian comedians Difikoti and Bikikoni.

The performance, however, saw him making headlines in Malawi as he lit the festival with his rib cracking jokes.
“Standup comedy in Malawi is much more different to the Zimbabwean one. They mostly do it in their own language but I think they realised that our comedy is something to reckon with. “Sharing the stage with these guys was rather interesting and yes I did get a couple of laughs from the crowd,” said Clive Chigubhu.

From jokes about the use of newspapers in lieu of toilet paper, where he struggles to wipe himself using the last piece of paper which bears the face of his respected Bulawayo arts icon Cont Mhlanga — to whom he apologises before cleaning himself, Clive’s jokes have gone viral on social media sites.
He has taken advantage of this to market himself.

His popularity has, however, not seen him growing big headed as is synonymous with most young artistes. He said he was yearning to learn more and grow in the arts industry.

His confidence and ability to entertain crowds saw him being invited to Malawi by the director of Solomonic Easter Theatre Festival that saw at least 90 artistes performing at the event.

“The organisers of the event saw me perform at Hifa and invited me to perform at the event. I still feel that I still have to work hard because I have not yet reached the level that I want to be. We still attract the same crowd, but I believe there is more room for improvement,” he said.

He, however, lamented the fact that most artistes were living in abject poverty despite their celebrated statuses laying the blame on promoters who he said were taking advantage of artistes.

He wouldn’t say much about his love life choosing to say he was in a steady relationship.
“I think some promoters just make artistes suffer while they get the benefits. It is something that is affecting artistes and it has to be solved,” he said.
He called on the corporate world to support the artistes.

With extensive abilities in acting and emceeing, and having been involved in major plays and films in Bulawayo, it is no surprise that Clive has found his way to top arts venues in Zimbabwe such as the Book Café, ZGS, Theatre in Park, Charles Austin Centre, Pakare Paye, Elite 400 and Amakhosi Arts Centre.

Apart from Malawi, Clive has also performed at some of South Africa’s finest comedy venues like the Parkers Gold Reef City, Parkers Monte Casino and Box Goliath.

He has also shared the stage with big names such as Kagiso Lediga, Tumi Morake, Cde Fatso, Doc Vikela and John Vlismas and has been heralded as the man who holds the keys to comedy in the country.

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