The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
WHILE we are still trying to figure out if Oliver Keith has now become a comedian, this route seems to be producing good fruits after his modelling career. The model cum comedian was recently nominated at the Bulawayo Arts Awards in the outstanding comedian category.
In an interview, Keith said he was proud to be the first Zimbabwean comedian to tour the United Kingdom. He said this was a big deal for him considering that he is still new in the comedian business but things seem to be working to his advantage.
“It’s a humbling experience to discover that I am the first Zimbabwean comedian to tour the UK. I had this tour last year. It was a month-long tour and it was basically stand-up comedy in Birmingham along with Team Bulawayo. I then did my one-man show in Manchester . . . then I had a Veneka Accessories photo shoot in London,” he said.
Keith said the purpose of the tour was to meet with the people that support his new career path and show them the appreciation that he has for the support they give him. He said as an entertainer it is always your duty to make time for the people that help build your career.
Besides meeting with his fans, Keith said the tour linked him with great artistes and media personalities. He said the tour was an opportunity for him to grow his brand to the people in the diaspora.
“I believe that opportunities are birthed when one is willing to engage with the art world at a large scale. My tour equipped me for the future, linking me with potential big names as well as long lasting relations that will birth better innovation and art,” he said.
He said he does not consider himself a comedian but people have categorised him in that way and he has grown to accept it. Keith said he was what people say he is and to him that’s all that matters.
“I do feel that I don’t really categorise myself as a comedian but people force it upon me. I can’t disappoint the people that have made me, I am what they say in this regard,’ he said.
Keith started modelling in 2008 and in 2010 he was voted Bulawayo’s Best Male Model. He did many Fashion Shows in and around Zimbabwe.
In 2012 he was voted Zimbabwe’s Sexiest Man Alive. He moved to South Africa and at that time he was accepted into one of the top modelling agencies called G3.
He featured on a local South African soapie High Rollers on SABC3. His biggest break came in 2014 when he landed a role as a TV Presenter for a reality Show called Clean House Africa that currently airs on Africa Magic and Metro TV in Nigeria.
