PRICE OF BEING A COMEDIAN By Pablo Yagayo When news of comedienne Anne Kansiime’s wedding hit headlines, folks went up in arms. Some of her fans threatened to sue her fiancé for child abuse. Fans from western Uganda, from where Anne hails, found trouble pronouncing the fiancé’s name ‘Ojok.’ I wonder why they often replace letter ‘O’ with ‘A’. They thought it was a joke. Some of her ardent fans can’t believe that she’s of age. That’s the price an actor has to pay when they study a character and excellently execute the role. Her ability to transform with ease into a three-year-old beats radio drama producers. She managed to act three different roles of children between the ages of three and six in a radio serial drama and the listener couldn’t tell that it was the same actor. It’s such commitment, hard work and professionalism that has made her fans believe that she hasn’t reached adolescence. What I know about Anne is that the Mukiga in her can’t allow her to shy from telling her age. The Muganda in me can’t allow me to share it with you. You’d be surprised to find out that Anne is older than Golola Moses. Okay, Golola is old. Maybe older than Agnes Nandutu. Hesh! What am I writing? Anne can’t be that old. But I’m sure she’s above eighteen. Those who are close to Anne will agree with me that behind the cheeky star we celebrate is a calm and very intelligent lady. I had the opportunity to meet her fiancé at Entebbe airport. He was seeing his sweetheart off and boy, he is such a gentleman. I have never seen a man who pays attention to detail like him and I am sure Anne will enjoy the rest of her life with him. Her fans will have to come to terms with the fact that she can be married and still bring a smile to her ‘ninjas’ as she prefers to refer to them. But Anne isn’t the only one whose fans have failed to draw a line between her role as comedian and her personality off stage. It took me time to believe that comedian Kato Lubwama can ever be serious or construct a complete sentence in English because of the stereotype roles he always acted. I was humbled when I had a conversation with him in 2007 and all my doubts were trashed in the bin. I apologized and rebuked that judgmental voice in me. But look at the pot calling the kettle black. I have met people who are convinced beyond the shadow of doubt that ‘Pablo’ can never be serious. I’ll never forget the time I was asked to emcee a funeral and almost got a standing ovation. I don’t know whether it’s because my face has character but I tried as hard as I could to express my heartfelt sympathy in vain. The more I genuinely poured out my heart the more it evoked laughter. The widow walked up to me after the funeral service and thanked me for making her day. There was a time I was feeling under the weather. I paid the doctor a visit and he couldn’t believe I could fall sick. In fact he believed that I was faking sickness so that I can get material for my next comic act (which I did get anyway). He asked the laboratory technicians to test my blood for any malaria parasites. As fate would have it, I wasn’t sick. The doctor laughed so hard and asked me to sign an autograph on his stethoscope. I decided to buy a clinical thermometer to always check my temperature before going to hospital. I was invited to a local radio station few years back and the show host kept referring to me in Luganda as ‘kasilu’ bluntly put ‘the crazy one.’ I tried to convince her that I wasn’t mad but my pleas landed on deaf ears. At times it’s hard to convince technocrats that comedy is simply another form of entertainment. We have been forced to change our titles depending on what the client does for a living. I had to call myself a joy activist to get a gig from the opposition. The last time I did a show for accountants I had to refer to myself as a happiness auditor. Only God knows what I’ll have to call myself if I’m to do a show for military police. It’s been nine years and still counting as a comedian. There is no better way to celebrate this abnormally normal profession with you come 29th November – 1st December 2013 at the National Theatre. My comedian friend from Nigeria Klint Da Drunk and several established comedians will share stage with me as we tell you everything about nothing and nothing about everything. kkimuli@gmail @Pablo_Kenkimuli
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 19:37:15 +0000
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