Gospel comedians

Gospel comedy is common in other parts of the world, but a new phenomenon in Kenya. MATILDA NZIOKI talked to the Unconditional Laugh duo that pioneered gospel comedy in Kenya.

Stand-up gospel comedy is relatively new. It is somewhat baffling to imagine a few slapstick routines in the same sentence as Jesus or church, but that does not mean it is impossible. Chatting with gospel comedian Peter Wamwea alias Consummator, it becomes evident that there is almost no gospel comedian who has plunged in and decided to make a career out of it in Kenya.

Consummator is a member of the duo Unconditional Laugh that has been doing comedy in the KTN’s Sunday gospel show Tukuza.

“I’ve done my research and gospel comedy is a big thing abroad. It’s taking form in Nigeria with comedians such as Aboki 4 Christ,” says the young comedian, citing Steve Harvey as another example.

But this is the US where the name Christian comes in many forms, including Christian magicians. Africa, Kenya in tow, is undoubtedly still conservative when it comes to Christianity.

Slow growth

“People think that everything that’s biblical has to be rigid, which is limiting. When it comes to Christian comedy, there is the fear of what to say in front of the congregation,” says Consummator. He adds that this could be the reason that has slowed the growth of urban gospel music in Kenya and in Africa. In Kenya, though, stand-up comedy in general is not old. We were used to the acted comedy only. Up until recently, it was not seen as a serious career that one could pursue solely.

The situation got better with people appreciating stand-up comedy when it came to TV, especially during Churchill Live show. That’s when many started looking at it as an industry on its own. And that is where Consummator launched his comedy career.

“As Season One came to an end, I joined the show and performed with Eric Omondi,” he says.

The Community Development graduate from Daystar University notes that while attending Top Comic competition, no one was coming in to do Christian comedy.

“In fact I doubt anyone knew there can be anything like Christian comedy,” he says.

Consummator met his partner Njenga Mswahili whose real name is Anthony Njenga at Churchill Live. The two felt that since they were born again, doing comedy in the club was not agreeable with their faith.

“There was no distinction between us and other comedians. We were being invited to clubs where we performed for drunk patrons. We constantly felt that our hearts were not in the right place,” adds Njenga.

Around June last year, the two decided to launch their Christian comedy at Rev Teresia Wairimu’s Faith Evangelistic Ministry Church where Njenga used to worship.

It started with a performance during a clergy group get-together that saw them invited to perform at the main service the following Sunday.

“Starting out was hard. We didn’t know what to say. We were afraid to offend the congregation, but then we realised that the Bible has as lot of humour,” says Consummator.

He gives an example: “ I remember doing a script about a brother who had been ordained a pastor. He was invited to preach in one of the big churches in town. He didn’t have good clothes because he was from the village, so he borrowed an oversize suit. When he jumped as he shouted hallelujah, the trouser fell and he said, ‘I remember David danced unto the Lord until his clothes came off, so this is nothing new’.”

After the presentation, Consummator says the church ‘came alive’ unlike the usual scenario where people look tired and less animated towards the end of a service.

Tukuza

Luckily for them, there was a member of the audience who was impressed and linked them up with Tukuza. Being on TV and radio has done them wonders, as they have been landing major shows. This is because Christian-related events in need of comedians now opt for them instead of just any other comedian.

Unconditional Laugh say they pick today’s happenings and lifestyles and relate with messages in the Bible or vice versa. This allows them to minister and entertain at the same time.

“And that is what we mean by ‘unconditional laugh’ — we want to give people something unending. You can substitute ‘unconditional’ with ‘unlimited’ or even ‘uncompromised’. We are presenting comedy that does not compromise one’s faith,” explains Njenga.

Other ideas they use include stories with lessons that Christians can relate to. Sample this: Gospel music is flying so high mpaka watu wameanza kuita watoto wao majina interesting. Nilienda kwa aunty yangu Kinoo nikaskia akiita mtoto wake Muhadhara.

Ati Muhadhara! Enda kwa kina Taunet Nelel uite Mafataro na umwambie staki hiyo mchezo akonayo na Tobina.

When it comes to style, Njenga’s strength is Kiswahili. He started doing comedy with the style of kusoma taarifa (reading news). His skills have landed him a job at Radio 316 (formerly Family Radio) as a Kiswahili presenter in a Sunday show called Safari.

Consummator, on the other hand, uses a lot of poetry in his comedy, which is actually what landed him a slot in Churchill Live season one. Although he was not the first to go public, he was apparently the pioneer of the end-rhyme comic style that many Kenyan comedians do today.

The partners agree that gospel is harder than other forms of comedy.

“You can pick something from the Bible, but there is a risk of it turning out as blasphemous. Research and practice helps one overcome this,” points out Njenga.

The duo meets on Wednesdays to script and then on Friday for rehearsal with the rest of the Tukuza team.

Rewind jokes

Being a live show, Tukuza is more challenging than Churchill Live, which was recorded; meaning what goes on air has been vetted.

Consummator says laziness is what makes comedians rewind jokes they have told two years on and copy others’ styles.

“Comedians should be serious with research and train like athletes. In fact, my role model is not a comedian, but Vivian Cheruiyot. She runs 20km every day. I ask myself, if she runs that much to stay on top of her game, what can I do to be better every day? I have to set a minimum of two hours every day to improve my comedy,” he says.

Other facets of the now fully fletched gospel entertainment industry include gospel deejays, gospel TV shows, gospel award ceremonies and gospel hip-hoppers. Unconditional Laugh is proud to have pioneered gospel comedy.

“We hope it will go far. We also hope that Groove Awards can include the comedy slot to appreciate the many upcoming gospel comedians,” says Njenga.  They hope that the hard work to launch Christian comedy in Kenya pays off.

“We have a big vision. We are looking at having our own gospel comedy TV show in the near future,” they conclude.