Daliso comes home
Months after making it to the finals of leading reality show, Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), Malawian stand-up comedian Daliso Chaponda is overwhelmed with his new found feat.
With the comedian holding scores of shows across different cities and a bunch more on the way, Chaponda is scheduled to be in the country next month as he continues to set new heights for himself.
“My life has been a crazier, bigger version of what it was before. So, I am still doing five or six shows a week, but now it is to crowds of several hundred or a thousand as opposed to one hundreds. I am still writing scripts, but now it’s for TV not radio. And when I go on dates, the women are more attractive. Same as before, but bigger,” he summed up his life after BGT in an interview.
Regardless of the place, everywhere he goes, fans know him having watched videos of his performances on BGT, he claimed adding that is his biggest achievement resulting from his appearance on the show.
“Millions of people viewed the youtube video all around the world. I did shows in Dubai a few weeks ago and people were recognising me on the streets and asking for selfies. I have been exposed to a massive potential market. I also have a radio show in the works, a sitcom in the works, and a 51 city UK tour that is selling out. Also, my bank which used to refuse to give me any loans or mortgages because I am a comedian called me and offered me loans,” he explained.
His momerable experience on the BGT journey was when he performed during the semi-finals.
“The highlight for me were the performances, particularly the semi final [which I feel was my best performance]. The press and celebrities and attention are just extras. It’s all about the minutes I am on stage telling jokes,” said the comedian.
In an industry full of stars like South Africa’s Trevor Noah and Nigeria’s Basketmouth just to mention a few, coming up with new material can be a tough task for some. But Chaponda’s trick of focussing on real life issues has always worked thereby avoiding an overdrive situation.
“The jokes I tell come out of my unique experiences growing up around the world and facing obstacles specific to me. As long as I am true to myself, my material will always be unique. I don’t do any of the jokes that people saw on BGT anymore except when I have an encore. There are always more jokes. The world is so crazy it is easier to write jokes than it has ever been,” he explained.
The comedian’s home coming shows are scheduled for November 24 and 25 at Victoria Gardens in Blantyre and Bicc in Lilongwe respectively.
An elated Chaponda jested about the forthcoming shows.
“I get funnier every year by 2%. So it’s been 2 years so I will be 4% funnier than I was last time. Sounds good, but the ticket price will probably be 2 percent more, haha. It’s called inflation.”
According to the shows organisers, Qoncept Creative, there will be a mini stand-up comedy competition which will come up with curtain-raisers for Chaponda.
“We are going to run a stand-up comedy competition and the winners will perform at the shows. The aim of this is to bring out the hidden talent that we might have in the country.
“There are going to be 2 winners; one from Lilongwe and another from Blantyre. We are looking at holding these stand-up competitions at 15 Entertainment in Lilongwe and M-Theatre in Blantyre this month. Winners who will then share the stage with Daliso, will be fully based on audience reaction,” said the firm’s director Q Malewezi. n
