She will crack you up: Anne Kansiime
Most people have seen her videos which have mostly gone viral on You Tube and Facebook and will tackle everyday life of people in Uganda. What makes her videos attractive is the fact that she brings out the everyday issues, they are precise and she says the things that any woman would love to say but fails to say so.
For instance, in one clip she bullies a man who tries to ask her out using common cat calls. She takes over the conversation and soon the man gets scared. She even reaches a point where she takes his phone number and tells him she will call and he dare not hang up or ignore her calls.
So funny are the video clips from Kasiime that she has followers all over Africa and even in the diaspora in places like Canada, UK, USA and Europe.
According to an interview carried on The New Times Rwanda Kansiime is by far the funniest comedienne in East Africa. She started her comic journey as a second-year student at Makerere University in Uganda, when she joined Theatre Factory, the pioneer comedy outfit in Kampala that targeted the corporate audience.
Her status has risen over the years especially after moving to a new group, Fun Factory. She is today a YouTube comedy sensation, with most of her skits the most viewed in the region. Kansiime also hosts a public dialogue show codenamed Minibuzz during weekdays on NTV the number one TV station in Uganda.
She did not study comedy but always had love for comedy. At 26 years old, Kansiime has travelled all over the African continent and does not mind the fact that there are different languages in countries she visits.
“You know, I do my comedy in English, Lukiga and Luganda. Despite all that, I have managed to get fans from across the world and performed in many places. Comedy isn’t about language, comedians are entertainers and they have to find a way of interesting the crowd before them with what they are doing,” she said.
In an interview posted on her Facebook page, Kansiime says that as a comedian people think that you are not supposed to be sad, even when you have issues.
“I am just constantly not taken serious. People think I am constantly cracking a joke. I want to be remembered as a lady that refused to grow old, that always had a kid at heart,” she says.
Kansiime’s videos have over 2 million viewers and comments that she gets show just how hilarious the videos are.
But is there much of such comedy here in Malawi and is there room for females to take a part in the industry?
Poet Qabaniso ‘Q’ Malewezi said he is not sure of the direction that local comedy is taking.
“I know we have people who do funny sketches but I haven’t seen much stand-up. You need to have a regular venue where people can grow their craft and right now we don’t have that in Malawi,” said Malewezi.
He said it would be almost impossible to attract women into stand-up comedy as it reflects a general challenge in the arts with gospel music being the exception.
“What we need are safe spaces for people to engage in such arts. As an example we have The Living Room Poetry Club which has a good number of female poets who come to perform their poetry on a regular basis,” he said.
