Carl Joshua to relocate to Mzansi

. Bruce Ndlovu
Zimbabwe is set to lose one of its foremost stand-up comedians with Carl Joshua Ncube set to permanently move to South Africa with his recent appointment as a producer of flagship Comedy Central African themed animated show, My Child: Teenage Mutant Azanians..

The multi-talented Zimbabwean comedian has been a regular south of the Limpopo in the last few years, performing in a number of shows and festivals.

One of his visits landed him at the inaugural Comedy Central fest, where he was identified by the show producers, who slotted him alongside Nick Wilson and Trevor Gumbi in the series which premiered in December last year.

However, the producers seemed to have had a change of heart about the role that Ncube is supposed to play on the show,A� in addition to his role as a character he will also serve as a producer.

a�?Our strategy is to be relevant in a number of African countries to increase our reach. We were excited to meet Carl Joshua Ncube at the recent Comedy Central International Comedy Festival and we instantly got along with our shared passion to growing animation on the continent,a�? producer Nick Wilson said at the time of his appointment.

According to Ncube the showa��s producers had further indicated that his vast knowledge of the African comedy scene would help them as they searched for content withA� a distinct African bias.

a�?Initially I was supposed to write a few scripts and contribute to a few voice roles but that has since changed because the producers reckon I would be more valuable as a producer as well because of my knowledge of African comedy,a�? he said.

Ncube said that although he had already started on his various roles on the show, he was now setting things up for his big move south of the Limpopo.

a�?I have already started work but I will probably make the permanent move to Cape Town at the end of the year. For now we have work permits to sort out and we will be preparing other things that will make the transition from Zimbabwe to South Africa as smooth as possible because this means that the whole family is relocating,a�? he said.

Ncube said that he was looking forward to the move as it would allow him to actively exchange ideas with other African comedians because he had been brought in to harness talent from around the continent.

a�?Basically rather than me being tied down to South Africa this new role allows me to work with talent from around Africa. My role is to be the liaison between the Comedy Central and the rest of the continenta��s comedy scene,a�? he said.