Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu Sunday Life Reporter
AS he stood on stage at his own comedy roast, where some of his own friends, prominent figures, and some of the city’s comedians took turns to dissect his public and private life, a few in the audience might have wondered what was going through City of Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart’s mind.
Perhaps, they might have thought, his stomach was turning at that very moment, as he wondered on the nature of the insult that would escape the lips of the next wisecracking comedian during a night in which no topic seemed to be off the limits.
During that rib-cracking night, in which his public and private lives were repeatedly poked and out rightly flogged, one might have forgiven the Mayor for feeling some sense of unease even amongst lung-bursting laughs.
However, for those who had been there at the birth of Umahlekisa Comedy Club, the night was undoubtedly a triumph. Thirteen years ago, Umahlekisa was born. Back then, the thought of hosting the senior-most city fathers was far from founder and director Ntando Van Moyo’s mind.
In those days, Van Moyo and his ragtag group of young funny men were struggling to find an audience for their humorous takes on modern Zimbabwe. They were willing to tell a joke to any ear that would listen. They performed in bars, restaurants, and the backrooms of seedy establishments.
What began as a small collective of dreamers searching for laughs in dimly lit corners of Bulawayo has now become one of the country’s most recognisable comedy institutions, a platform that has helped reshape stand-up comedy from an underground hustle into a respected art form capable of filling halls, attracting sponsors, and even drawing politicians and celebrities onto the firing line.
For Van Moyo, however, the journey has not always unfolded according to the script first imagined by the club’s founders.
“Actually, we thought of a different trajectory when we started. We thought we’d just form committees who’d go and perform internationally,” he said.
“But as we grew the brand over the years, we started seeing how many gaps were available, like using comedy as a tool to drive tourism, to convey social messages, and to engage with issues of national interest, which is why we do all of these events.”
Over time, Umahlekisa realised that comedy could be much more than a vehicle for entertainment. It could become a mirror for society, a soft but effective way of discussing difficult issues while keeping audiences laughing. That evolution is perhaps best embodied by the rise of the roast format, which has become one of the club’s signature attractions.
“Roasts have also become a prominent feature on our calendar because we’ve seen that they present an opportunity not just to grow humour, but also to have people communicate differently. Having prominent people coming through and talking truth to power is also part of the things that we think can be used to get over stumbling blocks and challenges,” Van Moyo said.
For Dalubuhle Sibanda, one of the drivers of the Umahlekisa brand over the years, the growth of the collective has been both gradual and remarkable.
“The growth has been just phenomenal at times, and slow for most, but still we have managed to pivot when we have to pivot and actually grow in a certain way when we needed to,” he said.
“I’ll just put it down to the vision of the founder and director of Umahlekisa, Ntando. Mostly, he has a vision, whereas we joined him along the way. He’s always had this vision of getting comedy to the biggest stages to make it stable.”
Sibanda remembers a time when Zimbabwean stand-up comedy barely existed as a recognised art form.
“If you remember back in the day when Umahlekisa started, the only vision of comedy we had was Omkula and street comedy. Stand-up as an art form wasn’t really appreciated, or it was appreciated, but it wasn’t really practised as much,” he said.
That absence of an established comedy culture forced Umahlekisa to innovate constantly. The club could not simply wait for audiences to emerge naturally. Instead, it had to build them painstakingly from the ground up.
“It doesn’t matter how many losses we incur, how many shows have fewer people in the audience. Every stage day is a learning process. You can’t rush it because time makes the artist, stage time makes the comedy club, stage time makes the organisation,” Sibanda said.
“So if you look at the bigger picture, the goal has always been to grow the crowd and we have managed to cultivate a crowd from the grassroots. Most of the crowd has grown with us from back in the day when we were in the back rooms of bars and restaurants, all the way to performing in small halls and tea rooms.”
As Umahlekisa searched for survival, collaboration became one of its most important tools. The club deliberately fused comedy with other art forms and partnered with musicians and performers who already commanded loyal audiences.
“Comedy crowds were not really there, so we had to steal crowds from somewhere,” Sibanda said.
“Collaborations with Djembe Monks helped us a lot. Having champions like Djembe Monks coming onto the show, collaborating with the likes of Cal_vin, Novuyo Seagirl and others helped us a lot.
Sidumisile Mabena