adminJoyce Jenje Makwenda Inside Out
My discussion today is on women comedians. Do we have professional women comedians, more so stand-up comedians? Comedy and comic relief was used by women as a way of relieving stress and laughing at themselves and their families, communities and their society.
They would laugh at their most unfortunate situations using comedy. Comedy was/is used to convey serious messages in a very lighter way, were one would see the seriousness of the matter after laughing.
Kesia Magosha, a multi talented artiste makes the issue of HIV/AIDS lighter in her comedy.
“I was talking about sexual and reproductive issues and I was saying to those who are taking ARV’s, you can use it to your advantage depending on one’s attitude. Take it on a lighter side — at funerals you are one of the first people to be served food because you simply tell those who are cooking that ndiripama piritsi (I am taking tablets), if you are clever enough you get served first, zvotonzi aiwa vapei unotobvira kuporridge revana (they will say give him/her, you can actually start with the children’s porridge). So how can one fail to use such a privilege?” Kesia gives advice, she continues to explain. “Mazuva ano yakuita kunge sitaera because chisingamwirwe chacho chii, BP inomwirwa, diabetes inomwirwa, (These days it is like a style people, are taking all sorts of tablets — for high blood pressure, for diabetes) so one just has to say I am on tablets, don’t be ashamed, one has to use their privileges. I also encourage people not to be ashamed to have condoms, kutonyara kufamba kana nemacondom iwe uchiziva kuti unoita, (how can one be ashamed of carrying condoms knowing that you do).”
During International Conference on AIDS and STI’s In Africa (ICASA), Kesia moved around with condom earrings which she had made herself, people would ask her about her earrings and she would remind people that it was Aids Day.
“Sometimes they are campaigns that we need to do on our own, so it ignited conversations in kombis (taxis) and on the road people were asking and I would say, so you do not use condoms, I keep mine with me.”
While a woman provided most of the comedy and comic relief in olden days, today she has not been able to do it at the scale male comedians are doing in public places. Even in a country like the USA were art is seen to be at an advanced stage in terms of entertainment, they are not that many women comedians in the public domain.
A programme “Comic Unleashed” on BET is one example were in all the programmes that I have watched, there is always one woman and three men, that is the pattern, the ratio is one to three, but you find that in the homes (the private space) both locally and internationally, there are amazing women comedians.
They are few women comedians in Zimbabwe in the public space and some of them are — Kesia and Marian Kunonga, but most of the women have not been able to take their comedy in the public realm.
We know of women comedians who have acted in films, radio and theatre and the women will be in a group and some of those who have made names for themselves are Amai Rwizi (Susan Chenjerayi), Amai Phineas (Juliet Masunda, who is now late). But where are our stand-up women comedians?
We have seen male stand-up comedians who have graced our stages, and some of them are Edgar Langeveldt, Carl Joshua Ncube, Doc Vikela of Simuka Comedy, Kapfupi (Freddy Manjalima).
When Anne Kansiime performed in Harare recently, those who were her supporting acts were all men. Why? Where were our women comedians?
There are very few who have taken comedy to the public sphere but those who perform in the public arena have made us laugh.
On International Women’s Day last year, I watched Kesia at the Book Café and she made people laugh — yes people were in stitches.
But before I saw Kesia, I had phoned Penny Yon and asked her, “Where are women comedians particularly stand-up comedians?” and she gave me names of women who had participated in comedy and one of them was Marian Kunonga.
I was not surprised that Marian is a comedian, I remembered the interview I had with her on Women in the Arts, how she was so expressive and when I invited her to give a paper at a workshop on Women in the Arts, she was so humorous.
When I went to interview Marian on comedy, I met two other women artistes, Charmaine Mangwende (Amai Huni – Studio 263). I had not seen her for a while and Angeline Dimingo — a filmmaker.
It was such a pleasure as the three of us ended up becoming Marian’s audience.
“Marian, I hear you are a stand-up comedian?”
“Yes mama.” She said as she laughed. “I was invited to perform as a stand-up comedian one day by Doc Vikela of Simuka Comedy, that is the day I can say I performed as a stand-up comedian.”
On the day, she talked about her family; her children and her husband, her two black children, two coloured children and a white husband.
“The prejudice surrounding such families makes good comedy,” Marian explained.
Marian takes all these experiences to the stage and laugh at herself and her community.
“I would talk about me being in a ‘rainbow’ family because I have got a white husband and I have got two black sons and two coloured daughters, so I was actually talking about the stereotypes that I go through.
“There is no racism in my house, that’s what I was just talking about but, I really enjoyed the response that people gave me, so since then I am starting to take it seriously but I have been busy.
“I have got a script together, which is about 30 minutes of comedy. I will be doing it as a stand-up comedy but it’s actually a scripted performance.”
“When Simukai Comedy invited me for just that day, I realised I had a talent as a stand-up comedian and I would like to take it seriously and I am writing scripts so that when I start I don’t stop”.
“But why don’t we have women professional comedians in the country?” I asked.
“We do not laugh at ourselves as society, more so as women, so being a comedian as a woman is not very easy.”
Marian explained how women can laugh at themselves through comedy and in a way empowering themselves.
She told us of a story of a woman whose husband had died and how she mourned.
The husband had been in South Africa for 10 years.
This story was also performed by Kesia on the International Women’s Day. It is a story that has made rounds. The husband had never come back home in those 10 years he was in South Africa.
The woman cried while seated and saying all that she wished to have done in the 10 years with her husband but he was nowhere to be found, only to come back in a coffin.
She then stood up and went to the coffin and asked the husband, “uneshuwa here kuti ungaite hutsinye hwakadaro kundipanicha, makore gumi here, waitindinoitasei? Ten years ndakadzidhonza vasikana.” (Are you sure that you had to leave me for 10 years. Yes I went on for 10 years without a husband. Marian had to stand up and demonstrate how dramatic the woman became and it is when she was about to open the coffin that the anasahwira (family friends) had to refrain her and said, “Batai munhu (get hold of her) she will take “him” because she is very angry and confused!”
While she was crying and being a drama queen, the mother of the woman was also crying and saying, “mwanawangu akatambudzika veduwe makumi neanoraudzira here vasikana, akatambudzika.” (My daughter suffered, more than 10 years).
The brother-in-law of the woman whose husband had died was not to be left out and said “Amaiguru muri mhandara chaiyo iyo, muri mhandara amaiguru, muri mhandara kani.” (My sister in-law you are a virgin, you are really a virgin).
The sahwiras could see where this statement was going and they started looking at each with talking eyes.
Marian dramatised what took place at that funeral, and she just left us in stitches!
Angeline Dimingo said she wonders why we do not have women stand-up comedians and yet women are so comic,
“They are the ones who make people laugh, especially at funerals as sahwiras and they do not take this to the public space to make it professional.
Charmaine was quick to say, “A lot of women cannot be comedians when there are men but at a women’s gathering that’s when you see that this one is a comedian.
“At kitchen parties you find that a lot of women are comedians but that is as far as they can go because of societal structures that do not allow a woman to do certain things in the public space.”
Aaron Chiundura Moyo, an actor and producer/director encourages women to be involved in professional comedy as it is a way of communicating just like music, writing and all other forms of art.
He explained how comedy can be a vehicle to articulate their problems and to celebrate their achievements.
“Comedy is a good channel of communication. It helps women to overcome a lot of hurdles. Other art genres can be direct, now with comedy it is as if a person is not serious but people get the message and one can almost say anything using comedy.”
He goes on to explain, “Comedy is like beer, some men cannot say certain things when they are sober, they say them when they are drunk. So women can use comedy as a drug which when they take, can say anything. Comedy will set women free,” says Chiundura Moyo.
Joyce Jenje Makwenda can be contacted on [email protected]
Online Reporter