The return of the Seka Live comedy show on Sunday proved to be a big occasion during which comedians, locals and foreign, young and established, have plenty of jokes in store for their audience.
But if there is one comedian that stole the show, it is Patrick Rusine! His drunk-inspired jokes owned the stage to the extent that comedians who performed after him struggled to keep the hype that he left inside the venue no matter how big their comedy profile is. Even celebrated South Africa’s Loyiso Madinga could not fill the comedian’s shoes.
The fast-rising comedian has formed a strong partnership with Clapton Kibonge with the duo developing a new comedy concept acting like drunkards.
The concept has made headlines since its inception last year and their comic videos were among the most watched productions on YouTube.
But Rusine proved that he is not just a YouTube comedy star when he shifted his comedy magic to the stage before hundreds of comedy lovers at M Hotel on Sunday.
From the beginning, the comedian dropped the majority of his jokes around drunkenness as he started his jokes from the popular bars and clubs he has gone to including Blackstone, Cocobean and Riders Lounge among others before sharing tips on what characterizes drunkards.
"The first habit that characterizes a drunkard is forgetting. You will excuse me in case I appear to forget what I had to tell you tonight,” joked Rusine.
The comedian’s jokes generally left revelers laughing during his entire time on stage especially his story about how he unintentionally ended up in the bar when it started raining.
"I never planned to drink beer that day. The bar was the closest I could rush to to avoid rain. But I ended up taking rounds and rounds of beer,” he joked.
Rusine only used Kinyarwanda during his entire time on stage as he joked to those who don’t understand it that they should pay him first if they wanted him to joke in a foreign language so that they could understand.
Nonetheless, his time on stage seemed too short for revelers who still wanted to watch him performing once more.
When he left the stage, revelers started to leave their seats and the venue was almost empty when Bigomba Guhinduka crew of comedy duo 5K Etienne and Japhet Mazimpaka took to stage as the last headliners of the comedy show.
Many believed that they had enjoyed ‘enough’ from a spectacular Rusine who ran the show ever since host Arthur Nkusi introduced him to the stage.
It took Loyiso Madinga a lot of energy to own the audience although Arthur reminded comedy people that he was going to host a famous comedian who featured in popular movie ‘Queen Sono’ but, thanks to his experience, he managed to keep the audience entertained.
Zimbabwean Carl Joshua was also lucky to have performed before the comedian who received a round of applause from the entire venue, especially from Nkusi who was full praise for Rusine’s talent and Kibonge who was making the best out of it.
"Patrick is one comedian to give credit and respect. Appreciation should also go to who it’s due. Clapton [Kibonge], you are doing a great job,” said Arthur.
Night to forget for DJ Pius
Most local comedians could not leave the stage without dropping a joke around DJ Pius. The singer was the talk of the show due to his towering height. Rusine joked that it’s expensive to find a coffin in which a body of his size would fit.
"Pius, you can fit in only if you shorten your legs. Trust me,” he joked.
Some thought the singer would react angrily to the joke but he instead dashed money to the comedian as a gesture of appreciation to his jokes.
During Seka Live, comedy found its home in Kigali again after a two-year hiatus.
Rising stars were given a platform to shine at the comedy show. Carl Joshua never disappointed during his first performance in Kigali when he mainly focused on the appraisals that Robert Mugabe received from Zimbabwean media anchors during his late days as President of the South African country.
The show ended half past 11pm.