As we started our conversation, at Norrsken, I asked Comedian Arthur Nkusi how he was doing. He shared that he is still recovering from the loss of his grandmother who passed on a few months ago. His grandmother raised Arthur till he was eight years old. We held our interview days after the comedian had returned from London on a work trip, which he says was a good experience. We joked about some of the comments his friends made on his Instagram post while in London like “Don’t come back” from Singer Platini, which Arthur says it has never been something he would consider. Apparently, it was not Arthur’s first time in London, in 2008 he did a three-month tour with Mashirika where they performed 120 performances within 90 days. According to the actor, the tour was very tough but he also lauds the experience saying it was worth it. Arthur, who has grown to become a multi-talented person, says that during his childhood he never had dreams like other kids. Unlike today, he was a shy person before, different from his brother Arnold Kabera alias Sintex who he says was more competitive than him and overshadowed his talent. The actor says his brilliance came to light when he was separated from his brother. “It all started when he moved to Uganda and I stayed with my parents. I started to form my own character, I had to find myself because I was under him a lot, after he left I also discovered that I didn’t have friends, all my friends were his,” he noted. Nkusi who is also a master of Ceremony notes that it is something that has followed him, his circle of friends is very small. “Generally I don’t have many people in my life, and I know it’s weird because I seem to be like a guy who is very outgoing. “But I live a very quiet life that’s why I don’t tell people more about my life because I never get a reason to,” Arthur said. “As a result,” he continues, “my father decided to start taking me to the theatre. I think he was like the kid is bored and all that,” he recalled. How acting came about It all began when I was walking with my father, Arthur recalls, he was going for rehearsals because he was into theatre already, and he had done movies by then. “As we were walking he asked me so Arthur can you act? I was like me? Yes, I can act. So he said to me, cry. And then I started crying. He said laugh, I started laughing, with tears,” Arthur said. The following day, he continues, my father came and told me after school, to come to the stadium. “I went to the stadium and when I got there, first of all, there were soldiers, drummers, singers like Mariya Yohana... I was looking at the best you’ve ever seen,” The comedian says as he was there, his dad came with a tall lady who had rolls by then. And she asked him, is this Arthur? And his father replied this is Arthur. “And my dad said, Arthur, meet Hope Azeda, and that was when I met Hope Azeda for the first time,” Arthur said. And then Hope, he continued, gave me a script and said you have one hour to go and memorize this line. “And the story was about a boy called Theoneste Gasana, who was born during the Genocide against Tutsi, so, when they celebrate his birthday, he is mourning for his family, it was a very powerful story,” Nkusi recalls. And yeah, that was my first time to perform in front of 30,000 people and my first performance in Rwanda, he adds. Everything happens for a reason Arthur went on to encourage people who think that they don’t have talent saying that judgment comes when people compare themselves to others. “What I can tell you now is that whatever you’re in now, do it well and be satisfied with it because things happen for a reason,” he said. The MC highlights that at the end of the day everything fits and makes sense. Arthur believes that though some people take courses at schools and colleges that they didn’t choose, it happens for a reason, maybe it happened so you could meet a different network, which is very important. “At the end of the day the people you meet are your number one investments,” he stressed. Arthur says he never thought that life would turn out for him how it did. “When I was in senior two, I never thought I would be running an agency, a campaign, or even doing communications,” The most important lesson When asked what important lessons he learned throughout the years, Arthur said that everyone is able to learn and transform into what they want. “You don’t have to be perfect but instead if you focus on learning you’ll get better,” he added. On the same topic, the comedian also disclosed the meaning of the tattoo that he has on his arm written in the Hebrew language that says ‘he is more.' “A butterfly lives many lives but we people think that we have one life, people can also have as many lives as they want,” he said. As Arthur commented on a point I raised about people who regret losing their loved ones before telling them how they felt about them. He believes that those people do not need it but the ones who remain are the ones who need it. “I don’t need you to tell me what I’ve done for you because in the first place I never did it so you could tell me (Thank me) but it’s up to you who feels that there’s a certain way I’ve changed your life or if there’s a certain way, you feel about me as a rapper, an artist, then don’t hold it on the inside,” he notes. Arthur is of the view that when you appreciate people’s work it helps you grow. “When you appreciate, you acknowledge, when you acknowledge, you expose yourself to your insecurities... and insecurities are our chances to learn.” About mental health hygiene Arthur believes that the issue of mental health is for everyone, it’s not endured by one group of people and not the other. “I also do have my moments. There are moments when I am down, moments when things are not working; there are moments when I can’t manage my work life; my marriage life; my extended family life, and my personal life,” he says. According to him, the most important thing is for people to acknowledge that everyone can have such breakdowns. “Someone (Mental health expert) once told me,” Nkusi recalls, “that for a person to go for mental health assistance, they have been living with depression for ten years minimum, because even during pregnancy a depressed parent can affect their unborn child.” Arthur says he takes a break every time he doesn’t feel mentally stable About bringing Trevor Noah to perform in Rwanda Arthur who is also the founder and CEO of Arthur Nation organises Seka Live comedy show says that some people think nothing is being done to bring Trevor Noah, one of the most celebrated comedians in the world, but he has done his best. “I tried, proposals have been made, there’s even a time when it reached 80 percent success in bringing Trevor Noah but it failed,” he revealed. Though the comedian was very reserved about the topic, he also disclosed that it won’t take more than two to three years for the renowned comedian to come to Rwanda. “It’s part of my dream, I don’t want to say too much, but there was a time when the process had started and then he got sick and he cancelled all his plans, but even now we’re still pushing... it won’t take two-three years until we bring him to Rwanda,” Arthur noted.
