It was a night filled with laughter during the celebration of the Gen Z comedy first year anniversary alongside Uganda’s funnyman Dr Hillary Okello and the Gen Z comedians at the usual venue, Art Rwanda -Ubuhanzi Incubation Center, Rugando. The concert which had a big turn up kicked off around 7 pm by Fally Merci followed by a line up of Gen Z comedians who cracked ribs with many jokes. Among the Gen Z comedians who performed include Nepo, Demobe, Kamamata, Dudu, Bertin, Kadudu, Hubert, Cardinal, Zinzi, Muhinde, Admin, Barret, Clement, Mavide and Pazzo. Opening the first performance, Nepo got on stage as people who were excited about the show gave him a loud ovation. “When I joined the army everyone was shocked because I was very short and couldn’t find uniforms that fit me. The worst part was when they gave me boots and they fit every part of my body upto my chest. My commander said it was an advantage because at war enemies might only see shoes,” he joked. Kadudu, the lone female performer at the Gen Z performance, was highly welcomed by the crowd as she walked on stage as a queen. She started off thanking the government for their efforts in empowering women and for giving them equal opportunities as men. “I was today’s years old when I found out that ‘Gutuja’ was a Ugandan song. I used to sing it in pure Kinyarwanda and it still rhymed like it was the right words,” joked Kadudu. “Ghetto life is very expensive and complicated these days because I once had nothing at my place and went to visit a friend in hopes of getting something to eat at his place but all in vain. I searched for food but nothing was there. He kept on saying that there is nothing in the house until I gave up and decided to at least drink water. When I took the jerrycan to pour water in the cup rice came out instead,” joked Cardinal. Admin joked about parents, especially mothers exaggerating a lot to things that are not even related at all. “I told my mum that I had caught malaria and she said it’s because of these comedy things that I have started doing lately. When she told me this I wondered if my colleagues are mosquitoes because I don’t get how else I could get malaria from comedy. Before my dad became a pastor he was a security guard and when mum gave birth in the middle of the night when dad had gone to work, we called him to tell him about it and he complained that we woke him up,” joked Admin. Muhinde was among the comedians who has been among the favourites at the Gen Z comedy editions and he delivered what they expected from him at the show. “Merci was angry with me today because he called my phone a couple of times but I didn’t pick up. However it was not my problem because my housemate left it on the cupboard before leaving the house and I couldn’t reach it even though I could hear it ringing, he joked. It was also a night to remember for the Ugandan comedian Okello, who had an outstanding performance that ended while Kigalians still yearned for more. He was shown so much love and his jokes cracked the crowd from the start to the end. “In high school I had a classmate from Rwanda called Gatoya and he was very clever in school but could never tell you answers in exams. You could find everyone panicking and revising at the last minute stressed yet Gatoyi and an Indian called Dives Patel were revising a lesson for next week’s exams. “A clever student doesn't mind where they sit in the exam hall because they go with their brain but those stupid students like me and you(referring to the audience), when we reach the door you always look to sit where the bright student is seated because you will use someone else’s brain. I asked Gatoya to help in the exam and finally he agreed because he usually didn’t. When he entered the hall I followed him but the teacher told me to sit somewhere else so I had to find a reason to sit next to him by the window. I told the teacher I had Asthma so that I could sit next to Gatoya but when I sat he immediately relocated him and I had to find another reason to follow him,” joked Okello. The comedy show also had many famous figures from different sectors come to have a good time. Some of the celebrities include Uncle Austin, Junior Giti, Prince from Juda Muzik, Zaba Missed Call, Lynda Priya, Bahari, Bamenya and footballer Bertrand, among many others. Organized by Rwandan funnyman Merci Ndaruhutse, commonly known as Fally Merci, Gen Z Comedy Show aims at promoting young upcoming comedians in the country to give them a platform to showcase their talent as one of the factors impeding the development of upcoming comedians. He is using the Gen Z concept to unearth new talents and give them an opportunity to thrive. The show ended around 11pm and Merci thanked everyone who has supported Gen Z comedy since its inception last year and asked them to continue showing them love as they work together to empower young comedians and Rwanda’s comedy industry at large.
