It was a full house at the Silent Comedy Black Friday Grand finale.
The finale for the quarterly show hosted by comedian Okello Okello Joshua, was staged on Friday December 2 at Theatre Labonita. On this particular night, you could see the big audience enjoying the funny jokes and their chuckles hard to miss.
Okello’s art of eliciting laughter and applause as a reaction from the audience through his words and deeds was vivid as he introduced the performers on stage. When you have been doing standup for the last nine years, you build a knack of tickling everybody with little effort.
Friday’s show catered for every fan’s taste and the comics were spontaneous in delivery. The evening’s sets proved that becoming a comedian is not just one skill but a combination of several skills that they make look seamless.
Silent Comedy Black Friday returned with an all-star line up to laugh away what many consider to have been a very tough year.
The lineup included poets Mercy Geno and Isabirye Mitch, and comedians like Mudhaasi Pius Jonathan, Optional Allan, Sundiata, Kalela Daniel, Cotilda Inapo, Maulana and Reign, Akite Agnes.
Dr Hilary Okello closed the show with a hilarious piece derived from the examinations experiences back in school. All acts scored highly on-stage presence, delivery, confidence, presence of mind and audibility.
For those who attended any of the previous editions of the show this year, the contrast when it came to last week’s show was deserving of the closer. Ironically, the business of unseriousness is quickly becoming a serious business and a very significant aspect of Uganda’s entertainment industry. Standup involves an individual technically-termed as a comedian, performing in front of a live audience. Face-to-face and personal interaction occurs as the comedian directly talks with the people.
Unique to the other comedy outfits, Comedy Black Friday show is a quiet yet intimate affair as each person in the audience listens to the jokes through headphones. The idea is more like a silent disco, only that this time it is for comedy.
In as much as comedy has a lot to do with how funny one is, the comedy business requires much more. It is about how many seats you can fill. This is was evident at the Silent Comedy Black Friday Grand Finale.
Someone will ask themselves why comedy is becoming such a popular genre in Uganda. The answer is as movies were born to entertain people, so do TV series. That’s its primary job. People’s individual lives are characterized by different sets of tension. Some people are tensed about their business, some about marriage, some about love, some about studies, some about their careers. You name it.
Comedy exists to neutralize or cushion this tension. What could be more relaxing than to experience a feel-good moment. In a world sustained by never-ending mood swings, comic therapy is what keeps the cycle in equilibrium.
Comedian Timothy Nyanzi says the show was worthy of a grand finale.
“It was a great line up of up-and-coming acts, regulars and legends in the industry. It was clear to see that as much as comedy is about cracking jokes, these comedians were not joking. They take the art form serious and it showed in their material. So much that it’s hard to even identify who the star of the night was. Okello Okello has outdone himself with this platform and it’s one of the Stand up shows that you cannot afford to miss,” said Timothy.
Okello’s manager, Ronnie A.Ocitti, says “Of the 5, this was the best, great choice and balance of the comedians. It was worth the hype. But it ended late by one hour unlike the promised time. People still remained seated despite the time issue, meaning they were enjoying. A few have already reserved their tickets for 3rd March 2023.”
Okello Okello is a traveled professional stand-up comic, host and founder of Silent Comedy Black Friday, a household name and a brand in the comedy industry.
