HARARE, ZIMBABWE – Legendary comedian Edgar Langeveldt, 42, performed at the final comedy night at the Book Café, a cultural landmark in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, before it closed on the last day of 2011.
It was a poignant performance as Langeveldt, considered the father of comedy in Zimbabwe, says he performed both his and the café’s first stand-up comedy show here in 1997. The audience laughed into their beers in the smoky and jovial atmosphere at the café’s final comedy show, called “The Last Laugh.”
The café, a hub of culture for the past 30 years, was forced to close because of plans to build a new shopping center on the land. But in Zimbabwe, comedy is far from dead. The craft has witnessed a rebirth in recent years.
“Comedy is popular,” Langeveldt says. “Who doesn’t want to laugh?”
It was the last performance of the inaugural year of Simuka Comedy, a platform for up-and-coming and established comedians. “Simuka” means “stand up” in Shona, the language of Zimbabwe’s largest tribe. The group performed at the Book Café on the last three Wednesdays of December 2011.
Crediting Langeveldt as their mentor, the comics formed Simuka Comedy last year to continue to re-establish comedy in Zimbabwe. They attribute their courage to stand up and make Zimbabweans laugh to Langeveldt. Simba The Comic King, one member of the group who also performed at the show, says they hope to follow in Langeveldt’s famous footsteps.
Langeveldt says he brought stand-up comedy to Zimbabwe in 1997 through his performance at the Book Café. Leaving no issue unturned, he pursued this art even through the volatile years of 1999 to 2001, when expressing one’s opinion became dangerous in the country.
For confronting cultural and political conventions through humor and satire, he won in 2005 a Prince Claus Award, which honors people and organizations who positively transform their societies through cultural activities. The Prince Claus Fund also named the Book Café a laureate last year for serving as a platform for free cultural expression during decades of political and economic upheavals, repressive laws, strict censorship and weak cultural infrastructure in Zimbabwe.
Comedians say they have been able to resurrect the art of comedy in recent years by avoiding the topic of politics. They say there are a host of other issues to address and that comedy offers an informative and enjoyable medium to do so. Fans welcome the return of comedy to the country to tackle major topics through humor and urge comedians to infuse the revival of this art with innovation. Comedians say the future of comedy looks bright if they can overcome challenges of finding literal and figurative space to perform.
Comedy began to decline in Zimbabwe in 2000 and was dead by 2005 because of a zero-tolerance policy for government criticism. But local comedians have been reviving it since 2010 by staying away from political topics, with 2011 serving as a major period of growth.
“This year alone, 1,900,000 people have been exposed to stand-up in the country, and about 10 new young comedians have sprung out from almost nowhere,” Simba The Comic King says of 2011. “There was a fear by most to venture into stand-up because most thought that it was an art form of a political nature. But as you have seen, there are many other things one can address besides politics.”
In a country such as Zimbabwe, where repressive politics and a recent decade-long economic crisis have stifled freedom of expression, comedy would seem to be the last form expected to have a chance to grow.
Nando’s, a South African chicken franchise, recently had to stop airing a commercial in Zimbabwe and South Africa because it poked fun at Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president. The advertisement showed Mugabe dining alone at Christmas after the demise of Moammar Gadhafi and other dictators. It led to a political row and its removal from the air, even though Nando’s Zimbabwe distanced itself from the South African flagship.
“We long to see the day freedom of speech dawns on this country so we can speak openly on political ills,” Simba The Comedy King says.
Well-aware of taboo topics such as politics until that day arrives, local stand-up comedians are eager to make Zimbabweans laugh with less flammable themes. By doing so, they have been proving that it is possible for comedy to thrive again here.
“You have to know your country, know where you are living,” says comedian Uncle Sam, who served as emcee during the comedy night at the Book Café. “Don’t joke about politics.”
The start of the re-emergence of stand-up comedy after staying under the radar for a few years whispers hope for freedom of expression. In the meantime, this hope stands firm behind the shield of harmless humor.
“Wow, so many White people – you still here?” jokes Chamu, another comedian of Simuka Comedy, during his performance at the comedy night.
It is hard to get a serious answer out of the comedians, especially when they are trying to make you crack your ribs.
“As a comedian, no one takes you seriously,” Simba The Comic King quips from the stage.
But they agree that comedy can be used as a vehicle to address serious issues.
“Stand-up comedy is a vehicle to address social or political ills,” Simba The Comic King says. “It has been that way since the days of Lenny Bruce, the first-ever stand-up comic.”
He raised the issue of charity on comedy night.
“Give to charity,” he implores during his set. “Yes, please give to Charity, my girlfriend.”
He says that comedy offers him a platform to provide social commentary.
“I would like to address the issue of ugly women,” he says after his set. “Just joking. I mainly focus on observational comedy where I get to talk about everyday life by referencing popular culture.”
Uncle Sam, who has a keychain with a photo of himself that resembles the image of the U.S. icon with the caption, “You Want Uncle Sam,” says he wants to carve a niche in comedy for Christians.
“I want to reach out to the Christians and provide them with good clean jokes,” he says. “Humor does not have to be dirty. I want to address issues in social circles and thoughts on heaven and hell.”
Langeveldt says he wants to cover it all.
“I want to address all the major issues,” Langeveldt says. “Sex, race, identity, politics, but not religion. OK, maybe religion too.”
Simba The Comic King says comedy is the least limiting art form when it comes to self-expression.
“What attracted me to comedy was the fact that it is an art form in which one gets to express themselves with every element of the body, whether be it physically or verbally,” he says. “And also, I guess there’s nothing greater than the ability to bring laughter and happiness to people’s lives.”
Audience members at the café’s final show also recognized the potential to address important issues through this medium.
“I guess with comedy you can make big statements and use the humor to soften the blow,” Rachelle Wright, 34, says.
Adil Sidar, 26, says the night exceeded her expectations.
“Comedy is great for having a laugh,” Sidar says. “This event was better than I expected.”
She says her favorite comedian was Q the Boss.
“I am broke, man I am broke,” he jokes from the stage. “I am so broke that I get street kids offering me cash.”
Others lauded the return of comedy to the country but say they would like to see more innovation.
“It’s great to finally see some comedy in Zimbabwe, but I don’t think the comedians were that funny,” Andre Mayer, 37, says. “They seemed to be going for typical stereotype jokes, like White girls can’t dance, which gets boring after a while.”
After fans filled the Book Café almost to capacity during Simuka Comedy performances last year, many say the future of Zimbabwean comedy certainly looks bright for local acts.
“It does look promising,” Uncle Sam says. “I want to get into the business side of things and manage comedians so that we can get comedy acts reaching all of Zimbabwe.”
Langeveldt agrees that more infrastructure and physical spaces to perform are crucial to the industry’s continued growth, especially with the closing of the Book Café.
“I think the challenge is the lack of development,” Langeveldt says. “And I don’t mean that Zimbabwe is lacking in talent or opportunities. There is plenty of that. I mean that it is not yet on the level of South Africa or Lagos in Nigeria. I am talking about organizations. There should be a comedy café where people know that from Monday to Monday there are going to be performances happening.”
He says he hopes that the future also brings more figurative space to perform.
“I envisage a future of harassment-free humor in Zimbabwe,” Langeveldt says before the show starts. “I think that would be great.”
