The Zimbabwean comedians laughing in the face of hardship

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/27/zimbabwe-comedians-laughing-in-the-face-of-hardship

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With Zimbabwe’s economy on its knees and daily life a struggle for much of the population, there is one luxury that many can still afford – laughter.

“We laugh at ourselves. We laugh at funerals. We laugh even when things are not going well for us and we should be moaning and groaning,” says award-winning dramatist and poet Chirikure Chirikure.

In difficult times, with unemployment rampant and poverty widespread, a new generation of comedians has emerged to entertain the masses and make light of the worsening situation.

Related: Mugabe falls: comedy memes of Zimbabwe's president go viral

Simuka Comedy – made up of Victor Mpofu, better known by his stage name Doc Vikela or simply The Doctor, Michael Kudakwashe, Samm Monro and Comic King – attract full houses to their regular shows at The Book Café, a popular arts venue in the capital, Harare.

The young comics poke fun at anyone from the president, Robert Mugabe, and his wife, Grace, to corrupt traffic police officers, former white farmers and local celebrities.

Donning a doctor’s white coat and stethoscope, Mpofu dishes out “doses” of humour to audiences sick of hard times after 15 years of economic decline blamed on the policies of Mugabe’s government.

The “doctor” has his audience in tears of laughter as he imitates the 91-year-old president.

“Zimbabweans, for all our literacy – with a 99.9995% literacy rate – we are the only country that will fail to answer a simple question: who is your former president?”

For many, Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980, is the only leader they have known.

Explaining the growing popularity of their shows, Mpofu said hard times have made people look for comic relief.

“Things are tight and people need something to take the stress off their lives. People would rather spend their little cash laughing and drinking,” he said.

Comedy fan and regular audience member Enright Tsambo agreed, noting that the drinking part of a night out was seriously limited by a lack of cash.

There is so much pain, and people find solace in looking at themselves and laughing at themselves

“We can’t afford to drink as much so some of us just buy one beer and spend an evening laughing at a comedy show,” he said. “It takes the stress away.”

In a country where insulting the president is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison, the comedians have found a way of tackling serious issues without making direct statements, so they get away with jokes that could get ordinary citizens arrested.

Threats

Away from the comedy venues, Zimbabweans share jokes across social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp and through street theatre shows – landing some performers in trouble.

“We have had several cases where people have been prosecuted for freely expressing themselves and in most cases they will just be sharing or cracking a joke,” said Kumbirai Mafunda, spokesman for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

He gives the example of a woman facing charges of insulting Mugabe after she sent a picture on WhatsApp purportedly showing the president in the nude; and another man who was arrested for joking that Mugabe was so old he would have a hard-time blowing up his birthday balloons during national celebrations earlier this year.

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Flying in the face of such threats of arrest, another comedian Samm Monro – better known by his stage name Comrade Fatso – pokes fun at the internal feuding which has seen factions in Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party waging bitter fights amongst themselves in the race to succeed him.

“Zanu-PF is the biggest opposition to Zanu-PF and now what is (opposition leader) Morgan Tsvangirai supposed to do?” Monro queried in one of his sold-out acts at the recent Harare International Arts Festival.

The University of Zimbabwe also came in for ribbing as the record holder for the fastest conferment of a doctorate, after Mugabe’s wife Grace was awarded a PhD three months after registering.

Monro is also among newscasters on the satirical Zambezi News, which parodies the state broadcaster , renowned for its pro-government spin.

Zambezi News bulletins, shown online on YouTube and on stage, feature characters such as the Minister of Impending Projects and the Minister of Mines, who owns a mine called Mine Mine – “because it’s mine”.

One of the country’s top production companies has also backed a new play, All Systems Out of Order, portraying the collapse of amenities such as public toilets as a symbol of the state of the country.

“There is so much pain, and people find solace in looking at themselves and laughing at themselves,” said theatre producer and actor Obrien Mudyiwenyama.