Dry 'sex' jokes fail to draw laughter

UPCOMING comedians who took to the stage at the weekly Laugh out Harare Stand-up Comedy Club show on Tuesday night at Jazz 24/7 failed to amuse fans as most of them continuously made sex oriented dry jests.

The Tuesday show that featured Ian Phiri, Long John, Kadem, Vaking Kandoro and Tinaye Chiketa attracted a paltry crowd that was left disappointed as some of the comedians failed to rise to expectations.

Tinashe Mbudzi, who performed as a surprise act, failed to rise to the occasion despite having been in the field for a while and performed in Canada.

Instead of delivering a rib-cracking set, he shocked the audience as he resorted to "vulgar" dry jests and tried to save his set with the late Michael Jackson dance routines, but again failed to thrill audiences.

The host of the show, Doc Vickela yesterday defended the comedians saying they will get better by performing frequently since they were upstarts.

"The main aim of the show is to unlock the potential in these upcoming comics. About three months down the line they will be quicker and funnier, imagine one had to wait close to two months before they could go onstage and test new gags," Doc Vickela said.

"At the moment I am not really worried about them, putting them on the line-up is testament of the potential we see in them. It is the same process we went through at the Bocapa open mic, and still we keep growing and perfecting our craft."

He said Mbudzi has been in the field for a while and his failure to deliver was because he is still adjusting to the people in Zimbabwe.

"Mbudzi is not new in the field. He has done many shows in Canada and the joke he did last night (Tuesday) was one of the jokes he had done before, but he is still adjusting to the people and the language which is probably why people could not laugh to his jokes," he said.

Doc Vickela admitted that judging by Tuesday's numbers, audiences at night shows were decreasing probably due to economic hardships and lack of appreciation of stand-up comedy.