I tried to kill myself

While he is now perhaps the country's most well known stand-up comedian with a potential to be the Zimbabwe's first major export in the art form, life was not always so rosy for Carl Joshua Ncube who once tried to commit suicide when things were rough.

Ncube, who has been on the road for most of the year as he continues his drive to sell Zimbabwe and the art of stand-up comedy overseas, chose to bare his soul this week as he encouraged those that might be going through hard times not to take the path he chose.

Ncube said that his suicide attempt had come at the turn of the century, years before he would rock stages in Zimbabwe and beyond as a funnyman.

"I sat in a room in Barking, England in 2001 contemplating suicide. Life had been rough on me, so I thought. I listened to Alvin Slaughter's Concert God Can for seven days and I proceeded to the bathroom to take a pack full of tablets in a shared apartment we lived in. I woke up in my own vomit, (as) my suicide attempt had failed. Later I found out that unlabelled bottle of tablets was Paracetamol," said the comedian.

Ncube went on to discourage those that might feel like suicide was an option, as brighter days were always around the corner.

"I am here today alive and I think of the many people that were not as fortunate as I was to survive a suicide attempt.

I don't know why I am sharing this today but if anyone is feeling the way I felt when I tried to do what I did I just want you to know the only way you can go from rock bottom is up. Forget what you think they will say about you.

This bad phase in your life is only a dark chapter to usher in the brightest days of your life," he said.