This is a question that will come to boggle the minds of
many local arts after renowned funny man
Carl Joshua Ncube announced his
decision to stop his stand-up comedy career in pursuit of other passions.
Ncube feels as if cooking and stand-up comedy remind him of
his late parents. He feels he did not make them proud in the process forgetting
himself.
“Stand up comedy has always been more emotional for me. It
has always been attached to my father and his death at the start of my career
was a driving force behind celebrating him and his memory. I just feel like I
lost celebrating myself in the process. When my mum died this year this was the
same feeling around my cooking,” he said.
He asserted he was
morphing into something more than just a cook and a comic.
“Next time you see me will be around a fire in a village
somewhere. I was lying to myself by still saying I was actively a stand up
comedian or chef but in the context of Zimbabwe or Africa I have become much
much more than that.
“I am on the brink of one of the most important innovations
of this continent and it is loaded with purpose and I get to be the servant to
this cause. Rural BnB is beyond the comedy, the cooking or even design,” he
said.
An emotional Ncube hinted on staging one last show as his
comic career swansong.
“Soon, I will officially announce my evolution from
stand-up comedy to a different story-teller through one last tour. I owe this
last tour though to my fans who have been a great support to me. I have spent a
great part of my life making people happy, making them laugh but I couldn’t do
the same for myself. I think it’s important for people to know my transition,”
he shared.
So, with stand-up comedy seemingly diminishing in his
portfolio, what will he be doing next?
This is another question that may haunt one’s mind when the
award-winning comic hints at hanging the microphone that has made him an
internationally-acclaimed Zimbabwean funny man.
He will have his work cut out with his innovative Rural
BnB, an online platform for people to register and offer their homesteads for
use where visitors can use the platform to book and experience the rural side
of the country.
Ncube’s life has always been a balancing act between
comedy, cookery, nursing, authorship, consultancy, design, and lately, his
Rural BnB and clothing brand.
Ncube has juggled many balls , a development that has
proved to be cumbersome for him now or
the comedy circle isn’t a viable business entity anymore?
“I started comedy as a commercially-viable industry and it
is still growing. I should be proud of that. My job in this sector is done,”
shared Ncube.
He might not be standing up anymore but one thing is for
sure, Ncube will remain funny and has helped Zimbabweans warm up to the idea of
the nascent stand-up comedy genre.
The prolific comic has performed in diverse countries
including South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, the US, Cote D’Ivoire Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Nigeria and
Australia and in 2016, attempted to break a Guinness World Record for holding
the most comedy shows within a week.
At the time, the standing record was 30 and he went on to
do 31 but wasn’t recognised as it didn’t meet certain criteria but all the
same, he eclipsed the record.
His retirement from what he is best known-for feels like
robbery without violence as he leaves a trail of innumerable success in his
wake.
From being labelled the new face of comedy in Zimbabwe by
CNN, living in a makeshift home made from a converted bus to hosting shows on
television, Carl has done it all.
His impressive track record includes performing at the
Johannesburg International Comedy Festival, Harare International Comedy
Festival, Africa Laugh Festival, President of Laughrica and also the Nite of a
Thousand Laughs.
In an interview back in 2020, Carl said that his worst
experiences as a comic was being told to randomly tell jokes.
“I hate it when reporters ask me to randomly tell jokes and
after that questions me how come I’m not in popular comic shows of which I ask
the very same question back at him since I don’t see his story in the Mirror,”
he jokingly said.
It remains to be seen where he will perform his last rites,
bidding farewell to stand-up comedy and evolving as he always has in his
illustrious career where, everything he touched turned to pure gold. He is
quitting and it’s not funny but his fans will appreciate his exploits in the
game. B Metro
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