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Carl Joshua Ncube

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
COMEDIAN Carl Joshua Ncube is a happy man; this is after global news channel Cable News Network (CNN) has been following his journey of producing a comedy show for the ongoing Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa).

Ncube is co-ordinating the Hifa Comedy Festival that started on Tuesday and ends today featuring himself, South Africa’s Nqoba and Malian Kavin Jay.

He said he was excited to be interviewed by CNN through its African Voices platform for the second time as it would once again boost his career.

“The last time I was interviewed on CNN was in 2012 just after my father had died. This was also at the beginning of my career. That interview actually changed my career for the better and people started taking me seriously.

“This interview is a follow up to show how far I’ve gone with my career,” said Ncube.

CNN, Ncube said, has been shadowing him since Monday although he does not know when the programme will be aired.

“So CNN has been following me around as I organise the HIFA comedy fest and it feels like reality television. They get to see the behind the scenes of what it takes for me to come up with the HIFA Comedy Fest.”

He said it has been a privilege for him to be trusted by Hifa to host the comedy fest.

“Every year, I’m getting more leeway from Hifa on how I should organise the Comedy Fest. They give me a budget and I work around that. At the end of the day, I want the Comedy Fest to be a festival on its own within Hifa,” said Ncube.

Being proactive has seen Carl Joshua being exposed to many opportunities.

“I’ve been working very hard to give Hifa ideas on how the comedy fest should be. Instead of looking for them to give me a stage to perform on, I’ve been hands-on, showing off what I can do for the festival. I plan ahead, meaning that next year’s comedy fest is already in the pipeline and I’m talking to Hifa about it,” said Ncube.