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Mbulelo Mpofu, [email protected]

UMAHLEKISA Entertainment has announced the launch of the Umahlekisa Comedy Awards, the first of their kind in the country, to honour the best comedians in the industry.

The awards, which are scheduled to take place on October 24 at Rainbow Hotels in Bulawayo, are a response to the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA), which failed to recognise any comedians in their nominations this year.

Umahlekisa Entertainment’s director, Ntando van Moyo, revealed the news at the Comedy Roast of Sandra Ndebele on Saturday night.

“We are going to be having the Umahlekisa Comedy Awards later on this year to celebrate personnel tasked with making people laugh. They will be held in October,” said Moyo.

Sphinx painting the mural of Sandra Ndebele during the Comedy Roast of Sandra Ndebele at Rainbow Hotels on Saturday

The Comedy Roast of Sandra Ndebele was a successful event that featured a panel of eight celebrities who took turns to mock and praise the roastee, who also had a chance to fire back at the end. The event, which was well-attended and well-marketed, as evidenced by the #RoastOfSandraNdebele trending on social media, also included an auction of a mural of Sandra Ndebele-Sibindi, painted by the notorious Sphinx, which fetched US$1 100 from CFAO Motors by Suzuki in Bulawayo.

The roast was a hilarious affair, with most of the jokes hitting the mark and eliciting applause and laughter from the audience and the roastee herself, who seemed to enjoy the friendly banter.

The roast master and the panelists displayed a good sense of humour and timing, knowing how to balance being funny and being offensive.

The roast also had some surprises, such as the absence of radio personality Ezra “Tshisa” Sibanda, who was replaced by musician Mzoe7, who proved to be a worthy substitute. The panel consisted of three comedians, Ntando Van Moyo, Carl Joshua Ncube, and Babongile Skhonjwa, and four non-comedians, Mzoe7, Sandra Ndebele, Sithandazile Dube, and Kudakwashe Takundwa who all delivered their jokes with confidence and flair.

However, not everything went smoothly, as some of the panelists were criticised for their behaviour and performance.

Sizwakele “Zwa” Ndlovu, the hostess of the event, was also panned for her long and boring speeches, which confused and annoyed the audience. She even became a target of the roast after she rambled on about the meaning of a ghost speaker or something along those lines. Another issue that the audience raised was the high prices of food and beverages at the venue, which they found prohibitive and unfair. The event also started late, almost an hour after the advertised time, which inconvenienced some of the attendees.

Despite these glitches, the event was a success and a milestone for the comedy scene in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe. The roast was followed by an after-party at the Red Cafe, where the fun continued until the wee hours of the morning. — @MbuleloMpofu