Ntando Van Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
COMEDIAN Ntando Van Moyo says it has not been an easy road to get the Umahlekisa brand to the top and staying there.
Van Moyo has over the years worked very hard to build a viable platform for comedians under Umahlekisa Comedy Club.
The platform has in the past hosted award winning comics such as Q Dube, Doc Vikela, Simba the Comic King, Gonyeti, Edgar Langeveldt and Carl Joshua Ncube.
Van Moyo said getting people to believe in the concept was hard.
“At first people did not believe in our brand of comedy so the biggest challenge was to make them believe. People can only pay to watch comics doing their thing on stage if they enjoy the brand,” said Van Moyo.
The comedy club was set up in 2013 after Van Moyo saw that there was no platform for comedians in Bulawayo.
He said after meeting award winning comedian Chigubhu in 2011, he decided to plan and hold a one man show at the Bulawayo Theatre.
“In 2011 I staged a comedy show at Bulawayo Theatre and more than 100 people attended and most of them were artistes. I performed a set with singer Alaina and Clive as MC and people enjoyed it,” said Van Moyo.
He said after the show he realised there was a need to create a platform for comedians to enable them to hold regular shows.
Two years later this idea gave birth to Umahlekisa Comedy Club.
“There was no platform for comedians and they were only relying on shows where they were paid very little.
“In 2013 I launched Umahlekisa Comedy Club and Clive was one of the first comedians we had on the platform before engaging others,” said Van Moyo.
Growing up in Cowdray Park, Van Moyo said he developed an interest in comedy by accident when he was in high school.
“I was in lower six at Luveve High School in 2004 when I grabbed the microphone and started roasting the parents and people started laughing during the school’s 40th anniversary celebrations,” said Van Moyo.
However, after school he found the going tough and worked as a messenger and enumerator in Bulawayo.
Van Moyo said at one time he wanted to study law.
“After a year of struggling I enrolled at UNISA for a degree in law but dropped out after two years because I could not afford the fees,” he said.
Van Moyo said he later joined cross border traders and would go to South Africa to buy commodities such as beer for resale back home.
He said when he was at home he would be engaged as MC at parties and this helped him perfect his comedy skills.
His hard work was rewarded last month during the Bulawayo Arts Awards as he won the Outstanding Comedian accolade.
At the BAAs, Van Moyo was pitted against Chigubhu, Carl Joshua Ncube and NaJesca (Oliver Keith).
Many thought, including Van Moyo, that the race was between Ncube and Chigubhu (who he described as the best comedian in Zimbabwe), but was pleasantly surprised when his name was called out.
“It was overwhelming and exciting at the same time. I actually froze and ran out of something funny to say in front of a crowd for the first time in my career. I honestly thought Clive would take it. In my opinion he’s the best comedian in the country,” said Moyo. — @bonganinkunzi
