Zimbabwe finally smelling the coffee
By Silence Charumbira
Showbiz Editor
There has always been something disappointing about the Zimbabwean arts scene; concepts arrive late when the audience is long tired from watching them on You Tube and other social platforms.
Artistes have almost always been two or three steps behind and when they seek to make it onto the regional or international scene, it would be tantamount to prescribing a cough syrup for a pharmacist.
Take for instance our addiction to live music recording when evidently digital is doing the trick everywhere else. Now Jah Prayzah has gone digital and it is working.
On the comedy scene however, we appear to be catching up; and fast for that matter with the arrivance of one Tyra Chikocho on the scene.
Here is one witty and ‘in your face’ comic you cannot afford to ignore.
Whether her skits are dry or half backed, she just has her way of making sure you pay attention making her name Madam Boss an apt choice.
A musician who stepped onto the scene in 2010 with an album that did not do enough to top charts, Tyra went under and charged her batteries before a reincarnation that has stormed homes.
Modeled around the same concept that has scene Ugandan Anne Kansiime becoming one of the most popular comedians in Africa, Madam Boss presents an overpowering woman who is in the habit of abusing her maid.
Inspired by her experience as a former maid herself, Tyra said she chose the narrative as it was one most people are familiar with.
“It is a story that almost everyone can relate with. If you have never had house help in your home, there was one next door or a relative has been a maid in their life or worse, you may have been a maid yourself. These are marginalised people in the society whose voice I felt needed to be amplified,
she said.
“I am still a musician but I just happened to get encouragement when I tried acting. It is not anything that I had done before, I just started acting for fun until I got encouragement to from people to take it seriously.”
She said she is surprised that she has managed to garner so much support and has decided to take it professionally.
“Madam Boss is a character that is abusive and controlling. I chose maids to be specific because I have a history about them. At one time I was a maid and I also experienced the abuse so my Madamboss TV tries to educate people on how to treat each other,” she said.
But we have seen comics before. Many so to say that have actually caused ripples on the scene and quickly gone under faster than they came.
What makes Tyra, just a novice stay relevant in a sector where Baba Tencen has been forgotten?
The same sector where a highly organised Carl Joshua Ncube is fiercely criticised.
“I think it all borders on one’s concept. If you choose a character whose scope is closed you are doomed. Similarly if you chose one that is too wobbly you are doomed. People need to identify you with something and you need make sure you are flexible to fit into different situations,” she said.
Just as she proposed hers has seen her being an MC at corporate events while at the same time making it to the small screen with advertorials.
Tyra said however, despite the challenges that local comedians face, she felt Zimbabweans were getting there.
“Very soon we will be able to go international with our comedies. If you look at the trend, a lot of people are engaging in the comedy industry because of the huge market. We have a lot of talented comedians in Zimbabwe and what we only need is support in order to compete on the international market,” said Tyra.
While she has not arrived yet, it is certain that there is something to smile and hope for.
What makes Tyra and a few others in the mould Prosper Ngomashi, Gonyeti and Magi and the notorious Bhutisi and Boss Kedha saviours of this new crop is they have managed to monetize their trade even without thinking of stage sets.
A stage is a quick poison if one is not prepared. Baba Tencen knows that. He withered since that night he performed alongside Anne Kansiime. A prerecorded video and the stage are different.
Connection with the audience on stage is not automatic, and when it happens late the show dies. Just like that.
But this new crop has been doing loads of corporate work and appears happier off the stage and with social media reach soaring daily, there is no going back.
