African Comedy Festival: Brace for an evening of laughter in Doha on March 6

Catherine W GichukiDohaRenowned stand-up comedians from different parts of Africa are all set to tickle the funny bones of the audience at the African Comedy Festival, scheduled to be held at Dana Club at Al Jewan Hall on March 6. The festival will feature internationally renowned team, the Mark Angel, consisting of Mark Angel, K-Brown (Ogochukwu Kingsley) and children comedians Emmanuella (Emmanuella Samuel Angel) and Aunty Success (Success Mmadubuike).Eric Omondi from Kenya, Whale Mouth (Usiaphe Kevin) from Nigeria and Salvador (Patrick Idringi) from Uganda, are expected to leave the audience in splits with their funny performances.The event will also feature locally-based cultural community groups including the Twegate Dance Group from Uganda and Green Maasai Troupe from Kenya. The event is being organised by Oryx Group Entertainment and Hospitality in partnership with Ruby Events.Mark Angel said his crew were prepared to give the people of Qatar an unforgettable evening of laughter. “We are looking forward to having a great show and a massive turnout. We have had a lot of support from the people of Qatar over the years, so this is the time for them to come out and show us real love.”Mark Angel, who is famous for his Mark Angel Comedy series shorts on YouTube, said his team has been preparing for the event for days now. “We are very much prepared and the rehearsals have been going on for weeks now. Therefore, we are coming with a full package.”According to him, while performing, they make sure the audience are responding to their funny jokes. “Emmanuella and Success magic will play itself out on stage live. They are full of energy.”Talking of those who desire to become comedians, Mark Angel said, “Keep pushing and never give up.”According to him, when they come to Qatar, they’ll be happy to get any opportunity for collaboration with other artistes. “If the opportunity comes up we will gladly grab it. The comedy business is about networking. We are 100 percent ready for any collaboration.”Salvador said though he has been to Qatar before, this would be the first time he would be on stage in Qatar. “It will be my first time to perform in Qatar and I hope to get love from everyone. I visited Qatar when I used Qatar Airways to travel to Miami and we had a 15-hour break and I checked into a hotel in Doha.” The Ugandan artiste said come March 6 and he’s well prepared to entertain the audience in Doha. “It’ll be my first time performing in Qatar so I want to give it my all.”He said that in order to keep his audiences entertained, he tries to be relevant when performing. “I always look out for what’s trending in a country and relate it to my own, so the people in the country I’m performing in are like .. hmmm it’s not that bad here.”There are several successful comedians that he looks up to and American stand-up comedian, actor and producer Kevin Hart is one of them.Giving advice to aspiring comedians, Salvador said, “Be yourself and don’t let anyone tell you that it is impossible.”Whale Mouth too said they were ready to showcase the creativity of the African artistes to Qatar and the world. He said that was well prepared and promised that everyone will have a great time. On how he keeps his audiences entertained, he said, “I talk about issues they are conversant with in a humorous way. In as much as they are listening and understanding the language they must laugh.”His role model is American stand-up comedian Dave Chapelle.Giving advice to those planning to venture into comedy, the Nigerian artiste said, “First be funny, and also study so you can always discourse issues across boards.”Renowned Kenyan comedian Eric Omondi said this would be the first time he’d be performing in Qatar and was looking forward to a great time and amazing show. He said he was really preparing for this event and would give his best to give the audience a great experience. “I am doing a lot of preparations for this show but this being my first show in Qatar, I have a lot of content. Many people in Qatar have not seen me live and I will be happy to interact with them.”He said he always tries to keep his audience entertained so they never get bored with his performances. “I am very animated on stage and quite dramatic with my performances. I also like to engage my audience directly during the show by having numerous spontaneous moments with the crowd.”Meanwhile, General Manager of Oryx Group Entertainment and Hospitality Famous Aluya said the artistes were selected from a successful survey conducted within communities in Qatar. “It was discovered that they have an unbelievable fan base in Qatar and there was a huge demand for an event as this.”According to Aluya, these comedians have fans from different parts of the world. “The fan base cuts across almost every country represented in Qatar and Qataris also, particularly for Emmanuella & Mark Angel crew.”“All these elements sums up our choice of these artistes and we are all looking forward to an explosive atmosphere on March 6. We all know the strength of African Comedy around the globe,” Aluya said. CEO of Ruby Events Abdul Basit Mohammed said they were expecting a minimum of 2,000 people from different nationalities to attend the show.The doors open at 4pm.The next event, he said, would feature Asian artistes who will thrill the audience during the Eid holidays.