UK-based Malawian comedian Daliso Chaponda was in the country last week and hosted shows in Blantyre and Lilongwe. This was the first time that he was performing in the country this year. The ‘Britain has Got Talent’ finalist has seen his career on a persistent trajectory over the years accruing gigs across the globe.
Our News Analyst BRIAN ITAI caught up with Chaponda and got insights about his career and his views on Malawian art. Excerpts: How would you describe your experience every time you are performing back home? This is my favourite place to perform.
People are extra excited. There is no big comedy scene here so it is always something special. People come to see my stand up so there is an extra excitement.
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Everything is just more electric than when I do shows all around the world. Does performing here in Malawi come with some pressure or a special motivation? There is no pressure coming here to perform.
I have been a comedian for over 20 years so it is my job. I am never nervous. I need to do more research because I have not been here for over a year.
I read a lot of newspapers, articles and talk to a lot of people about current affairs, what is viral, what are people thinking about. So I have to do that extra work. Today I have a meeting with some people where I am going to run through all my Malawian jokes to see if they work, but other than that research, it is always well received.
How do you manage to stay in touch with the happenings around here while away? It has been great. I voice on cartoons.
I do a lot of television. I have a radio show and I am soon starting a UK tour which will cover 40 cities from February to June. After that I will perform in more African countries such as Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa.
Every year I try to top what I did in the previous year. I have some big plans which you may hear about later. I definitely will be back in Malawi in September.
I also did a reality show called the ‘Pilgrimage’ where with seven celebrities we walked for two and a half weeks through the mountains of Austria to Switzerland. Do you have a picture on the status of stand-up comedy here in Malawi? Not really.
What I feel is that art needs a lot of investment. When I see things such as Malawi Has Talent Show and see how people are investing in the arts, at the end of the day it is not enough. If you are a talented person, what can you do to let people know?
I think what is good here is that there are a lot of influencers who are getting a lot of views and people hiring them for doing stuff. But comedy is yet there. Ever considered doing collaborations with any of the Malawian artists?
I am a one-man operation. I don’t collaborate with Chris Rock or Trevor Noah. Comedy is a one-person thing.
It is not a band such as Boyz II Men, it is one person. If you see Dave Chapel, you see Dave Chapel. You can’t have four people on stage.
But if I see anyone’s show that I am impressed with I will retweet. Comedy is a very one-man art. What do you think is the trick which will help unlock the comedy potential in Malawi?
It is literally money. Art needs investment to grow. Unfortunately, right now petrol has gone up, life is really hard, so art is like priority number 10.
I have had meetings with people about doing a comedy television show, which I would write and produce and bring a lot of Malawian artists and so on. But the conversation broke down when we started talking about the budget. You have to pay people because nobody does this for charity.
I do my shows in UK and South Africa because there is a budget. Unless we have more people investing in art we will never breakthrough. People need to eat.
You can’t expect artists to be doing things like charity. I keep my eyes on what is going on, I think it will grow gradually if the Malawi economy starts to stabilise.
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