BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE- Imagine a sermon on Jesus turning water into wine producing the kind of uproarious laughter you find in some churches today!
Local comedians have made it possible this festive season to make going to church fun and memorable. In fact, a number of them have been accepting gigs from church.
Comedians like the award winning Dr Shakes, Tik Tok sensation Sbu the Comedian, funny man Mdura and internet superstar Bongiswa Masondo. The comedians have been to over three churches each in the course of three months.
Some of them go in their capacity as Mcs but still do not shy away from cracking a joke or two to the willing congregants. For Sbu Comedian, the most recent performance was last week in a church located in Manzini.
When speaking about his ‘new venture’ Ngwenya, who became the first Swati comedian to hit a million views on Tik Tok said the journey was exciting, because it was a different crowd he was performing for.
“In our industry we call this Christian comedy a subgenre of comedy where the material presented is aimed towards a Christian audience. My material will often contain Christian references, although this is not a requirement,” he said.
Dr Shakes said he has been enjoying diversifying his craft and exploring different crowds, popular for his comedic stints hosted at Mega Lounge Shakes shared that it has been an interesting journey.
“Even though some church goers have not warmed up to the idea, Christian comedy is the new thing. It is being used by us as an outreach with the idea that a comedy show is an effective method to bring people into church,” he said.
Bongiswa Also for his trendy ‘Angisati Ngitsini’ shared the same sentiments as his colleagues and said “ These days it takes more than just music ,prayers and sermon to get Christians to get excited about going to Church,”
A reverend based in Manzini who leads ‘We are called to God’ Kwanele Magagula said he saw no problem with inviting comedians to church.
Magagula insisted on other pastors calling comedians to church, because there was no rule against telling jokes in the church.
“I do not think there is any rule against telling jokes in the church we have been through a lot in the country we need humour,” said Magagula.
Worth noting is that the aforementioned comedians will be performing on December 16, 2022 at the Mbabane Theatre Club. Dubbed ‘Comedy Society’ the show seeks to bring together comedians from all over Africa.
