This past weekend marked yet another milestone in the local comedy industry as more and more of Botswana’s comedians are getting a break to display their talents on South African stages. In their quest to create a sustainable market and continual artist development, Major Moves Comedy secured a booking for Odirile Brooks, Maatla Ephraim Basha and Thapelo Malani at the Breaking Borders with Comedy 2.0 at Bloemfontein Civic Theatre.
The trio recently performed at the First Friday Comedy Finale at Masa Square Hotel in Gaborone. Brooks who hails from Tsabong is a 2-time President’s Day Comedy Competition Champion. He was one the headliners of the event and he delivered an outstanding performance. Tlokweng born Maatla Ephraim Basha had the theatre eating from the palm of his hand as was fresh from yet another International performance in eSwatini. Thapelo Malani who is a visually impaired comedian was also on his element showing his prowess as he has previously headlined a show in Lusaka, Zambia and also performed at Shampoonaiza Comedy Nights in Pretoria, South Africa and Mmabatho Convention Center in Mafikeng.
The event was well attended and featured comedians from South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According Gaolathe Kediemetse of Major Moves Comedy, “Our main aim is not only to bring top class comedians to our stages, but we have to export our talent to South Africa and other countries where they can experience different crowds. Experience is the best teacher, and we want to develop our comedians by getting them to perform on the best platforms with the best comics and ultimately be able to perform internationally frequently making a living off comedy.”
After an impressive performance in Zambia on his last visit, Thapelo Malani will this week jet off back to Lusaka where he will be part ZED Laughs Comedy Festival. The ZED Laughs event is the biggest comedy festival in Zambia that features top comedians from Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and of course Zambia. Major Moves Comedy has previously taken several Batswana comedians to perform in South Africa (Johannesburg, Mafikeng, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein), Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and will looking to break into Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Europe next year.