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André Lembwa: From class clown to Cartoon Network lead-actor on ‘The Lembwas’ [VIDEO]
André Lembwa is the lead in the new TV show The Lembwas, that will premiere on Cartoon Network later this week
André Lembwa in all thee five characters he portrays on Cartoon Network’s new TVV show, The Lembwas. Picture: Supplied
Comedic actor André Lembwa says comedy has always been his thing, dating back to his days as a class clown in primary and high school.
“I think specifically Grade 4, in classrooms, I was always the class clown,” Lembwa tells The Citizen.
“I remember this one parent meeting where the teacher literally told my parents that ‘your son is acting around in class, and he’s just making the class laugh’ and since then, I’ve always enjoyed making the masses laugh.”
It’s been nearly 20 years since that parents’ meeting, and the 28-year-old’s audience has grown beyond the Grade 4 classroom.
This Saturday, his TV show, The Lembwas, will premiere on Cartoon Network.
Shooting The Lembwas
As the name suggests, the show is centred around the Lembwa family, but the twist is that André portrays all the five members of the family — the two teenage brothers, Taps and Garcia, the mother, Uncle Zeke and the grandmother, Gogo.
“I love playing these characters man, I love giving them their own personalities, I love giving them their own form of traits and abilities. When I put on a specific outfit, I almost have to process myself and be like ‘okay, we’re not currently rolling, you don’t have to act any more, just be you now’.”
“If I’m wearing the mom’s wig, it’s done…you’re not going to get me out of that voice.”
The 13 episodes of the first season of the Lembwas were shot in Cape Town, and André says there weren’t many challenges except the strain on his voice when portraying the different characters.
“Every now and then I would get a sore throat, it wouldn’t be too intense. I was drinking Stoney ginger beer with lemon and honey — that kept me going.”
Playing all the characters comes with a certain pressure because he’s the only person that the audience sees, albeit in different roles.
With André playing such an integral part of the show, it’s as though if things don’t go well, he’ll have to shoulder it.
“There’s always pressure when you’re doing something and you love. Before we started shooting, I was a bit nervous, feeling pressure to carry the show,” he says.
“I think having the people that I had on set; it was such as small set, but it was almost like a family — everyone just made me feel calm,” shared André.
The Lembwa is directed by Howard James Fyvie. André says helped Howard helped him throughout the shooting.
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Cultural influences
André was born in Kinshasa DRC and raised in South Africa, and he says this cosmopolitan upbringing has aided his impersonations.
Lwemba arrived in South Africa at the age of three in 1999 and having received his schooling in Mzansi, this exposed him to South African cultures and languages.
“Coming here at such an early age, I was probably one of, if not the only, best English speakers in our family because when they came here they were speaking French and another [Congolese] native language.”
When conversing with him, you wouldn’t think he was Congolese because of his thick-coloured accent.
@andre_and_benji Reply to @jam_jam39 Coloured people training😂😭#fyp #foryourpage #Tiktoksa #AndreThaGreatest #capeflats #capecoloured ♬ original sound – André and Benji 🤣😂
“The question I often get a lot is ‘How are you Congolese when you actually sound like a coloured’. My natural accent is more coloured than Congolese, so I always have to explain the process,” he says.
“I grew up in coloured areas as well; I used to stay with a coloured family at a stage, I used to sleep over at my best friends…the coloured community had a massive amount of influence in my life,” he shares.
He jokes that he missed the French bus, as he can’t speak the European language like most Congolese. He can fluently speak four language; English, Afrikaans, Lingala and Swahili.
@andre_and_benji Replying to @keelin_rossouw Well, here you go…😂🤣 #fyp #foryourpage #Tiktoksa #AndreThaGreatest #Andre_and_Benji ♬ original sound – André and Benji 🤣😂
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Comedy style
Before getting on TV, Lembwa cut his teeth through his social media platforms where he creates content featuring his signature ‘slap-chic’ African comedy and uncanny impersonations of Congolese, Nigerian, and South African characters.
“I think if you can impersonate someone and actually get it so perfect, that if I’m standing in that room and if you believe that, that person is actually there, I think you’ve aced it,” he says.
He believes impersonations are one of the best styles of comedy.
“For me, it’s always been impersonating celebrities, the people around me — specifically here in Africa. It’s always the Nigerian accent, the Congolese accent… I’ve always liked playing with a variety of personalities as well,” he says.
He has tried his hand at stand-up comedy before the Covid pandemic and realised it wasn’t really up his alley despite receiving a good reception.
“It wasn’t necessarily something I quite enjoyed,” he said.
“I’m not a big fan if I can say, prepared jokes. I’m just more of a let’s go with the flow kind of person. If I’m going to stand in front of a crowd, I do a lot of this in my MC work, if you give me the mic, whatever comes out of this mouth is unprepared, but it’s gonna [sic] be good,” he says.
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Lembwa’s last laugh
Throughout his schooling, teachers often chastised him for his behaviour in class and with his career going well through the same antics that got him into trouble, Lwemba went back to show his former teachers what’s become of him.
“… I went back to specific teachers who used to tell me ‘this comedy is not gonna [sic] take you anywhere’ and I’m like,’ this comedy took me to Cartoon Network ma’am, do you have any comments on that?’”
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