The life of small town comedian Kumkani Sibu
Sibusiso Mtyiwazo (29), from Germiston brought his big personality to the city of gold to pursue a successful career in comedy and has never looked back.
From the small town of Molteno in the Eastern Cape, comedian Sibusiso Mtyiwazo (29) from Germiston brought his big personality to the city to pursue a career in comedy. He is better known as Kumkani Sibu.
“One night in Grade 11, I was watching Daywalker, Trevor Noah’s comedy show, with family. My brother-in-law commented that Trevor was full of stories just like me. The whole family agreed with him.”
Sibu’s friends encouraged him to get on stage and by 2017, Sibu committed to stand-up comedy.
Sibu started his stand-up comedy journey in Cape Town and went on to perform in more than 45 towns across South Africa.
“Each city is different, especially Cape Town and Joburg. Cape Town is influenced by tourists whereas Joburg is all about locals. The challenge is the number of different cultures and languages,” said Sibu.
The comedian loves spreading laughter and his first time on stage is his main highlight.
“Other comedians who were there did not believe it was my first time. My second highlight was when I performed at Parker’s Comedy Club at Monte Casino in Fourways and my family was there to watch me perform,” said Sibu.
“Some people think a comedian is well paid but we do not work all the time. Lockdown is the perfect example, comedians have been struggling during this pandemic,” he said.
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During lockdown level five he launched a chat show on Instagram live, #ConversationBetweenCreatives, where he hosts other artists to talk about the effect of the pandemic on artists.
“With so many events cancelled, it’s been hard. This led to most comedians getting nine to five jobs.”
Sibu works as a boilermaker assistant to earn an income.
Sibu hopes a lot more venues in Germiston will be open to the idea of hosting weekly or monthly comedy shows.
Before lockdown, the comedian enjoyed spending time on the sports field playing touch rugby.
A life lesson Sibu learned from his career is the importance of saving money. “Comedians do not get payslips to make loans or buy items on credit. Saving is very important. This pandemic taught us the hard way.”
Sibu commented on some of the myths about comedians:
1. We are always in a good mood – “Come on, we are humans too, life also hits us hard, if not harder.”
2. People do not take you seriously – “When people find out you are a comedian they assume you are always joking, even when you are serious.”
3. Comedians are rich – “The struggle is real out here.”
4. Comedians are high school or varsity dropouts – “Well, there are a lot of graduates in the industry. We are pursuing other career paths outside of comedy.”
Sibu’s five top tips for aspiring comedians:
1. Don’t think about it too much, if you think you are funny, just find a place with a stage and a mic, and just do it.
2. Pay attention to the ones who have been doing it longer than you, watch them and learn.
3. Don’t get too comfortable, keep writing new material all the time.
4. Following your passion is great, but stick to school – 2020 has taught us the importance of having options.
5. Find your stage voice, we all have role models, but we can’t be them. You have to be original.
Contact the newsroom by emailing:
Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za , and Lebogang Sekgwama lebogangs@caxton.co.za.
