Nthatuoa Koeshe

THE #FindAComedian initiative, which has afforded many new comedians opportunities to perform live on stage has been hailed as a well-thought out project by the artistes.

The initiative, which was founded in March this year by the Gags and Music Wednesdays team when they celebrated their first anniversary, has seen many young comedians rising to the fore.

The founder of the Gags and Music Wednesday concept, Skaftin (born Jeremiah Lebea) recently told the Xpress People that they introduced the talent search project to excite aspiring comedians into braving the stage.

“We introduced the #FindAComedian initiative in celebration of our one year anniversary, as a tool to source out or rather find aspiring comedians,” Skaftin said.

“We asked those who were interested to upload one minute videos on social media and some decided to send them to us.”

The first of the new comedians scouted through the initiative is 22-year-old Kata Tšehla, who first performed at the Gags and Music Wednesdays on 27 March this year.

And he recently performed his third show along with established comedian Masapo, Skaftin and another product of the initiative, Tjeka Tjeka.

Tšehla recently told the Xpress People that had always known that he was a comedian but never thought he would one day perform live in front of an audience.

“My journey as a comedian started when I realised that people are always laughing whenever I am around and I started writing short jokes on my Facebook wall and people’s reactions was encouraging,” Tšehla said.

He said this was when he realised his strength as a performer.

Tšehla said he had jitters during his first performance at Gags and Music Wednesdays but he got comfortable when the audience started cracking with laughter.

“I was nervous on the first performance. The night before the performance felt like I was going for an examination. I was worried that I blowing,” he said.

Tšehla said the fact that the Gags comedy team saw his potential has given him confidence.

“Gags and Music Wednesdays has become my home and I intend to work with them for a long time because I have realised that with each of my performance, I have grown,” he said.

He added that he himself performing on bigger stages in the future.

Gags and Music Wednesdays is a comedy and music show held every last Wednesday of the month at the Cuban Linx giving a platform for little known comedians.