Nthatuoa Koeshe
LAWYER and comedian, Tjeka Tjeka Thakeli recently left his audience begging for more when he performed at the Gags and Music Comedy Show at Cuban Linx in Maseru.
No going by the stage name Tjeka Tjeka, he has since ascended to the peak of fame and gathered massive following and influence on the social media streets since his #HelpMeFindWork initiative.
The initiative was pioneered to raise awareness about the calamitous brunt of unemployment and the disheartening atrocities of poverty.
At the show, he shared the stage with comedians among them Masapo, Skaftin and Tšehla, who is also a new comedian discovered through Skaftin’s #FindAComedian campaign.
Tjeka Tjeka is a National University of Lesotho (NUL) trained lawyer, who recently discovered his talent in comedy.
Some of the many acts that made Tjeka Tjeka a nationwide phenomenon include his brave act of staging a one-man protest outside the premises of the National Assembly and selling ice guava wearing a graduation regalia on the streets of Maseru in November 2017 after graduating in 2015.
He later on authored a book titled Chronicles of an Unemployed Youth, which is an articulation of his experiences in Lesotho and South Africa in his unremitting yet futile endeavours to get a job.
The comedian told the Xpress People on the sidelines of the show that his protest was never about fame although it opened doors for him to end up being discovered by Skaftin and eventually getting a slot to perform at the comedy night.
“Though it was never my intention to get a lot of popularity from my initiative, many of my Facebook friends found it humorous and marvelled at my talent articulating issues in English and deft phraseology,” Tjeka Tjeka said.
“It was from then that Skaftin discovered me as a comedian.”
He said although he had prepared a few jokes for the show most of them were intuitive inspired by the crowd’s positive reaction.
He said he was never a comedian before and did not even imagine himself becoming one in this lifetime.
“Well, even today being called a comedian still shocks me and I think Skaftin is the craziest person to have even perceived me as one,” he says with a chuckle.
He however, said since he subscribes to the adage that says: “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it;” he decided to go with the flow.
Tjeka Tjeka said he had been excited to step onto the stage and perform from the first day he was invited until he became anxious on the day and started having second thoughts.
“I am a lawyer by profession and I had spoken in front of people a few times before. That helped me a lot in dealing with the anxiety and having my wife sitting next to me before I mounted that stage filled me with the courage I so much needed,” he said.
He said the crowd’s reaction was positive and welcoming and before he knew it, the entire club was overwhelmed with laughter which gave him fulfilment.
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