The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | AGNES E NANTABA | Comedian Agnes Akite has recently received heaps of praise from fans after her clip about real life experiences of people who mimic songs and insert own words and the escapades of pregnant women went viral. Like her previous performances, Akite prepared the script to get a feel of how her audience would react.
Many social media fans were impressed by her talent and creativity and for someone who is just four years into the comedy industry, Akite is yet to wake up from the trance the fan reaction has taken her to.
“I didn’t expect it to go that far but it has humbled me,” she says, “From the comments, some people didn’t know about me, which is a sign that I should work harder to get to greater heights.”
Unlike some comedians who base on use of vulgarity, Akite’s jokes are based on everyday life and experiences. It is from such that she picks up a line or two, builds up on them, and eventually crafts something funny out of it. Her creativity has birthed decent lines in her scripts.
“It’s funny how people think that we just jump on stage and start yapping yet we spend time preparing for the best show,” she says.
Akite says comedy performance has bad and good days but her positive energy keeps her focused to deliver the best.
“I still get nervous at times for not knowing what kind or size of the audience to expect or even how they will receive you because it’s always a different reception,” she says.
The mother of two says she never saw herself anywhere close to making people laugh for money. But she jumped onto comedy after hitting fame for her role as Arach in the NTV series, ‘The hostel’.
She acted the role of an illiterate young woman from Northern Uganda who follows her boyfriend to Kampala. As he pursues university education, she starts a canteen at the drama filled hostel where the boyfriend lives. It is through the series that she met renowned comedians like of Daniel Omara and Anne Kansiime. Her acting was so powerful that the village girl character has stuck in the audience and her challenge today is to prove her flexibility in character.
Akite says her fun is inborn; inherited from her father who has always been funny cracking jokes that leave the family laughing.
“From his stories told with a tough face, everyone in the family is crazy in their own way,” she says, “We are all comedians by nature because we find fun in almost everything.”
The tourism graduate from Makerere University who started the comedy journey with Punchliners before joining Comedy Files says she has no regrets having comedy as her way of life. Her dream is to cross borders and make a name in the comedy industry making fun for an international audience.
Akite says Uganda is gifted with the funniest and happiest people on earth and the comedy industry requires just a little support to boost the talent and grow.
Akite is the fifth born of the nine children of Anthony and Hellen Opio. She had her early years of school at Our Lady of Africa Nursery School – Mbuya, St Kizito Primary School Bugolobi, Our Lady of Good Counsel Gayaza, Naalya SS and St Lawrence Schools and Colleges – Creamland Campus from where she joined Makerere University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in tourism graduating in 2007.
She is married to Brian Makalama with whom they have two children.
“My husband is part of my jokes and I have put him on stage sometimes; so he is supportive of my journey,” she says.
