Saturday 31st March 2018 night was the climax for the hunt of the ‘Ultimate Comic’ by Maisha Magic East in partnership with the country’s heavyweight veteran comedian Daniel Ndambuki popularly known as ‘Churchill’ in what was a bruising contest among the six finalists.
Sammy Kioko from Mathare, Nairobi emerged the best in a winner-take-all contest and walked away with a million shillings, a TV contract and car. Coming closely second was Mc Kiptabut from Eldoret.
All The Way To The Top
Mc Kiptabut performed well; managing to stage a surprise after being primarily considered an underdog. His exploits on the show was a rare kind of success not only to him but the entire region of Eldoret and North Rift in general in the performance art industry.
Few of the renowned comedians from North Rift region include David Kangogo alias David the Student, and Duncan, the comedian. To have Mc Kiptabut join the top ranks of comedy in Kenya is an honor and something we should all celebrate.
North Rift region is widely known for being home to world-renowned athletics champions; while that is a grand fete, little is heard of the art industry albeit the small wins and gains especially in the film and music scene.
Struggling Eldoret Creative Industry
The success of Mc Kiptabut in the just ended ‘Ultimate Comic ‘ show should serve as a motivation that our region has untapped talents and capabilities, something that should no longer be ignored.
It is high time we did an overhaul in Eldoret creative industry, be it curriculum review to a raft of reforms; there should be a way to encourage talents in every field. Honestly, not everyone can be an athlete champion, neither are we all destined for white collar jobs in lucrative professions like nursing, engineering or even piloting. Art can enable people to make ends meet. The riddle of joblessness can be efficiently eradicated through creating capacity in the creative arts industry.
Artists display their work at the Mall every Friday
Building Capacity
Eldoret youth, the county leadership, and all stakeholders should work together to put in place and implement necessary measures that will facilitate the rise of platforms that will necessitate identification and subsequent appreciation of every person’s talent.
Most people lack support and opportunity to showcase their abilities. We can give rise to many more ultimate comedians, actors, fine artists, poets, musicians, artisans and other creatives. By doing so, we can finally begin to solve the perennial crisis of unemployment and broaden our scope in addressing society social ills.
There should be a series of auditions, events, and exhibition that can propel the art industry in our city of Eldoret. Nairobi should not just monopolize the sector, but instead, it should inspire the other towns and cities to empower their local industries. County government of Uasin Gishu should be a conduit to various government agencies and also external donors who can easily chip in to bolster and build the industry and give it the vibrancy it deserves.
When we build art and integrate it with our urban culture, we can quickly offload the burden of dependency and despondency. Our youth and future generations deserve to engage in professions of their choice – art being one of the options.
With that said, we would like to congratulate Sammy Kioko, the latest millionaire courtesy of art. We also want to commend Mc Kiptabut for his overwhelming performances at the Ultimate Comic show on Maisha Magic East as well as his continued efforts in growing the Eldoret creative industry.
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