Conquering world stage with humour
For a long time, Malawi has been known to the global community as one of the lead exporters of tobacco.
Apart from that Malawi is known for all the bad reasons. Most recently, the country has made headlines for hunger, poverty and the arrest of the Nsanje ‘Hyena’, Eric Aniva.
But until last Saturday, when Malawian-born standup comedian Daliso Chaponda held the globe comedy by its horns at the British’s Got Talent, fair news about Malawi began to flow.
The comedian booked himself a space into the finals of the competitive show after outshining the likes of Lord of Strut, Harrison and Jamie Lee.
Daliso, 37, son to fomer Agriculture Minister George Chaponda, who lives in Manchester, United Kingdom, proved to the international audience that Malawi has something better to offer when he slipped into the defining stages of the British’s Got Talent.
His hysterical comedies, has impressed the audience, including the four judges, to earn him the prestigious golden buzzer act award from Amanda Holden, one of the judges.
Amanda said: “You were bloody hilarious. Self-deprecating, funny, relevant—laugh after laugh after laugh. It just kept coming. And I really want you to win the entire series. I think you could and I think you have a golden future.”
According to The Sun, one of the UK’s leading news companies, Daliso had the audience in stitches during his appearances on British’s Got Talent.
“He combined his African roots with his experiences of living in Britain to create a hilarious routine featuring chavs, the financial crisis and fish and chips. His jokes had the panel in fits of laughter, with Amanda giving out her infamous cackle on a number of occasions.
“After finishing his routine, the audience chanted for one of the judges to hit the golden buzzer and put Daliso straight through to the semi-finals,” Joanne Kavanagh wrote in The Sun.
Despite the sweat, the comedian lost the £250 000 (about K250 million) grand prize to Tokio Myres, a pianist on in the final show. Young magician Issy Simpson came second.
However, he had left an indelible African and Malawian mark on British’s Got Talent competition.
Malawians have since hailed Daliso for representing and making Africa proud on the globe stage.
Poetry Association of Malawi (Pam) President Chisomo Mdala alias Nyamalikiti Nthiwatiwa hailed the comedian for making headway on the international map.
“Daliso’s exploits as historiacal for Malawi,” he said.
Comedian Andreya Thonyiwa aka Mr. Jokes appealed to Malawians to start taking comedy seriously, the way the British do.
“Here in Malawi, comedians are regarded as laughing stocks, yet in the UK, Daliso is a star” said Mr. Jokes.
