When she began, there were times when she would be halfway through her show and the audience burst into laughter. It was then that she began to do stand up comedy and incorporating her acting skills into her sketches. This helped break the ice with the audience. Her acting experience has helped her a lot in comedy and she combines the two to give stellar performances.
Carolyne Wanjiku known by many as “Wanjiku the Teacher”, walked into the comedy world making her debut on the Churchill Show. She has already become a favorite of many. For her, it was a big challenge being among the likes of Churchill and Eric Omondi, who had already set the bar very high. Born and raised in Nairobi, Wanjiku came from humble beginnings and is the fourth born in a family of six. Wanjiku Began Her theater journey in 2007 where she took part in set book plays. Her skills were nurtured and sharpened by Director Sammy Mwangi and Victor Ber while she was at Heartstrings Kenya through which she did more than 30 plays that made her who she is today. It was while she was there that she thought of doing stand-up comedy.
But where did the name Wanjiku the Teacher come from? She once played the part of a teacher whose mother tongue influence was so severe that some of her students could not understand what she was saying. This was an attractive and almost immediate fit for Carolyne, whose character is, ironically a Kiswahili teacher. Since she plunged into comedy, she has become one of the most trending people on social media.
Not only trending now, but also she is now considered a pacesetter, a groundbreaker, a pioneer because she is the first lady to make it in Kenyan standup comedy. While many may think that comedy is an easy job, she assures you that it is not. That is why she has decided to take a break from acting. When she does not appear on the Churchill Show, she is out researching her next sketch, reading Kiswahili Mufti on misemo, then looking for humorous sayings and writing scripts. This is followed by weeks of rehearsal. Sometimes the skit goes in a different direction from what she or her director wanted. In the end, they always have to compromise.
Wanjiku the Teacher has also done 1 hour 30 minutes comedy sessions on the monthly comedy show Hot seat. She is also entertaining the idea of mobilizing more women to come out of their cocoons and try comedy, insisting that she knows there are many female comedians out there who are just scared.
As for Wanjiku, she is now comfortable with comedy, which she believes, she will be doing for a long time. In addition to that, she finds herself uniquely drawn to film and would love to direct a movie at some point in her life. “The journey I have taken has really changed my life. I never expected to be where I am now, but I can assure my fans that this is just the beginning.”…wanjiku the teacher also has captured the heart of many especially her clients, she has been branded the ambassador to some of the biggest network in Africa for more than two years AIRTEL and AIRTEL MONEY, UNILEVERS’ blue band for more than 3 months, HONDA, USAID, NATIONAL BANK… among others, the list is endless. she also had the honors of working with leading companies in Africa, uniliver, Honda, office of the president, nation media group as a radio presenter, royal media group as a comedian and actor, kenya literature bureau educating children about there sexuality, USAID promoting police reforms , currently she has started her own company called mwalimu production that creates content. The production is also helping to work on animating the character teacher wanjiku specifically for children. she has been working on pilot TV programs that she hopes will be out very soon.
About JSIRYA
0 comments:
Post a Comment