MOSES JUNIOR KIBONEKA: DISRUPTING THE FACE OF UGANDA’S COMEDY

How Moses Jr. Kiboneka has managed to convince us to enjoy intellectual comedy, I do not know. The last guy who tried it, we literally ran him off because most of us just did not get his style of comedy. Well, Joseph Opio who hosted the little-known show called “LOL” eight years ago on the then newly launched Urban TV, now writes for Trevor Noah at The Daily Show. The daily show was nominated for the 2020 Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding writing in a variety series.

It is why watching Mr. Kiboneka perform his craft is bittersweet. On the one hand you are enjoying his performance while, on the other you are fighting to shake off that feeling of a looming dark cloud; that sense that it might not be long before he is noticed and taken away, too. It has happened time and time again; the best brains and talents often leave; and Mr. Kiboneka has both, plus more. He is also tall, dark and handsome- you know, that winning black man combo.

On the surface, Mr. Kiboneka’s craft looks simple; a mechanic in a garage musing over the everyday aspects of the Ugandan life. Yet, the accuracy with which he makes observations of ordinary Ugandan life, and the precision with which he incises complex themes are anything but simple. He delivers with the cunning of a rat; taking sharp bites and quickly blowing away with the soothing breath of a humourous punchline.

Like any other thing that is done excellently, there is that illusion of effortlessness that Moses Jr. Kiboneka confers upon his craft. That ease and near flawlessnes with which he delivers his material can be insidiously misleading- you might think that it is a simple thing to do, but by no means is it. The elusive combination of authenticity, intelligence, rawness and passion imbued within Mr. Kiboneka’s craft renders it to be top notch and him to be simply inimitable.

In fact, far from being easy, Kiboneka’s performance is an incidental, all-in-one master class in public speaking, speech delivery and acting. This should not be surprising seeing as Mr. Kiboneka is a seasoned actor, having starred in a couple of Ugandan movies, some of which were directed by one of Uganda’s best film directors- Usama Mukwaya.

His style employs a lot of sarcasm, irony, hyperbole and anticlimaxes. He is widely knowledgeable and highly informed. His content is not just humourous social commentary, but also a public education service, social awareness campaign and even has within it elements of social activism.

From the corona virus pandemic, national and U.S. elections, to Black Fridays and award shows, Moses Kiboneka never fails to find something to get us to laugh about.

Only time will tell how much longer we can keep him to ourselves as a country. What is for sure for now, is that we want him and we love him. Very much. So much that his videos do not seem to come in fast enough.

You have to see this gentleman for yourself. Find Moses Jr. Kiboneka’s videos on YouTube (iAm-Uncle-Mo) here.

Follow him on his Facebook page (iAm-Uncle-Mo) and on his personal profile: Moses Jr. Kiboneka.

Kind regards,

Anna Grace

Update: 27/March/2021 3:30am. This has been the most read post on this blog and is also the number one trending currently. So I made this piece of graphics to commemorate it. Kind regards, Anna Grace.