Less than two years since Justine Wanda and Maina Munene created the now-viral online political satire series, Bwana Spokesman, the duo conducted a live show built around the character of Bwana Spokesman on Saturday 22nd at the Nairobi Laugh Bar.
In front of a sold-out crowd, Doug Mutai played host, his opening set setting the stage for what was to come.
Oluoch Kariuki and Nathan Rerei were the first two acts to take the stage with 15-minute stand-up sets apiece which were well received. Nathan Rerei’s material particularly resonated well with the crowd.
More stand-up was to come, but first, Bwana Spokesman had to make a few remarks, or as he called it, a state of the nation regress. From the opening paragraph, you could tell he had done his homework well – that was political satire at its best; attacking while defending.
Two notable moments were when he ‘mistook’ a 1700s slave trader for the current Labor Cabinet Secretary and when he referenced Kendrick Lamar’s famous Drake diss tracks in defense of the government spending 500 million shillings to host the Grammy’s in Kenya – “On that one, the government was just trying to strike a chord, turns out it was not a major!” He said to wild applauses.
Bwana Spokesman ended the address abruptly when he got ‘ambushed’ with a trick question by the now bane of his existence, a journalist played by Justine Wanda, who is the creator of the show.
The next segment was a ‘therapy session’ for Mr. Spokesman and his wife, Bi. Spokesman, but that came after a stand-up comedy set by Stan Saleh which was appropriately political-leaning. With Justine as the pastor and therapist, the segment dived into the family life of Bwana Spokesman and his wife who is clearly fed up with his antics. Again, this ended with Bwana Spokesman walking out of the session after Bi. Spokesman, played by Ruth Nyambura, touched a nerve by bringing up ‘private issues’.
The last stand-up performance of the night was undertaken by Titus Mutai after which followed a panel interview between Justine Wanda and two opposing politicians played by Nelly Wangechi and Doug Mutai. In the mold of Kenyan morning political panel shows on TV, the interview was hilariously chaotic. The chemistry between Nelly and Doug was just too good.
Following the interview, which saw the interviewer – Justine – walk out after she couldn’t control the interviewees, Bwana Spokesman came back on stage for one last time. He fielded questions from the ‘members of the public’, where he hilariously gaslighted his way through it’.
With notable personalities such as activist Boniface Mwangi and the director of Amnesty Kenya, Irungu Houghton in attendance, Bwana Spokesman Live was one for the books.
