Saturday, 15th March was Doug mutai Day as the experienced funnyman celebrated 15 years in comedy with a live taping of a full-hour comedy special, entitled Wine at the Nairobi Laugh Bar.
It was always going to be one of those memorable nights given Doug’s standing in the comedy and the arts space in general but not even the founder of Standup Collective and the Nairobi Laugh Bar himself could have predicted just how electric the night was going to turn out to be.
Maina Munene, who is having an excellent year comedy-wise, was on hosting duties and he did what he does best – warmed up the crowd nicely and displayed admirable patience when the audience seemed a bit cold in the opening few minutes. He expertly engaged the audience, sneaking in a few bits here and there. Due to the enthusiasm of some audience members (one in particular), he was forced into some housekeeping from time to time but he did it with finesse.
Mike One was the first of four scheduled guest comedians on the night to go up. He kept it short and sweet, making sure that his set did not cross the 6-minute mark. The job of the bullet is usually to lay the stage for the rest of the performers to dance on and he executed this job gallantly.
Ezra Keros then followed with one of the standout performances of the night. All suited up, the least experienced comedian on the lineup in terms of years of practice brought the heat with almost eight minutes of self-deprecating humor that was very well received by the audience.
The penultimate guest performer of the night, Nellie Wangechi, once again showed why she is one of the hottest comedians at the moment with a raucous 10 minute performance. Ezra had done well, but it was Nellie’s performance that really unlocked the crowd. From then on, it was smooth-sailing.
Amandeep Jagde, the last guest comedian of the night and the official opener blazed through 20 minutes of material like it was nothing. If you have watched Amandeep in a ticketed show before, you know he doesn’t come to play but this was different. Someone needs to get him a new challenge because this is becoming too easy for him!
The Flying Sikh’s exploits left the stage warm and cozy for the man of the hour, Doug Mutai. Now, Doug is, for all intents and purposes, the most experienced and the most traveled comedian in the Nairobi comedy scene. This experience was on full display from the first minute he got on that stage. He began slow and the energy kept rising as he went on, with multiple routines of his culminating into applause breaks.
From the audience’s perspective, his material was relatable to a T as he spoke about his family life, his travels, and the day-to-day Kenyan social, economic, and political experiences.
Exactly one hour from the moment he got on stage, the job was done and dusted. So good was the performance that an audience member requested that he come back on stage for a little bit more and in true Doug fashion, he obliged delivering almost ten more minutes of laughter, which too culminated into a raucous applause.
To humbly describe this performance, I would say it was a nicely crafted and wrapped-up package of some of the best material Doug has curated over the years in the comedy streets of Nairobi, Johannesburg, the UK, and North America. Think of it as a bottle of vintage wine.
