The Sunday Mail
Africa Moyo —
HE plunges his massive followers on social media into fits of laughter each time he posts a new skit. For some, he is so good that he has become a must watch.
Making people laugh in an industry laden with “naturally funny” characters such as Carl Joshua Ncube, Boss Khedha and Bhutisi among others, is not one of the easiest things to do.
But his jokes, in particular the recent one, where he acted as having been arrested by police officers for being in possession of “bond paper”, on which he wanted to “print bond notes”, are jawbreakers.
This person is none other than Comic Pastor, real name Prosper Ngomashi, a grinning 32-year-old Epworth born stand-up comedian. Comic Pastor told The Sunday Mail Leisure last week that he started comedy in 1997 during his time at Makomo Primary in Epworth, a reliable conveyor belt comedians, including Freddy “Kapfupi” Manjalima.
Comic Pastor says he rose to stardom after satirising Phillip Chiyangwa, the current ZIFA boss. The skit imitated Chiyangwa not stopping at a road block. He says so far, he does not have skits that he would describe as outstanding, “I only have noise making ones”.
Currently, he is doing a series with Tendai (Sibz) Sibonginkosi called Long Distance, in which two lovebirds are lying to each other about their professions.
The two met on social media and the lady works in the “Diaspora” while the boyfriend is in Zimbabwe, claiming to be a medical doctor but is unable to engage in video conferencing.
The series is now in its fourth episode but there are plans to convert it into a short film around June next year. However, despite the glowing praises that Comic Pastor has received from comedy enthusiasts, he has another life, and appears to be doing well in that respect.
He is involved in events organisation and directing ceremonies – emceeing. Crucially, he is also permanently employed as a sales person by a local firm, Parade Concepts Zimbabwe, which is based in Msasa, Harare.
“I work as a sales person for Parade Concepts Zimbabwe. I am permanently employed by this company and it has been six years doing the same job,” he said.
Parade Concepts Zimbabwe in involved in fabric upholstery. Interestingly, for Comic Pastor, it has all been about passion, and definitely no academic qualifications for everything he does.
He says it is “all by (the) grace” of God, and he has a Midas touch to the extent that “everyone I serve brings two or more people”.
“It’s a gift,” he says. Asked if he does not get business by default from customers impressed by his skits, Comic Pastor said: “Not really, our customer base is different from my Facebook or social media clan”.
Parade Concepts has been in existence for the last seven years. Apart from that, Comic Pastor runs a company called Procurt, which does interior design. The company is not yet registered and has a staff complement of three.
However, due to challenges with transfers for payments when purchasing raw materials outside the country, Procurt is in danger of closing before realising its true potential as customers now doubt its ability to deliver as promised.
“I am also an interior designer; I do homes. It’s just my own small to medium enterprise. We just a team of three. I do much of the colour coordination and calculations (but) business is going down because we can’t bring in new fabrics from South Africa because some of our transfers have not been done like for three months or so.
“So suppliers can’t trust us anymore. We might close beginning of 2017. I have spoken with the bank to find out why the transfers are not going but it’s just stories,” said Comic Pastor.
Given that comedy does not reward handsomely, Comic Pastor is considering enrolling for a National Certificate in sales next year so as to broaden his marketing skills, and perhaps eke out a meaningful living.
Comic Pastor appears in some of his parodies with ladies pretending to his wives but he is not yet taken. He says he has just gotten into a relationship with Noddy Raviro Zizhou.
