Laugh Industry director Daniel Ndambuki on Saturday, October 24, rebuked Kenyans who blame comedian's misfortunes on him.
Speaking during the late Ben Maurice Omondi's (Othuol Othuol) burial ceremony in Ndere village, Siaya County, Ndambuki stated that he started the Churchill show with an aim of realising opportunities among the youth and not oppressing them.
Ndambuki, who has previously attracted backlash from Kenyans when Churchill comedians are faced with depression or misfortunes, stated that the wrath should be directed towards the government and not him.
{"preview_thumbnail":"/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/F5aJx1M_93U.jpg?itok=H3DmMyDY","video_url":"","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}
"I'm not the government. I'm not funded by the government. I'm just a person who had a small dream and whose ambition was to change the lives of as many Kenyans as I could and make them realize their dreams," Ndambuki stated.
The comedian stated that the government had shown minimal efforts to nurture and support young Kenyan talents.
"Let me ask you, most of you have performed high school drama festival, primary schools to the national level and it ends up in State House, have you asked yourself what happens to those talents? That is how most of the dreams die," he added.
"The reason why you see them say Churchill comedian when something bad happens is because it's the only platform that they get to be seen. Listen, I am not the government and I am not funded by the government," he continued.
Ndambuki reiterated that comedians should use social media platforms to build their careers and let their content known, warning the artists of posting their day to day lives on social media platforms.
"Don't wake up every morning and your telling them what you are eating, what your wearing, you have a life. Stop calling people your family because the moment you stop cracking jokes, they stop being your family. Leave the bloggers, they earn money through your stories," a visibly angered Ndambuki stated.
The comedian has on a number of times found himself on the receiving end with netizens previously alleging that the artists endure mistreatment from laugh industry management, resulting to depression that leads to their death.
In a show on Jalang'o TV in July, Zeddy disclosed that comedians were paid only if their art appeared on TV.
She indicated that some of the comedians performed for months but their shows never aired, hence, throwing them in a pool of depression.
“The audience during the live recording usually get to see up to 15 performances and wonder why only a few are aired,” the comedian stated.
{"preview_thumbnail":"/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/JxcYYDC2I-g.jpg?itok=k7UaJRdt","video_url":"","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}
