Are you the next Trevor Noah?

  • The NexFreshComic in search of the funniest comedian in Botswana

GOSEGO MOTSUMI

The Nexfresh Comic Search competition is an initiative by Cene Media in partnership with Pitch Marketing & Advertising and comedian Charles Manase that seeks to find the funniest comedian in Botswana.
Cene Media as an international provider of content streaming services has noticed that there is an untapped talent for stand-up comedy and that if it is properly developed it could be a potential employment creation avenue for the youth.
“We want to support and develop stand-up comedy in Botswana. Comedy is something I am passionate about and I am from the UK and comedy there is as big as music, with comedy giants such as Ricky Gervais, Graham Norton being some of the highest paid entertainers in the world currently. Trevor Noah started off as a stand-up comedian and we would like to see the same development from here,” said Niall Downey, the CEO of Cene Media.
The competition which is a first for Botswana requires locally based individuals or a team of three to submit a three minute video sticking to the theme of the World Cup 2018 teams including anything about the 32 countries competing including the five countries from Africa with Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal and any divergence may lead to disqualification. Videos are to be submitted via email to nexfreshcomic@cene.co.bw submission date will be open from 17th May 2018 and close on 15th June 2018 at 12:00pm. Three submissions will be invited to a 10-minute-long set at the Fresh Comedy Series held at Cresta Presidents Hotel, and the video with the most votes wins P3000 cash.
“Discriminatory or material of a defamatory nature aimed at individuals based on race, tribe, political standing, religion and sexual orientation is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification,” warned comedian Charles Manase who will be grooming the up and coming comedians.
Ketumile Ngwamotsoko of Pitch Marketing & Advertising said, “We are usually based in Gaborone but we have talent all over the country and the best way to give this talent a chance is through this digital platform. We indeed want to prove that comedy is a viable industry to go into and this is a great chance to demonstrate that we have talent to win this competition which could be the platform to kick-start a new career in the entertainment industry.”
Cene Media plans to support the industry over the coming years and showcase the local talent by hosting stand-up comedy events including some with international artists. The aim is to build the industry up from the ground and the process starts through this initiative as they encourage all the talent to send their clips.