Young comedian aims for the sky

EUNICE MASIE
Correspondent | Monday May 20, 2013 00:00

 

Born in Tsabong 22 years ago, Brooks says he has always loved the performing arts and due to academic commitments he was unable to get into comedy sooner. He decided to pursue his passion in 2009 after completing his Botswana General Certificate Examination (BGCSE) because he had not performed well and didn't want to sit back and do nothing. ' I wasn't really quite new in the arts, because I was doing drama and arts at senior secondary school and I had been a runner-up in The Power in Voice Drama and Poetry final,' he says.

In 2011, in his very first attempt he took part in the President's Day competition and won. This then kept him going, as he became part of the Laugh-A-Lot Comedy Crew under Comedy for the Nation of Botswana. ' There are three DVDs that I featured in under this stable, and this is an achievement for me being with the best in the industry at a very young age,' he says.  Although he is a comedian, Brooks says there have been instances in which he was made fun of himself.  'People often make fun of my big ears but I use that as motivation and I turn it into a joke just so the focus isn't too much on me,' he says.  He also says that at some point he experienced a situation in which no body laughed at his joke whilst on stage and he had to quickly think of something just not to bore people and keep the crowd attentive.  On his list of accomplishments, Brooks has won the 2011 and 2012 President's Day awards, and had the opportunity to share the stage with Joel Keitumele and Kedibonye Mlaudzi and was chosen as the curtain-raiser for Barry Hilton who are both (Hilton and Mlaudzi) from South Africa.

'My biggest highlight was when I was performing to an audience full of white people in 2011, using English for the first time in a public performance but I was able to step out of my shell and I got them laughing,' he says with pride. Brooks says his jokes are mainly on public figures, the environment and what he sees around it. He says very often he never rehearses but there are times when he does and when he does rehearse he uses himself as an audience.  He practises till he laughs and that's when he gets the satisfaction that the joke will be well-received by the audience.He says that by far, his biggest challenge has been self-confidence, tribalism and lack of support from his family. 'I have been through a lot trying to deal with all of these but I am not going to let them weigh me down.'

He says, 'Even when people discourage me by telling me that 'I will be sued', that does not get me down in any way.' Brooks says he wishes that Batswana support him in his journey, and asks them to be patient as the comedy industry is still new in Botswana. ' Sa mphelleng pelo, ke sale ngwana bokoeng and comedy is what I love doing. And to those wishing to follow my route remember to be patient. Don't look for money, money will look for you,' he says humbly. Brooks is available on social network site, Twitter and can be followed for jokes on @Brooks.