Daily Monitor’sPhilip Matogo picks the mind of Elly Odoki, finding out whether the Kenyan-based Ugandan stand-up comedian’s talent is as big as the helpings at Kabz Restaurant and Grill.
It’s a Sunday. Not this one, but another one. I’m happy you allow that there can be more Sundays than one. Even though this Sunday was distinctly unique.
At around 1pm, the skies seemed to be looking for a reason to turn on their celestial taps and flood the afternoon with their reign.
Which includes rain, wind and the ubiquitous hawker selling umbrellas to all those tired of finding themselves rained upon in one part of Kampala before turning up in the dry part of Kampala soaking wet for a meeting without climate change on the agenda.
The meeting I was going to was at a charming little eatery called Kabz Restaurant and Grill. It’s located in Nalya, above Lynn Internet on the main Nalya Road heading to Namugongo.
These guys serve platters at a price that should also be on the menu. Not accompanying the meals, but for consumption in their own right. Who wouldn’t like to crunch such numbers in accounting for one’s good taste?
Incidentally, I have read that the word ‘menu’ comes from the old French word menu, meaning ‘small’ or ‘detailed,’ which in turn derives from the Latin minutus, also meaning ‘small’ or ‘minute’.
Yet there is nothing small about the helpings at Kabz. My share of food was lionised to make me roar with delight. As usual, I took the fried pork with the chapati, rice, vegetables and an assortment of other goodies redefining the word goodies.
Mariam Mulumba, the hostess of the joint, says the food is better than love by any other name. Kenyan-based Ugandan stand-up comedian Elly Odoki and I then widened our darling eyes, feasting on the idea of the meal before the meal proper showed up on wheels.
Oh, yes, the meals arrive on wheels with a vroom. The ‘v’ in vroom being silent. That way, you make room in your stomach for paradise.
Finding love elsewhere
Odoki is possibly Uganda’s latest comedic export. Most of you have heard of Joseph Opio and Arthur Simeon, the latter being a stand-up comedian based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has performed multiple times at Just for Laughs and appeared on HBO and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. That’s why you probably didn’t catch him on NTV during the week.
In comedy, the world over, prophets are rejected in their hometowns. American stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle got his first big break after moving north of the US border, in Montreal, Canada.
‘I’m one of the few people who came from America to Canada to get a break,’ Chappelle says.
Performing at the 1993 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal provided him with a larger platform and also connected him to a network of professional comedians who were already cracking wise about the wisdom and value attached to cross-border punchlines. Odoki, also known as Odizzy, did the same. He was born on March 7, 1994 and is a Ugandan Standup Comedian, actor and Events MC.
‘I first hit the big stage in 2014 as a regular at a weekly standup comedy show dubbed Comedy Files Live, at Theatre La Bonita. In the same year, I featured on a DSTV comedy series dubbed Comedy Club Live in Kampala. From there, I performed at various other platforms like Laftaz Comedy Show, where I performed alongside big names like Salvador and Basket Mouth. I also performed at Comedy Store and many others,’ Odoki says.
‘In 2017, I moved to South Africa, where I played on several stages in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban such as Goliath and Goliath Comedy Club, Centurion Theatre, Shakers, etc. While in South Africa, I got my first role in a movie called Looking for Love, a Romantic Comedy Drama alongside fellow comedians Celeste Ntuli and Trevor Gumbi,’ he adds.
On returning to Kampala in 2019, Odoki acted in two radio dramas -Sotakai and Akakuunizo. After a hiatus due to Covid-19, and resuming his Bachelor’s Degree in Community Psychology at Makerere University, he returned to actively performing standup comedy in 2023.
‘In 2024, I performed at Punchline Comedy Club’s Invasion, an Annual show that brings big comedians from all over Africa to Nairobi, Kenya. In September 2025, I performed at the Marabou Laugh Fest, a comedy Festival by Kampala’s first comedy club called The Laughing Marabou Stork, in Ntinda. I am currently based in Nairobi but travel frequently to Kampala and other cities to do shows,’ he says.
Making a move
American actor George Clooney said: ‘The slower we move, the faster we die’ in the 2009 movie, Up in the Air. This could explain why Odoki began life as a comedian on the go. ‘In 2017, after moving to South Africa, I rebranded to Elly Odoki (real name) as my stage name to replace Odizzy Omuzibu (nickname) that I used in the early days of my career.
As a performer, I am known for my wit, storytelling and bold social commentary on subjects such as politics, current events, women, popular culture, human sexuality, religion, among others. In 2018, I performed at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia,’ he reveals.
He eventually settled in Kenya. That land that sprouted comedic blades such as Daniel Ndambuki (Churchill of The Churchill Show) and Ugandan fan favourite, Eric Omondi. Kenyan comedians focus a lot on storytelling and crowd work, building relationships with their audiences in the manner American comedian Aries Spears does. However, with far less rancour and combativeness.
Their performances relate more to serenades. Picture the movie Say Anything where John Cusack’s character, Lloyd Dobler, is standing outside his love interest’s window with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes. Without the boombox and the poetic reference to the audiences’ eyes.
Ugandan comedy, on the other hand, also seeks to connect with its audiences through punchlines, observational humour and social critiques.
Kenya versus Uganda
‘Uganda’s standup comedy industry is older than that of Kenya. And Kenyan comedians really have respect for Uganda, at least in that regard,’ Odoki says.
‘Kenyans have a common language-Kiswahili, that is spoken countrywide. This has played a big role in the growth of their comedy industry because it hits home well, since comedy is about culture and language is a central part of culture.’
This language factor also factors in poetry and other art forms. Swahili has been noted as ‘vital to the East African Community (EAC) because it serves as a lingua franca for regional communication, fostering unity and integration across diverse ethnic groups and promoting cross-cultural exchange.’ Well, that’s what the politicians tell us.
Okay, not all of them. Common Man’s Party presidential candidate Mubarak Munyagwa has pledged to abolish the use of Swahili in Uganda’s education and public systems, proposing to replace it with French, which he argues would open the country to greater international opportunities.
I would have said ‘Asante’ to him, but he seems to be into the ‘Mercies’ of this world. ‘However, there’s a new scene for English Comedy that is fast growing at a time when English standup comedy in Kampala is struggling with very few English Comedy shows. The new English scene in Nairobi has several shows that comedians can perform up to five times a week, thus catalysing their growth. Also, the audiences in Nairobi are more liberal and open to any material. In Uganda, our audiences are still very sensitive to many topics,’ Odoki opines.
‘If there’s one thing to learn [from Kenyan comedy], it’s the Open Mic culture. These are shows where comedians come with new material (jokes), usually free shows, and try them out before a live audience. This helps to work on your material and fine-tune it before taking it to ticketed shows where people pay and want value for their money. Many Ugandan comedians test their jokes on their wives and friends then they take them to a big show. This is very risky behaviour, sometimes suicidal in an art form that is unforgiving such as standup comedy. I can’t speak for the Kenyan comedians but I am sure if they reach Kampala, they will learn something from our industry,’ he adds.
Better than.
The hostess of Kabz was right, the food here is better than sex. Wait a minute, she didn’t say that. But Odoki had one more thing to say about comedy across East Africa. ‘Comedy is culture and comedy is a unifying art form. I believe people who laugh together can live together. In fact, I am planning a show called The East African Community Comedy Gala featuring 10 comedians from all the EAC countries.
There’s a lot to laugh about in East Africa like the recent battle between Tanzania and Kenya in Chan, the recent closure of Uganda-Rwanda border, Salva Kiir becoming chairman of EAC at a time South Sudan was the biggest defaulter of EAC subscription fees at $50m (Shs172b). EAC is funny, and comedy can play a big role in bringing us together as we laugh about our flaws…so as to improve ourselves. Comedy can help create positive competition as no country wants to be the butt of all the jokes in the region,’ Odoki concludes.