28 Aug 2023

After a half year hiatus, the famous Phakalane Comedy Night returned on Friday, much to the chuckle of the attendees who filled to the brim the Ngwedi Courtyard of the Phakalane Golf Estate.

A return to the venue where stand-up comedy was popularised in Gaborone over the past two decades was clearly a shot in the arm of the capital city entertainment scene as the event pulled a much better attendance that normally is the case with other venues in the city centre and it's periphery.

Veteran comedian MOD, was the anchor for the night, joined by Charles Manase, Thapelo Malani and Oabile Phetso with the other popular veteran comedian Rib Cracker making a surprise appearance having not been on the bill.

When the Phakalane Comedy Night was revived over the immediate post-pandemic recovery era, 2022 had seen a Comedy Factory Botswana branded event with Mod alongside Rib Cracker as the key anchors, joined by the popular Jonny Pula, Bambino and Triccs.

But from the onset of 2023, the light had dimmed on the stand-up comedy at the venue, until month end August saw the year's first Phakalane Comedy Night.

This time MOD accompanied by a younger, less familiar line up, with Rib Cracker admittedly gate crashing the occasion.

With a cosmopolitan uptown crowd that included some expatriates, MOD largely used English to accommodate all, throwing in well mimicked Indian accent to leave the crowd in stitches.

The youthful Oabile Phetso followed the familiar usage of Setswana stand-up comedy that resonates well with local audiences.

But initially the crowd struggled to react to the jokes until Charles Manase picked up the pace followed by the evergreen Rib Cracker's freestyle set and Thapelo Malani also keeping the laughter going.

Later in the night, a substantial number of revellers rushed inside the Phakalane Golf Estate conference centre pub to access television and watch national athlete Letsile Tebogo earn a bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships, briefly leaving the comedians to their outdoor stage, but adding to the crowd's entertainment. ends