Hiram Mungai ’ s ( Ondiek Nyuka-Kwota ) phone rings while we queue for lunch at the canteen and he responds in his Kikuyu dialect . A lady standing next to him looks perplexed , as if she did not expect him to speak Kikuyu , since his character mimics a Luo accent .
“ You are beautiful ,” Peter Sankale ( Olexander Josphat ) tells the astonished woman to her further shock at his crisp grasp of the Queen ’ s language .
At our lunch table , Peter Sankale gives the choirmaster ’ s gesture and in no time , the other actors join him in a wellharmonised melody – which turns out to be a prayer before the meal . The attention we get at the canteen heightens . It is something they are used to – maybe enjoy .
“ We are often associated with our screen characters . But that is not the case , except for Makokha who is just as stupid in life ,” Sankale teases his co-actor .
We all laugh .
If you grew up in the 1990s and watched KBC ’ s Vioja Mahamakani , Ondiek Nyuka Kwoka , Alphonse Makacha dot Makokha and Olexander Josphat are three names that graced our living rooms . Vioja Mahakamani on
KBC was a must watch .
The Vioja Mahakamani team left KBC after being told that they were “ too old ” and the show needed new and younger faces , quitting the show in solidarity as a family .
The cast credited their success as actors to hard work and passion , saying that this was key in making them household names and icons in the industry .
In Vioja Mahakamani , they explained that the TV show had already created a mark in the entertainment industry .
After quitting the show , the cast created another comedy show dubbed Jungu Kuu , which airs on K24 .
Later , Ondiek Nyuka Kwoka , Alphonse Makacha dot Makokha and Olexander Josphat teamed up for KTN ’ s Daktari , a comedy show about the day-to day happenings at a fictional hospital called Kwota Hospital , owned by Dr
Ondiek Nyuka-Kwota .
At the hospital , Olexander Josphat plays the comical security guard , a role he is synonymous with , while Alphose Makacha dot Makokha ( Mathias Keya ) plays the hospital cook . Kokoto Lijodi ( Lawrence Gwaka ), another actor from the nostalgic KBC days , features in the show as a taxi driver who drops patients at the hospital .
“ Makokha should stop puffing whatever he takes ,” Peter Sankale says of Makokha ’ s ecstatic performance as he leaves the set .
The trio bagged a Kalasha Award in December 2017 for the best comedy of the year with their Maisha Magic show , Hullabaloo Estate . Hullabaloo centres on the lives of the fictional characters played by the trio in their fictional neighbourhood .
“ We have remained relevant because we tell Kenyan stories . We tackle issues that people go through . We do not try to force topics on the audience . They see themselves in our shows . We give them what they can relate with ,” says Ondiek Nyuka-Kwota .
On how comedy has evolved since 1980s and 1990s , Ondiek Nyuka- Kwota says that then there was no money in TV and film and therefore , most artistes had the right motivation
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