A bold visionary, a prolific stand-up comedian; his name is Carl Joshua Ncube. He was once described by CNN as the new face of Zimbabwean comedy. ‘Carl Joshua Ncube has been the funniest comedian Zimbabwe has ever produced’, Comedy Central Africa once said. He has performed stand-up comedy in several countries e.g. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Nigeria, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and the USA. In 2013 he was awarded by NAMA for Outstanding Comedian.
Who Is Carl Joshua Ncube?
He was born on May the 25th 1979. He is a qualified Gynaecology Nurse. Carl Joshua Ncube is a Content Creator, a Creative, and Author. One of his ebooks is CHIKAFU, which is a 100 Recipe Diary. You can purchase it by contacting +263 774 280 811. He is a Comedian, MC, Coach, Consultant, and Celebrity Chef. Several years back he was the Founder and Creative Head of Tatu Advertising (an advertising agency for African Sun). That gave him expansive knowledge and exposure to later on becoming a restaurant consultant.
He is the Founder and CEO of TouriZIM eKaya, a Rural Development Think Tank or Hospitality Consultancy. He is also the Founder and CEO of Rural BnB, a brand new innovative, sustainable, cultural experience. Rural homeowners can build or sign up to offer their homes for accommodation. Then users (i.e. the visitors) can use the platform to book and experience rural Zimbabwe. They get to enjoy traditional cuisines, and locally curated activities such as hiking, picnics, historic, game drives, and more. You can get involved by building a home in your village, investing in the startup, donating to village initiatives, or staying in a village. To know more about this you can check out the Rural BnB website or Facebook page.
Living Off-Grid
One of Ncube’s boldest moves was to start living off-grid. He announced that move in January 2019. This involved him converting a bus into an off-the-grid home. So he started off living in tents whilst working on converting the bus. You can check out his Instagram page to see how that journey unfolded. In 2019 when I was in Victoria Falls I managed to briefly visit his off-the-grid home and we had a chat. He is passionate about environmental sustainability; he advocates for healthy and sustainable ways of eating and living.
Interesting Accomplishments And Initiatives
TV Series
He said soon he will be shooting a TV series with 3ktv in Bulawayo. He recently made a post saying he needs 4 tasters for each episode. They are planning to shoot 13 episodes.
Jacana Private Homestead Project
He started a Jacana Private Homestead project. This entailed setting up a test kitchen to accurately cost ingredients, setting up a database of recipes and creating an environment outside restaurants for focus groups and research into some theories they have so far. This project is being executed by using the GARNISH framework. The ultimate goal is to roll out the project nationally. To add, he cooks for small groups (5 to 20 people) at the Jacana Private Homestead in Bulawayo. He has even provided this service in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, and Malawi.
GARNISH
His experience being the Creative Head of Tatu Advertising set the tone for him to develop what he called the General Managers Playbook. This was essentially a 400-page manual on how to run a restaurant or boutique hotel. He later on refined it to a simplified framework titled GARNISH. GARNISH stands for Growth Asset management Revenues Niching Innovations Systems and Human resources. It is a system that can be used to linearly diagnose problems in a restaurant.
TEDSummit 2019
In July 2019, he gave a TED talk titled, Tales of a Zimbabwean Comedian.
Comedy Festivals
He was part of the line-up during an event that was put together by Comedy Central. This was the International Comedy Festival Best of Africa. Some of the other comedy festivals he performed at over the years are:
Nite of a Thousand Laughs
Johannesburg International Comedy Festival
Harare International Comedy Festival
Soweto Comedy Festival
Africa Laugh Festival
African Comedy Festival
Presidents of Laughrica
Africa Laughs
Stand Up Africa
Guinness World Record for the Most Comedy Shows in 7 Days
In August 2016, he once attempted to break a Guinness World Record for the Most Comedy Shows in 7 Days. At the time the standing record was 30 shows in 7 days. He went on to do 31 shows in 7 days but unfortunately, the record was not recognized. This was because it did not meet the condition that each show needed reviews by the local press. Plus the shows were supposed to have been in recognized comedy venues. All the same, this was an iconic thing he did.
The Big Announcement Show
This was Carl Joshua Ncube’s debut show which was a one-man show. This was on 12 May 2011 and it was on that day when he proposed to his ex-wife, Nelsy.
Anti-Piracy Campaign
In 2010 he staged a solo demonstration against piracy in Zimbabwe. He did so by living in the streets for 7 days. It was a stunning gesture given that he was and is not a music artiste.
You can check out his YouTube channel, a mixed bag and has over 550 videos. You get to see his comedy acts, and some of his aforementioned initiatives. You can direct message him on +263 774 280 811. In closing, something is striking that he said, “In 2009 God gave me (Carl Joshua Ncube) a vision! I was homeless in Botswana and He said, ‘Carl I created you in My image so I will put you in places that are dark and void so your spirit can hover over the face of the deep and you too can call things into existence and it shall be so. The same way I said LET THERE BE LIGHT’. I am Carl Joshua Ncube the CEO of TouriZIM eKaya ‘let there be light!!!’”
