South Africa comedian Mark Sampson is performing in Malawi as part of his Africa tour in which he is bringing awareness to issues around climate change through comedy. The comedian has already performed at Madsoc Theatre in Lilongwe and is expected to hold another show at Fusion Cafe in the same city before a number of other shows in Blantyre.
“I have done three shows and have three more planned. Six shows in Malawi is the most I have performed on this trip in any of the 36 Countries. Malawi has the best audiences for commedy. I love the people here”.
“I hope to see many people at the next show Fusion Cafe on April 27. The other shows are on May 3 at Jacaranda Cultural Centre and the next day at the Blantyre Sports Club,” said Simpson.
Debbed the Africa Clockwise, the comedian is travelling across Africa driving his environmental message home while using solar-powered vehicle. The vehicle uses recycled waste vegetable oil and solar power fueling. “Art is a wonderful tool to mobilise the masses on climate change. We need comedy to help engage people. So, I tell jokes, not just to bring issues of climate change to people’s attention, but also on everything. Laughter is the best medicine,” he said.
Sampson (L) with his family on their journey in Africa
According to Sampson, it has been six years since he started the journey and there are alot of lessons drawn. “We left Cape town in 2013 thinking we would be back in 2 years. We didn’t consider the difficulty in finding used cooking oil and hitting Liberia at the same time as Ebola”.
“So far we have been to 36 countries, but Mozambique, then we are back home in South Africa,” he said. Sampson is happy with what he, together with his wife, Sam pearce who is a writer and children Ruby and Zola have achieved this far, especially bringing climate change issues to the attention of many.
“It has benn 40 000km (kilometres) of kindness. The people we meet make this journey a wonderful experience for the whole family. Every country has been a joy to visit,” he added.
According to the comedian’s personal blog, africaclokewise.wordpress.com, “The Africa Clockwise trek is endorsed by the South Africa Department of Arts and Culture”.
“Stand-up comedian Mark Sampson shares his sustainability message along the way. He performs comedy shows in theatres and motivational talks at educational institutions across the continent while his wife Sam Pearce home schools their children and blogs about their advebtures en route,” reads the blog in part.
Source: The Nation_Tuesday, 23 April, 2019_by Yvonnie Sundu-Staff Reporter