Stand-ups are essentially performers; they tell personal anecdotes about their own lives in which they play every part and act out each scene. So the transition to celluloid is seemingly effortless. However, why haven’t Ugandan comedians transitioned to sitcoms and movies?

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Stand-up comedy often provides comics with a chance to sit at the table of entertainment royalty.

So you will see a stand-up comedian beginning a career on stage before branching out to explore other mediums such as television and movies.

Their plan is to transmute their onstage popularity to some onscreen appeal. We have seen comics like Kevin Hart, Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy and several others parlay their stand-up material into well-regarded television shows, or Box Office movies.

This is because these stand-ups are essentially performers; they tell personal anecdotes about their own lives in which they play every part and act out each scene. So the transition to celluloid is seemingly effortless.

Plus, the financial returns to comic actors or sketch comedians who star in romantic or action comedies and situation comedies are rather immense. This is especially so when these pay cheques are compared with how much stand-up comedians earn for being on stage.

Chris Tucker made modest amounts of cash as a stand-up comedian before going into movies. That is when he co-starred in his first film, Friday. He says: “I got about $10,000 (about Shs36.5m) for it or whatever; I didn’t care.”……………….CONTINUE READING…………………