A little humour to whet the appetite

Veteran Edgar Langeveldt got his kickstart when at an inaugural Harare comedy night, the headline act froze on stage. Edgar, in the audience,  jumped to his feet saying – ‘I can do better than that’ – and proved as good his word, leaping freefall into an hilarious football commentary. He didn’t look back for many years – travelling beyond our borders and, at home, kept ever bigger audiences captive with his many faces, personas and clever impersonations. No public figure was immune from Edgar’s satirical mimicry. Of course in Zimbabwe stand up comedy can be a dangerous job just like many other seemingly innocent occupations – and mimicking the wrong people can get you locked up.
Perhaps that’s why a new generation of comedians have turned to sex instead. I was not alone in looking forward to the first installment of the Bang Bang comedy club (cc US$5) and the place was packed. Plastic chairs were crammed cinema style detracting somewhat from the club ambience – but the expected crowd allowed not enough room for the planned café style table arrangement.
Hosted in style by Cde Fatso – himself a funny guy – it’s great to see the comedy club come into its own and I expect the youngsters will mature in time and dish out less smut as they get more experience, and indeed learn something from the veterans.
It was good to see Edgar back in action – on this occasion as Gaddafi – in dark glasses, big hair and a leather jacket – briefly visiting from hell. Another veteran in excellent form was Michael Kudakwashe who did manage to do sex jokes less crudely and entertained us with tales of courtship, the trials of figuring out women and a safari skit.
Carl Joshua Ncube was the disappointment of the night for me.  Having previously been well-entertained by him in MC role, I (and many others in the audience) were left gob smacked by an orgiastic tirade spewing rape and violence – featuring monkeys, grandmothers, orphans, elephants and a lot of sexual organs.
Quite offensive to many of us I think. Not funny Carl.
I’d popped into the bar earlier in the day to make a booking and was told not to expect supper – though proprietor Asa Jogi was about to go home to cook platters of chicken nuggets. He reckoned the promised steak rolls wouldn’t materialise because of power challenges. (None for three days!)
So we started the evening with dinner at Picobellos. A new look glossy menu, features pictures and printed prices – seemingly more expensive than before – but food was good. We sat on the outside verandah overlooking the garden and Glenara Avenue and were well attended by Herbert – a charming waiter giving us old style courteous service. Four cheese gnocchi (US$13) – looked bland and unprepossessing, but tasted delicious with a lovely tang. Other mains included battered fish and chips with tartare sauce (US$14), a big side of ribs (US$17) with baked potato and tasty barbecue sauce – and succulent mango chicken. (US$14)
A side salad would have been welcome, but the only salads were hefty starters or mains (chicken, beef, oriental, caprese) for between US$7 and US$10).
Pastas and risottos all look tempting (around US$12/US$13) and I’ve yet to be disappointed by a Picobello pizza. (They also do free delivery within a certain radius). No time for dessert as we were heading to the Red Bar – but it was a gentle and tasty start to a night out.  (Dinner for four including drinks. US$73)
– g.jeke@yahoo.com