Five-minute excerpt 1

Daliso Chaponda discusses psychology

More Daliso Chaponda videos

Malawian Daliso Chaponda began his comedy career in Canada in 2001, quickly building to his first one-man show, Feed This Black Man. His 2004 show Don’t Let Them Deport Me was a thinly-disguised plea to have his Canadian visa extended . However, the ploy failed - but not before he performed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal in 2005.

He then moved to South Africa, where he continued to work as a comedy writer and performer. More recently he has moved to the UK, where he has established himself on the Jongleurs circuit of largish clubs. In 2007, he appeared in the Big Value shows at the Edinburg Fringe.

In addition to stand-up, Chaponda is also a fiction writer. In 2002 he was a finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest and in 2005 he was shortlisted for the P&E Award for online writing.

Daliso Chaponda: An African Perspective – Westerners Calm Down! - Fringe 2009
Live Review

The world comes to Edinburgh every August, but even so Daliso Chaponda is surely the only Malawian comic here. Though now based in Britain, he came via Canada, where he picked up the slick, joke-driven style and easy audience banter of North American comics, without dulling the fact he has a unique perspective on the world.

His exhortation for Westerners to ‘calm down’ is a reference to the fact that what may seem like a major crisis to us – and he means the recession, especially – pales in comparison to the deadly serious problems in Africa. With one foot in each world, this is a decent way of linking both strands of his material with his naturally optimistic outlook.

Every gag here is delivered with a broad grin and an astute social awareness. Yes, there are references to that dreaded word ‘issues’ but done with a playful wit through the eyes of an observational comedian, rather than any one with an inflexible political agenda. He has the air of a black Jerry Seinfeld more than an angry young(ish) man.

There are a few easy jibes here – lots of easy ‘where you from?’ interaction, obvious comments about the homoerotic element of sport or the inaccuracy in describing obesity as an ‘epidemic’ – but there’s a lot more you won’t have heard before. The reverse-racism episode when a white friend stayed with his relatives in Malawi is especially sweet.

The fatalistic Chaponda puts some of himself in the jokes, too, but ensuring his experiences are the set-ups for gags rather than probing too deeply. His father’s shameful family secret, his issues with an ex, and even a traumatic childhood experience are all efficiently processed into punchlines; though an hour-long Fringe show would allow him the latitude to explore these in more depth, if he so wanted.

But he’s not that sort of comic; he has a keen sense of economy that means he usually only wants to impart enough information to make the payoff work, no more, no less. And the gags do work. He is funny. Calm down.

Funny, would be better if he expanded on his African material as that was really original and good

M, October 2011

Terrible. It is an offense that he dares to call himself a comedian. "Twat Nav"? Is that the best that he can offer. If I ever see his name on a bill then I will make sure I get an early night. Avoid.

Vicky, April 2011

Thought the first half of his show was reasonably good, some clever comments. Found myself bored in the second half when he just kept talking about sex. If that is what your into then you will enjoy his act, I prefer a comedian to work a bit harder for a laugh

Stephen Dawson, December 2009

I have seen Daliso perform many times. Always consistently funny. A hardworking comic with original and funny material. Go see him! Now!

Jay Ryan, January 2008