By Prudence Minayo
The Kenyan comedy industry has immensely grown over the past few years. Through the Churchill Show, a number of comedians have sprouted and are now big names in the industry, one of them being Sleepy David. His quirky sense of humor has seen him last in the industry for quite sometime and garnered a lot of fans. Consistency has made him a household name though he is yet to join the league of Eric Omondi and MCA Tricky among others who passed through the hands of Churchill. Here is the story of Sleepy David.
Real Name
In interviews, the comedian has never told his real name. His first name is David but his surname is still under wraps.
Age
He is yet to reveal his age to the public.
Education
Sleepy studied Film and Theater Arts at Kenyatta University.
Family
The Churchill Show comedian is the fourth born in a family of 5 boys. He grew up in the rural area and describes life as one filled with fun, in an interview with Snappy 7. Sleepy David’s mother is a big fan of his son and even shares jokes he thinks he can use in the show. However, he can’t perform the jokes as they only seem funny to her but may not resonates with the demanding live audience.
Career
Comedy has often been likened to a calling. The audience will either like you or not. For Sleepy, he decided this was what he wanted to do and he went for it. In fact, he says he did not choose comedy but comedy chose him, he didn’t just wake up one day and make the decision. He has worked in different shows but is popularly known for being one of the comedians in ‘Churchill Show.’
Sleepy first met Churchill as a fan and like many others requested a photo. He later auditioned and got a chance to showcase his talent at Churchill Raw. After a few performances, he started acting in the Churchill Show. At first, he was afraid of Churchill.
The witty man describes his worst moment was during his early days, he had to perform for a drunk audience. The audience could not understand and called them ‘Churchill Wadogo.” The people heckled them and pronounced that what they really wanted to listen to was music, not someone talking. They told them to go talk in church.
The most embarrassing moment as he described to Snappy 7 was when he saw a girl upon entering the stage and almost lost focus due to her beauty.
The comedian has also performed in other shows including Crazy comedy, Night of a Thousand Laughs and Laugh Festival.
David also launched mobile phone game called “Keep Sleep Awake.” That charges 50 cents in order to play the game. The inspiration of the game came one day while they were queuing in order to play a game.
“I’m entrepreneurial, the idea came to me while at a friend’s place for rehearsals. We got tired and went to a PlayStation to relax. Afterward, we had to queue to pay. Then it hit me, why not come up with something that people won’t have to queue for, yet they can still compete with their friends in any part of the country? These days virtually anyone is on the phone, constantly tapping and scrolling. Why not offer some entertainment as well to go with the scrolling?”
He became the first Kenyan entertainer to come up with such an idea. It was not an easy decision as he was afraid of sharing his idea then have someone copy it and present it as their own.
Girlfriend
Sleepy David’s current information about his girlfriend is unknown. However, while speaking to Citizen digital in the past, he revealed that his girlfriend left him for Bien of Sauti Sol.
“ I had gone out with this girl then the Sauti Sol Crew appeared. Bien is my friend, so I introduced her to him and she seemed excited,” he said.
“ So when kina Bien were leaving, she ran after them begging for Bien’s number. She left me sitting there to look for his digits,” continued Sleepy.
“ she was never my girlfriend but now we are JUST FRIENDS. Her excitement was worrying! Sasa angekutana na Justin Bieber? Tungempleka hospitali!” joked the comedian.
Controversy
The funny man has been involved in the recent drama with Zeddy and Victor Ber. When Zeddy accused the creative director of being a ‘depression maker’, Sleepy came out to defend him and told people not to judge him without getting to know him. He went on to dare any successful comedian who has passed through Churchill to say that Victor didn’t play a role in their success. This led to Zeddy going on a rant and accusing Sleepy of being a hypocrite by pretending to like Churchill. She further added that he is favored by the director because of his friendship with the wife, comedian Tr. Wanjiku.
“ Sleepy unasema hivi juu Berry hukufavor, you are only at Churchill show because your show with teacher Wanjiku at Citizen never worked it never succeeded, am sure ingesucced haunge rudi Churchill Show, ulirudi through Berry ndio uunde Jina ikishika utoke, hope Churchill opens his eyes, Berry never wanted any girl comedians to succeed ndio bibi yake ashine, a reason why we have few female comedians ni juu ya ber, alihakikisha most wamedie ndio bibi……” read part of Zeddy’s post in response to Sleepy’s claims.
When Zeddy appeared on Jalang’o’s YouTube channel she referred Sleepy David as Ber’s flower girl.
