Lawrence Macharia, popularly known as Terence Creative, is arguably one of the best online comedians in Kenya. And like his stage name, the entertainer is indeed creative if his videos on his social media platforms and YouTube channel are anything to go by.
His video, Wash Wash Business-Papa Fred “Kemikal” Ngamwaya, trended at number one on YouTube when it was released. In the video, Terence played a Congolese fraudster who uses a certain expensive Kemikal to print money and cons his victims in the process.
Here is the story of Terence Creative as told by Prudence Minayo.
Background
He is the last born in a family of three boys. He was born in Mlango Kubwa, Mathare and the family lived in a single room. At the age of 9, he lost both of his parents.
Terence took to the streets and became a street urchin. He did everything street kids do including sniffing glue. Later, through his brother, he was rescued and found a place to call home at Mully Children’s Family. His brother was also at the institution.
It was here that he got the chance to study and complete school. He also realized his love for the arts while at Mully’s. He performed for the first time while living at the children’s home.
Career
Many know him for his role as a creative on the Churchill Show. In a past interview, the funny man revealed that he did menial jobs like gardening and at one time he was employed as a watchman to make ends meet.
The comedian, who teams up with his wife Chebby on most of his projects, joined the Kenya National Theatre where he took various roles in set book plays before he finally joined the Churchill Show.
He worked alongside a number of comedians in the show. Terence wrote comic material for some of the biggest names in the industry.
In an interview, he recalled how he would accompany some of the comedians to an interview and in his presence, they would not acknowledge his contribution.
When asked how they came up with comic material, they began praising themselves yet he was the one who came up with the content.
In 2015, together with his wife, they were the DOP in the short-lived Jalang’o with the Money Show.
In 2018, he landed a show at Radio Africa-owned station Radio Jambo. He was the host of the show Jambo Massawe alongside Massawe Japanni. At the time, Massawe was making a come-back on radio after taking a break in 2017.
Changing Course of His Career
After working as a creative for a while, he began doing his own comedy skits. He adopted the Kamami character which blew up.
He was no longer just behind the scenes. He used his wife’s dera as a major prop. The witty man then proceeded to create content that resonated well with Kenyans, especially women. He then began playing a caretaker, a role he executed perfectly.
He got the inspiration for the character from a previous caretaker of their rental house.
His latest content on his channel has drawn the attention of thousands of Kenyans. With the Wash Wash scam rife in the country, the funnyman produced a short film on how the con game is played.
The first video that premiered on Sep 3, 2021 has garnered over half a million views while the second part of the video was released on September 20 and has more than 400k views and is trending at number one on YouTube in Kenya.
In February 2021, he and his wife were unveiled as the hosts of Thursday Night Live, a show aired on KTN. They have hosted a number of celebrity guests on the show with the aim of using their stories to inspire.
The content creator also works with his wife on her YouTube channel- Milly Chebby. He is often the camera man and also comes up with ideas for the channel.
Marriage
The comedian met his wife on the Churchill Show in 2013. Milly had just begun working as a backstage manager while Terence was already an old face at the show. They began dating on and off before finally moving in together.
“I was new on the set and he was kind enough to show me the ropes and we quickly became friends,” She told Parents Africa.
Milly told the monthly Magazine that she wasn’t sure of the relationship since Terence was coming from another relationship:
“For the first two years of our relationship, we were shaky because I wasn’t sure if he was just testing the waters then go back to his previous six-year relationship, considering there were kids involved. That has to be the most confusing point of our relationship because I had one foot in and one out of the door just in case,” she said.
Before Milly, he was with Sharon Madonna. The two were blessed with two daughters.
In 2017, with the help of friends, he blocked Kimathi street and proceeded to propose to Millicent.
This was followed by a traditional ceremony, Koito, in Milly’s home in Rift Valley. The ceremony was filled with food, laughter and dancing and became the talk of town in the area.
They recently revealed on their YouTube channel that Terence was robbed a day before the traditional ceremony, almost jeopardising the event. Later, he struggled to pay dowry and did not complete payment on the agreed time.
Cheating Allegations
Two years later, the couple welcomed their first child together, Mila. The same year their marriage was hit with a scandal after Terence was accused of cheating on Milly with Anita Soina.
The expose by Edgar Obare created a lot of drama with Soina accusing Milly of threatening her. The couple made up and Milly forgave her husband who said he was truly sorry for causing her pain.
The two believe marriage is not about perfection and have on numerous occasions shared their journey, both the good and the bad.
The father of three often credits his wife for standing by him even at his worst. He says Milly has helped to refine him and steer him into the right path, hence, making him a better person.
Addictions
The YouTuber has often shared his earlier struggles with addiction to gambling and smoking with a view of encouraging others.
Terence was a serial gambler who lost millions thanks to this addiction. He said even while he won big at times, he ended up losing it all. He would win 650k and want to make it a million, win a million and want to make it one and a half million.
At times he would stay in a casino past midnight and on so many occasions Milly had to go looking for him. She said that it reached a point where she’d arrive and everyone would know she was there for her husband.
Terence even admitted to using and losing the money they had saved up for both their first car and land on gambling. He even recounts how Milly once gave him rent money only for him to gamble it.
He would visit loan sharks and give them a number of things including his phone. He was later able to quit the habit and has sworn never to work with a betting company in the course of his career.
Apart from gambling, he also had a smoking problem. In an interview with Amina Rabar on NTV, he even admitted to smoking marijuana once and slapping his wife while high on the drug.
He said smoking even affected their intimacy as a couple since he would often smell of tobacco, something that annoyed his partner. He was later able to quit.
