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Comedian Kelvin 'Shaniqwa' Mwangi, says he has lost a lot of money because of his cross-dressing act. Mwangi shot into the limelight and became famous for his cross-dressing while portraying the character Shaniqwa.
Although the character brought him instant fame when he began his comedy journey, Mwangi says it came at a high cost. One of the challenges was that his sexuality was questioned by the public.
"It's not that it (cross-dressing comedy) hadn't been done before. People like Nyengese had done it. I came and modernized it, but I've had to endure a lot with the Shaniqwa character. For a long time I was called gay," laments the father of two.
But then there was the other factor of brands and companies turning him down for gigs because of the Shaniqwa character.
"I also lost so many jobs. I started cross-dressing and became very famous. My star was shining, but now I wasn't generating any income other than the salary I was getting from KTN (where Shaniqwa aired). I couldn't get any influential jobs. I remember attending ten board meetings of different brands to discuss a gig and landing none. I could see that they loved my content. My analytics were to their satisfaction, but even after all the discussions and my pitch presentation of how I would execute my deliverables, I would still not get the job. They would say they didn't think Shaniqwa would sit well with their clientele," adds Mwangi.
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The comedian claims most companies would offer him a gig, but on the condition that he does not cross-dress.
"But I would tell them that the audience doesn't know me without cross-dressing. They love Shaniqwa, not Kelvin Mwangi, so if I have to do it, it has to be as Shaniqwa and we would come to a standstill. So I would make people laugh but remain broke".
Mwangi, however, notes that he is happy to have paved the way for other cross-dressers like witty content creator Kelvin Kinuthia.
"Now things have changed, Kanuthia is doing it full-time. He attends board meetings cross-dressed and gets the jobs I couldn't. I am happy for him. I was never lucky, maybe I was needed to pave the way for those who would come after me like Kinuthia," she said.
Although Shaniqwa faced the hurdle of crossing into comedy at the beginning of his career, the concept isn't alien to the Kenyan showbiz industry having been witnessed in the 1980s.
The Nyengese comedian (real name David Njuguna) was a popular figure on the streets of Nairobi in the 80s. He is derided as Kenya's pioneer of stand-up comedy, a street comedian who usually performed outside Uchumi supermarket.
He was distinctive in that he wore women's clothes, which made him even more hilarious. Nyengese was later joined by Peter Nduati and a third comedian to form a trio and together they paved the way for comedy acts such as Redykyulass. Nduati died in 1994, followed by David Njuguna in 1999.
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