Meet Njugush – The Undisputed King of Parody

Njugush, has been in the entertainment scene for the last 10 years and continues to grow his popularity. It has not been easy for him from the days he started out in a bedsitter with nothing in the house other than a mattress, and not many food or dressing choices, but his consistency has kept him going.

His is a story of hard work, determination and following his talent.

Start of acting

He was about seven years old when he began acting, in Sunday school. At that time, he realized that acting was what he wanted to do. He slowly got into acting and since then, it has always been comedy for him.

Three days after clearing high school, he auditioned at the Kenya National Theater. This was not an easy task. Together with others who had auditioned, they rehearsed the whole of December, hoping that jobs would come in January. When the shows eventually came, he had to borrow money from a friend to travel to Meru. At the end of the day, he was paid half of what he owed his friend. This was his turning point.

“It got to a place where I realized that that was not the life I wanted to live, because I’m a visionary, and my life was not going towards the direction I wanted it to go.”

Journalism

As he had always loved journalism, he enrolled at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. While there, he joined the drama club and met bigwigs in the acting industry such as Abel Mutua and Dennis Mugo among others.

A role he played as Habbakuk endeared Abel to him, and he thus took Njugush’s number and promised to call him.

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The call came three years later. Abel wanted him to take a role in his show, Hapa Kule News. Finally, he was going to be in the news! What he didn’t know, however, was that it was the satirical kind of news where he did not need a suit.

Rise

Hapa Kule News gave birth to The Real Househelps Of Kawangware where the audience fell in love with Njugush.  In 2016 however, when the show was at its peak, he left.

When he quit, he did not have a backup plan and was trying to figure out his next move.

His now wife Celestine, at the time, had just started a small business that helped them survive. He decided to go back to the theater and after being there for a while, a friend invited him to a radio set. Two weeks later he had to fill in as there was no co-host. His role was simple: infuse a bit of humor into the topics they were tackling. It is after this show that he was hired on a one year contract that grew him.

Online Marketing

Online marketing came as something both he and his wife stumbled into. At the time, he was pushing his wife’s merchandise on social media. Being idle, they decided to take a video as they goofed around. They posted it and it gained a lot of traction. They did another one and his numbers grew. Slowly, brands started approaching him.

Having gotten to work with huge brands such as Safaricom, KFC, and Ariel among others has come with its challenges among them fraudsters. Through it, however, he has also been able to learn.

“I, therefore, encourage other people, aside from books, identify your talent and hone it.”

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His wife, who is now his manager, is someone he is grateful for. She believed in him when he had nothing and is someone who continues to push him.

What does the future hold for him then?

“The future is ours to make. I think we’ll surprise ourselves. We are open to pursuing every opportunity that comes our way and we are willing to knock doors.”