I know that you Zambians have not had an easy year, so please bring all your problems to me tonight so that you can laugh and get a new life on Monday as you go to work, says celebrated queen of African comedy Anne Kansiime.

Speaking when she addressed journalists at the Best Plus Hotel in Lusaka yesterday, the Ugandan award winning stand-up comic also urged women in Zambia to be brave and join the laughter industry.

She said although she would be performing among men at tonight’s show scheduled for the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, she would deliver a ticklish performance that would leave fans feeling exhilarated.

“I didn’t travel all the way here to come and disappoint you. There is no old joke you will hear out there. I will move on swiftly and give you only new jokes. I have warned you please come with all your problems. I know that we have had a tough beginning of the year as Zambia. Its not been easy. So please pass your problems to me, don’t quit on life, come, laugh and get a new life by Monday,” Kansiime said.

“Walk into your office as a promoted chap because you have finished relieving yourself of all the stress. We promise laughter, therapy, joy, its going to confusing you tomorrow at the end of the night. You will all be grateful, I promise.”

She encouraged women to join the industry, warning that it may not be easy at the beginning, but it eventually pays off.

“Its my fifth time to come here, so when I say its home I don’t know how anyone would doubt it. So Zambia is my home partly because you have loved me and its not my fault I have to love you back. So I’m here to make you laugh tomorrow. But the difference is going to be that I have the Tilowa brothers (Kapembwa and K-Star) so there is going to be a lot of testosterone on that stage,” Kansiime said.

“That’s why I’m worried that I really want more women on board. I’m scared. See, if you are a woman out there and you are funny and you are scared of coming on stage and not being funny, imagine me who has to stand amidst these ones (male comedians) and actually hold a flag as a queen of comedy. Its hard but its beautiful. And the more you fail at it the better you get.”

She tipped comedians to be resilient, saying the entertainment industry, like any other, had challenges.

“So I truly again say that we want more women in this industry. Come and give me company its lonely out here. And its not easy. The first month you wont be funny at all, people won’t even know what you are doing. Second month they will think you are about to quit but they will see [that] you are still insisting. Third month they will start throwing things at you. Fifth month…you will still suffer, then it will start paying off,” said Kansiime.

“I have been in this business for a very long time but I think you got to know about me I think five or six years ago it was not easy. But it’s easy now, so you really need to work hard. Stop saying its difficult, yes its difficult but don’t quit because its hard. Its not easy but just keep coming.”