The Jonny Pula Article
Top African Comedian for South African 2020 Awards Nominee born Kago Rannoba is a man of so many talents. The 34-year old born and raised in Orapa loves design hence he is a qualified Architectural Technician.
Rannoba is a Creative, self taught graphic designer and photographer, does a bit of cinematography, a producer, a screenplay writer but above all, he’s a Stand-up Comedian who goes by the name “Jonny Pula”.
Jonny’s humour and more of who he is was discovered during his high school years when he went to Kimberly Boys High; a boy’s boarding school in the Northern Cape in South Africa where he did his Form one up to five.
He later attended university in Port Elizabeth for two years before he dropped out and came back to Botswana. Jonny went on to finish off his degree in Architecture at Limkokwing University in Gaborone. The comedian has made a decision to priorities comedy and make it his main focus at the moment and not have any kids yet.
Q1. Why did you decide to go into the entertainment industry?
A. It wasn’t a decision to get into the industry; I didn’t sit at home and decide I wanted to get into the industry. Originally I wanted to tell jokes and be a Stand-up Comedian, and that’s how it started. I just wanted to be great and as I was telling the jokes, I got more and more involved into the shows doing shootings and recording adverts. I also started doing a lot of open mics and I started getting booked for shows.
Q2. Is the comedy industry sustainable to you? (In terms of income)
A. Comedy has been sustainable for me for the past two to three years. I wouldn’t call it highly sustainable but it has been keeping me alive since 2019 when I stopped working as an Architect. Most of my income comes from the industry so for me right now, it is sustainable but it could get better.
Q3. Are you doing comedy and acting full time or do you have a different full time job?
A. Currently I’m a full time Comedian, Writer and Producer, yeah all that. I’ve been a full time Comedian since the end of 2019 just before the lockdown, that’s when I started doing comedy full time. I used to be both an Architect and a Comedian at the same time before I lost my job.
When I lost my job, I had already made a mark in the industry and I had already found my path in it so when that happened, I really didn’t go back and look for another one. I just kept pursuing comedy and it’s been great, the results are good and it has been very rewarding. I get lucky sometimes and make big money, sometimes I don’t make money but its good so yeah, that’s what I do. I’m a full time comedian so holla at me.
Q4. What’s your view on the local entertainment industry?
A. Uhmmm, let’s say I’m gonna’ reserve my comment on that one because there’s many issues and many things to address. There’s just many things going wrong, and many going right so that’s all I can say.
Q5. What’s the meaning behind the stage name, Jonny Pula, and how did you come up with it?
A. Jonny is a nickname I got from primary school and then I came up with the “Pula” part because of comedy, I just wanted it to sound like money.
Q6. How did you meet your show co-host, Triccs?
A. I actually met Triccs through comedy and that was beginning of 2016 when we used to attend open mics. Him and I were always the first to arrive for the shows so we would sit together and converse. The first time I watched Triccs perform I thought he was incredibly funny.
Every joke of his was a hit and he would get a standing ovation after each one. We’ve been working together as co-buddies for years, but we became really close friends around 2018. That guy changed my life.
I don’t think I would’ve gone this far in comedy without his moral support, he has always been true motivation. I keep him around because he knows what loyalty is. I pray God protects our friendship, he’s a good man. That’s my boy.
Q7. How was the show, “The Jonny Pula and Triccs Show” created? Can you tell me the process behind it?
A. First and foremost, Triccs and I decided to work together so that we can uplift ourselves and get ourselves out of poverty as comedians.
We have always been fans of sketch comedy for years, even before guys started doing the videos on Facebook. Our show was inspired by shows like the Pure Monate Show, and the Saturday Night Live amongst others. Guys in South Africa and the States had done it so we thought we were the guys who should do it in Botswana.
So the idea for the Jonny Pula and Triccs Show came about by the end of 2017. Along the way, we realised that we couldn’t afford cameras to shoot the type of show we wanted. So what we did was, we wrote our first proposal for the show in 2017 and shopped around for producers and production companies.
We basically tried to convince them to partner with us because we didn’t have enough equipment then but we had a great idea. A lot of them liked the idea but they were slow to move. The process took long to kick off but we held onto our idea for close to three years. Fast forward we did get producers and as soon as the lockdown ended, we did the final preparations beginning of January 2021.
The show was developed as the seasons went and at first, the show was going to be named “The Tuesday Show” or “The Thursday Show”. That had been the name on paper.
Q8. How do you come up with the skits? What is the process behind the videos?
A. Well, we have a schedule. Triccs and I meet up on Fridays and have brain storming sessions where we write down everything we want to do and all the ideas we’ve been thinking about throughout the week.
Then on Saturdays, we have discussions of what we’ve wrote and we literally scrutinise the jokes and we do this via WhatsApp. On Sundays, we finalise all the ideas we want to do and send each other the scripts.
Once we get to the studio on Mondays, we brief our crew on the ideas we would like to do for the week and it’s not every joke that makes it to shooting. It just depends on how we all feel about the jokes.
Q9. Where do you see Jonny Pula in the next 10 years?
A. First and foremost, I see people spelling my name right. I see people knowing that it’s Jonny without an “H”. That’s how far I want my brand to be so well recognised. That’s how much I want to work on my brand identity.
On top of that, I want to be well travelled and tell Batswana stories and jokes. I see myself as a movie guy, particularly a comedy movie Producer, just like Adam Sandler. I see myself making cartoons and films. I think that’s where the big bucks are at. That’s where the sustainability is at.
We’re currently working on our first film as Jonny Pula and Triccs. I think that’s probably going to be our last project together after we do the movie. But we’ll still be friends and we’re still gonna’ be working. We own a company together so, either way, I’m still gonna’ be producing stuff for him.
Even if I’m not in front of the camera I’ll be behind the camera with him but, yeah expect a movie from me and Triccs, that’s our next big thing. I want to see that movie make big moves, being the most sold out one, every week; everyday. I see myself telling Batswana stories in movie form. I really want to go far with this entertainment thing.
Kaone Hunyepa is an avid writer and reader with a passion for telling other people's stories. She is currently a Broadcasting and Journalism Student at Limkokwing University.
