No matter who you are, there comes a time when Nairobi humbles you, and it's sneaky, like a thief in the night.
So I was in the CBD heading out to Nairobi Laugh Bar for the comedy event we’re talking about today. The show was scheduled for 7.30 pm, and I thought I had it figured out. Leave the CBD at 6pm, catch some drizzle on the way, get there early, order something, let the music carry me in, and ease into the night.
However, Nairobi had other plans, two full hours on the road to cover a mere eight kilometres. I mean the kind of traffic jam that gives you time to reflect and re-evaluate some of your life choices.
The saving grace, and I never thought I’d say this, was the classic Kenyan event delay. The organisers pushed the start back by thirty minutes. For once, I wasn’t mad about it. I walked into the venue at exactly 8pm, just as Ruth Nyambura, the host, stepped on stage.
Come As you Are
If you’ve never heard of Robby Collins or just need a refresher, he’s a Durban-born comedian who’s done it all. He’s not only toured with his own one-man shows across South Africa, but he’s also an Emmy-nominated writer and film actor.
Comedy fans probably know him best as Trevor Noah’s opening act, from Day Walker in 2010 to Nationwild in 2014. He’s also shared the stage with Dave Chappelle during Chappelle’s South African run. Beyond that, Robby has been a fixture at some of the biggest comedy stages, Blacks Only, Kings and Queens of Comedy and Comedy Central Live at Parker's.
Like Vafa Naraghi, Robby’s basically a Kenyan at this point. He’s performed here enough times that I’d say he’s a Kenyan who just happens to have taken a very long holiday in South Africa.
Now that you’re caught up, let’s talk about Come As You Are. It was a three-day run, September 25 to 27, and I was at the September 26th show.
The host: Ruth Nyambura
Ruth was the perfect host for the evening. She kept the audience on their toes with sharp crowd work and improvised riffs that gave the night a tight-paced rhythm. Most of her material revolved around dating, which is expected since it’s a universal theme, but the way she set up running jokes and callbacks kept it fresh.
Her crowd interactions laid the groundwork for some of the later acts. A lot of what she pulled from the audience ended up feeding into the rest of the act, especially Bexta’s set.
What stood out was how disciplined she was with time. It’s easy for a host to hog the spotlight, but Ruth never overstayed her welcome between acts. Even when there were clear opportunities to stretch her material, she kept the energy high and the transitions smooth. Bits about Italian husbands, the Northern Bypass and parenting kept the crowd laughing, but she never let things drag.
Opening acts
There were three openers: George Waweru, Titus Mutai and David Macharia. Each bringing a totally different flavour to the table.
George Waweru: He kicked things off with a surprising, unpredictable set. He balanced wit and vulnerability without losing control of the room. His set was compact but covered a lot, starting with a light podcast joke, then kicked into gear with bits on mandamano, femicide, feminism and matatu experiences, fatherhood, dating apps, shirts vs sports and more. He covered a lot of ground, but landed it with a strong closing punchline that gave the set a neat arc.
Titus Mutai: He came in hot, full of energy. His set started with a bit around his name before he dove into weight issues in relation to life in Nairobi, proposals and work drama, and insensitive bosses. You could tell a lot of his material came from lived experience, which gave it an edge. He circled back to weight jokes with gym stories, then pivoted into marriage arguments and feminist encounters in Nairobi. He closed on bits about the pressure of comedy itself, which was a smart way of grounding the set.
David Macharia: He walked in dressed in all white, and his style is exactly what you expect from him, abrasive but clever. Kenyan comics like David and Amadeep have a way of pushing their material right to the edge, and David didn’t hold back.
He went from dating and new relationships to R. Kelly, then his accents, a bit on Nigerian got an interesting reaction, and even biblical bits about Abraham, David and the Holy Spirit. Some jokes made people uncomfortable, but he leaned into that discomfort and turned it into laughter. A self-aware moment, as his set came to an end saved some of the otherwise weaker bits.
Bexta: Then came Bexta, who lit up the room with so much energy that I swear he didn’t need a mic. His set was relentless; you barely had time to breathe. His material was tight, relatable, very funny and delivered at a fast pace. He went from the Rapture to algorithms to finding a happy place in relationships. Then he spun laziness into a hilarious, almost philosophical exploration of life, death, religion and eternity.
Some of his funniest moments were about the financial side of marriage and children. That became a running gag tied to a couple in the crowd, and it worked beautifully. He also weaved religion and ageing into the laziness bit without losing the audience. He utilised every minute of his stage time and left having perfectly set up the energy for the main act.
The main act: Robby Collins
Robby went up, drink in hand, and eased into the set with some light crowd work. Then he started with a bit about homeless people, poking fun at their street smarts and survival skills that involved some ingenious way of extorting money from people. From there, his material turned to events like the Grammys, which hilariously connected to Jay-Z, then shifted into observations about racism. Using the diversity of the room, he compared Kenya and Durban in a way that was both sharp and playful.
He touched on ageing, then delivered one of the night’s best bits around death, attention-seeking, and Trevor Noah.
What I appreciated was how he didn’t shy away from material that makes people squirm. He went into disability jokes, deaf people, disabled athletes and Paralympics swimming, and the audience felt that initial discomfort. But he flipped it, making people laugh at the even with lingering discomfort.
Robby kept changing gears. One moment he was provoking the audience with crowd work, the next, he was riffing about being robbed or diving back into disability jokes. The second half of his set went deeper, alcoholism, losing a friend, and closed with a very package story around dinosaurs.
If I had one gripe, it’s that I recognised a few bits I’d heard from him before. I was hoping for more new material, especially since he’s been in Kenya a few times. That said, his timing, presence and ability to stretch uncomfortable topics into laughter more than made up for it.
The night overall
Even with the madness of Friday night traffic, this turned into a genuinely entertaining evening. The pacing was tight, the lineup well-balanced, and the crowd diverse enough to handle all kinds of material.
At no point did the night feel like wasted time. Everyone, from George to the openers to Bexta to Robby, played their part in keeping the energy just right.
If you missed Come As You Are or just want more stand-up in your life, there’s plenty coming up. On October 3, Justine Wanda has Strong Dependent Woman. On October 4, Nelly Wangechi presents My Laugh Language with Ruth Nyambura and Jack Alita. On October 11, Siya Seya, another South African, will be performing in Nairobi. And mark your calendar for November 1, Bashir Halaiki is dropping his stand-up special, A Halaiki Stand-Up Special, at Alliance Française.
