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Entertainment Editor

Should we compare them with Hollywood acting couple Mr and Mrs Smith?

Their exploits are in sync and a good thing about these comedians is that they focus on themed events if not working on advertorial promotions.

Meet Runako Makamure and David Kanduna of the Runako Tales skits.

The only difference with Mr and Mrs Smith is that they are not action heroes, but rather laughter heroes.

Watching their skit on social media, besides laughing out loud, one becomes a hero by learning one or two things.

In all that, the couple was not shy to say social media skits were paying off as they had managed to sustain their livelihoods.

They are celebrating a milestone after reaching more than 100 000 followers on social media after positing more than 100 skits.

In an interview with The Herald Arts, actress and  comedienne Makumure, who started solo, then later engaged her friend theatre practitioner David, who acts as Dave, said they were now aiming for television series.

“We don’t have episodes, but we have done over 100 skits up to date as Dave and Runako,” she said. “We sometimes run different series for different projects, for example “Musha Mukadzi,” which was a series on a young couple and “A little Hope” which was about a young couple fighting mental health, this was supported by Dream Town and House of Arts organisations.

“We do have plans to grow big, in fact furthering my passion for acting through television. I am just waiting for the right opportunity for now.” Makamure said their main aim on all skits was about fun.

“Our skits are mostly for fun,” she said. “I am a busy person since I have an everyday job. I use the chance that I get to serve people with comic relief. I earn sometimes, but with time if I grow bigger perhaps by getting a role for a commercial television, theatre show or an independent film, I could consider acting for money.”

Makamure said besides having their professional jobs, they use social media as a platform where they can earn a living from creating content.

“Clean content,” she interjects, “clean content requires support from the audience for the creators to be motivated and also get gigs since monetisation might be difficult for most Zimbabwean creators.” Makamure said her new partner had a passion for performing and entertaining.

“He has a good work ethic and we manage to have fun while also putting in work,” she said. “We met through a mutual friend, who introduced us to each other.”

Makamure said besides earning a living with the skits, there were a lot of challenges in their sector.

“Yes, just like any other profession we also face challenges,” she said. “One of the biggest is financial constraints. It is not yet rewarding to sustain a good life like in Nigeria, South Africa or even Hollywood, but we are happy we can do ABC with the little we have.

“What motivates us is the reason we even started. I try to view our skits as a way for us to influence and educate people in marriages, share a laugh and maybe save one or two people from depression.” Makamure once caused a stir on social media because of her perceived beauty.

“I love acting and during the first days people would doubt my capabilities because they thought being beautiful means one should not act in dramas or comedy,” she said. “I choose this life because of who I am.”

Makamure said their skits were centred on societal issues, all wrapped in a comic way.

“We, however, are flexible as we have characters like Mr Abuja that represents the ghetto youths,” she said. “It started off as fun, but due to the ever growing following we started getting advertisers and we have worked with a number of organisations in their marketing campaigns and we recently have developed a team to help in the execution of adverts whenever needed.”

Makamure said they had worked with Zhou Media House in some of the projects.

“By the way, we are Christians and whatever we post on that page is usually to drive dialogue towards a certain area,” she said. “I usually upload videos with gospel songs on Sundays to minister the word and also play my part as a Christian under the Z.C.C church.

“I love my church, but I try not to say much about my church so as not to make people think I am stereotyping, so basically it ends with just a uniform.”

Asked about competition since now there were a lot of comedians on social media, with some losing relevance, Makamure said she did not feel intimidated.

“I don’t actually feel any competition,” she said. “I do this for fun and educating people about certain life problems, so even if I were to get 60 views that’s more than enough because at the end of the day someone got my message.

“My mother is my role model. Yesteryear and past day’s events inspire me because they teach me not to repeat the same mistakes. My parents inspired me in my life. They faced so many problems in life, but they never gave up, good thing they never fought in front of their kids.”

Kanduna has written, directed and produced several films and theatre projects, including acting in “Muzita Rababa”, “Maoko Matema” and “Kuchina the Genesis” among others. He said acting was his calling.

“I think I started working on notable productions in 2014,” he said. “What inspired me to act was the need to escape reality and get to be in someone’s shoes.”

“It was good to get to see the world in another person’s lenses. Acting has helped me harness emotional intelligence, improve interpersonal skills and live a much happier life.”

Commenting on the local comic sector, Kanduna said; “People are creating amazing content out there and some have started making a decent living from the content and are also evolving in their content, but there is still a great need to collaborate and educate each other in order to build an actual industry and feed into the film industry.”