Comedy fans in Wadiwa Wepamoyo frenzy

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By Trevor Makonyonga

The new Youtube series Wadiwa Wepamoyo produced by local content creators, College Central has bagged a huge following in the country.

In the series a lovestruck teenager, Man Tawa courts a girl of his dreams, Noku with the advise of his best friend and football manager, Biko.

Wadiwa Wepamoyo is not the only series to be followed religiously by locals as also productions like PaGhetto and Bustop TV skits have managed to do well without airing on local television.

It is Wadiwa Wepamoyo, however, which has struck a huge iceberg as most people want to watch the production’s episodes as they are premiered. Some internet users have changed usernames taking names of characters in the drama series.

Social media handles like Biko’s Bae, Noku Man Tawa and Sis Shami to mention a few have been adopted by avid lovers of the series. The Wadiwa Wepamoyo tide has not been silenced by the storm created by Netflix’s Money Heist which recently premiered it’s season 4.

It is critical to realise if all this frenzy is warranted for or people are just making noise because of the lack of local quality productions elsewhere.

In all fairness, Wadiwa Wepamoyo is not a wow production and could be even referred to as average. It has gross similarities to Rumbi Katedza’s The Team which was on ZTV some years ago. However there is a certain spark that is in the series. This spark is what made local yesteryear comedy Gringo a hit. The casting is on point. In Gringo, there was a character, John Banda which was a delight to watch. John Banda brought life to Gringo with comic scenes that complimented the series well. The same can be said about Dread Welly Wemaplan on Studio 263. These effortless comics breathed life to the series’. In Studio 263, Dread Welly would just bring life to dry episodes on the soap. What Wadiwa Wepamoyo has that is unique from these series is that there are two serious comics and one who is subtle but very good in her acting.

Scenes with the two outstanding comics, Biko and Sisi Shami, have unmatched energy that can’t be drawn in comparison to any other scene. And then Noku comes in with a lazy and laid back flavour to the drama. Biko’s ability to lead a scene would make every actor around him feel comfortable and relaxed. The same goes for Sis Shami, she can switch from strict to jovial in an instant which makes the show interesting to watch. As for the rest of the cast, they are just basic actors. Collectively as a team, they have managed to do well that is why the nation loves them.

Despite expensive data tarrifs, people still manage to watch this show weekly as new episodes premier. This should be some message to the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to open up the waves. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) has been solo in this dance for so long and has been struggling to tangle alone on the now huge dancefloor.

Such productions deserve to be watched by most people in the comforts of their homes at prime time. It was good to see many adverts on Episode 7 which shows that production is monetized.

Art needs support, if Wadiwa Wepamoyo gets the much needed support it will move from what this article referred to as not a wow production and an average show to being Zimbabwe’s biggest ever show. The potential is there to surpass Studio 263 and the first seasons of Estate Blues which were hits at the turn of the century.

With such a huge mark, Wadiwa Wepamoyo, is probably the best news for Zimbabwe in 2020 taking over from Ivan Bakke’s Paghetto which was a hit in 2019.