Khumalo’s skits prove laughter is best medicine
‘Colleagues said I’m funny, that led me to comedy’
Clowning with his patients and colleagues has propelled a Johannesburg male nurse into instant social media stardom with a tendency of ruffling feathers on the TikTok app.
Mzwandile Khumalo, who goes by the name of Bagobe Sgobe on the app, has also discovered his other hidden talents, thanks to opportunities the ever growing digital world is creating. Today Khumalo is also an MC (master of ceremony), hosting a different kind of events since he broke into TikTok stardom.
As a nurse, Khumalo is part of Gauteng health department team staffing mobile clinics which visit informal settlements.
The Joburg-born star is currently fine-tuning his stand-up comedy skills and also working on his music, which he hopes to release soon, before he could consider going into entertainment fulltime.
TikTok has opened a new world and made him realise the many skills he possesses.
Khumalo has been making waves with his video recordings in Zulu and English. As Bagobe Sgobe, he has grown his following on the app and now has 400,000 followers and his videos had received 10 million views.
He says he is not receiving money for being a TikTok star, but he is grateful for the doors the platform has opened for him to get gigs.
“Since I started two years ago I have been getting hosting gigs and I discovered that I am good at it. I’m currently learning more about stand-up comedy and I am being mentored by one of the seasoned comedians, Zicco Sithole. I have realised that talking to people through a video is different from standing in front of them.
“I also want to explore music and will drop it before the year ends.”
Sithole believes that Khumalo has talent.
“I met him in one of my shows and I told him how the [stand-up] industry works.
“He comes from the TikTok side and I advised him on how to deal with a live audience.
“I’ve seen him doing standup comedy and I was impressed. He is becoming comfortable in front of audience.”
Khumalo, who is known for his famous line, “hey futhi
nina”, began his comedy on TikTok in 2020 during the hard lockdown.
It was not all funny from the word go for the 27-year-old, as his initial videos were ignored and he almost gave up.
“My colleagues always thought I was funny and that’s why they encouraged me to do comedy on TikTok.
“I was not into social media at the time, even though I had Twitter and Facebook accounts. Even the phone I used produced poor quality of videos and pictures.
“I started when President [Cyril] Ramaphosa banned alcohol. I made a video about it and no one viewed it. It hurt me a lot. I remember thinking maybe this TikTok thing was not for me.
“People told me that it starts like that with most people. I continued to post videos and what caught people’s attention was a video I posted about people failing school and not consulting prophets but do that when a relationship fails.
“From then people started viewing my videos.”
Khumalo sets himself apart by observes keenly what is happening in the society and turn that into content. His subjects are mostly experiences of his friends and relatives.
His content ranges from men who denyy paternity of their kids to challenges of being a stepfather.
In one of his popular videos, he argues that men over 32 shouldn’t be boyfriend anymore but be either be engaged or married.
His fame has also attracted enemies, some of whom have reported his account to be blocked. Khumalo says he is aware that men are offended by his content.
“I noticed that men hate me because they don’t want to be told the truth. Comments I got for the video about denying paternity were shocking.”