Kenyan comedian Njambi McGrath’s first stand up comedy gig was a disaster. In a half empty club in London, her audience was as ill at ease with her jokes about Africa as she was delivering them. McGrath persevered, in part, because of her upbringing in Kenya. "When you grow up in Africa you see people in much, much more difficult situations than you could ever be in and they just keep going,"Three years later, the thirtysomething is making a name for herself in an industry few black African women have successfully cracked. One of a rising number of African-born comedians making waves in the UK, McGrath says the shock of seeing how the continent was portrayed when she moved to England three years ago encouraged her to use a comic touch to raise serious issues. I met up with her at the Belfast Out To Lunch festival after she performed her show “One Last Dance With My Father”. The show is more than just a stand up show touching on subjects like abortion, domestic violence and the social consequences of a colonial past. It was a pleasure to chat with her. She is such a strong survivor and a courageous woman.
