Comedy joy

Kristian Hafunda Yambeulu Hafunda Jr, popularly known as Kris with the ‘K’ in the comedy sphere, has been steadily making a name for himself one joke and one laugh at a time. The comedian is well known for his quirky, sharp and witty puns about everyday life situations.He credits himself as a visionary and likes to explore places in order to get content for his stand-up comedy stints. “I am a lot of things, ‘a visionary’, I love exploring and finding things that I think would make my life easier in the future, like acquainting myself with people that I believe have beautiful visions and are optimists too,” shared Hafunda.He grew up in Oshakati but moved to Windhoek at a young age and says ever since he moved to the capital he has been a headache for his parents. “Growing up in such a city, you go through a lot, like other kids. I would leave the house at 09:00 to explore and meet up with others and come back home around 23:00 or 00:00 knowing there is a beating waiting for me. But, I would still do it the next day, until my guardians gave up on giving me physical discipline. For me, going out was very beneficial because I made a lot of friends,” recalls Hafunda.He says he maintained his good looks and great English when his mom moved to Ohangwena Region and that where the comedian completed his secondary school. “When I was 11 my mom moved to Okongo Yeengulu and I went to live with her there, and before I went there I was very handsome (light skin with good hair) speaking nice English. Some ladies say I still look nice to date. It’s in Okongo where I attended my high school at Oshela SSS and not a lot of people speak English in Okongo. I learnt to blend in by speaking Oshiwambo but still maintained using English. I saved it for a rainy day,” joked Hafunda.Hafunda is a media student at the University of Namibia (Unam) and majored in broadcasting and drama. “I am doing my Honours degree in Arts and Media studies, majoring in broadcasting and Drama as the second major at the University of Namibia,” shared Hafunda.The comedian says he has perfected his storytelling abilities and humour in comedy through observation and studying his surroundings at all times. “I am very observant, when I see something interesting I try to combine it with humour and it works perfectly for me. I don’t try sometimes it’s just like God opens up my brain cap and pours some funny stuff in there. Even though it comes easy to me, I make sure I put in the work to try and reach perfection,” said Hafunda. The modern-day jester says he makes fun of almost everything besides politics because he likes to mind his own business. “I joke about everything that includes race, gender, household-related issues, religion, entertainment and education but I am not really into politics. I just love minding my own business because I think it’s good for my health. Some of my best jokes I did on stage revolve around the gay community and being broke. It is best if you watch me do them than just say them,” said Hafunda.The comic has been making jokes professionally now for three years after he joined the only platform for comedians in Namibia called Free Your Mind in 2014. “I attended Free Your Mind comedy rehearsals and shows for a whole year, trying to find who I am and if that is what I really wanted to do, because I didn’t know much about comedy. Slick The Dick, Popyeni Kaxuxwena, and Ndemufayo Kaxuxwena, and other Free Your Mind comics helped me to understand. I finally broke through, in 2015 that’s when I first got on stage and performed at University of Namibia,” shared Hafunda. Soon after performing at the Free Your Mind show, the young comic started seeing traction in his career and even won a few awards along the way and he performed outside the country. “In 2015 I took part in a competition organised by Free Your Mind called the Last Comic Standing and I was the runner-Up of the six comics and at the end of the year, I was crowned with a trophy as the Free Your Mind Best Newcomer, Comic of the Year, and went on tour to perform in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It was quite an adventure,” said Hafunda.The comic plans on having his one-man stand-up comedy show later this year and remained tight-lipped saying it is going to be a huge show for his career. “On 1 September I will be having my first one-man show at the University of Namibia, with all the details still to be revealed,” said Hafunda.He encourages aspiring comedians to have the passion and confidence for comedy if they want to make a career and living out of making jokes. “Have a reason why you really want to do comedy, have specific audience that you want to perform for and what kind of comedy do you want to do. You need to have confidence too and always be well prepared before going on stage, because most of the people coming to watch you don’t care about your excuses, they just want the quality show that suits the money they have spent,” said Hafunda.He says one major stumbling block for him as a comic is financial support and backing that is needed for him to fulfil the goals he has for his comedy career. “Finance is a major problem. We do not have a lot of people in Namibia that support comedy financially. What level of confidence do you think a comic will have when they want to make their own show and bring humour to the people but know they are not being backed up financially?” questioned Hafunda.The comedian says he has a lot planned for 2018 and hopes he can share his world with those that enjoy his comedy. “What is next? All I can say if you want to witness something big by Kris with a ‘K’, you have to wait for 2018 because I have something big under construction,” said Hafunda.Shona Ngava

Comedy joy

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Comedy joy

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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