By Ahmad Muto
Ahead of his Africa Laughs show set for London this June, comedian Patrick Salvado Idringi told The Kampala Sun that at this point in his career, he has built a solid brand that he can charge sh100,000 for ordinary tickets to his shows.
The Africa Laughs show will have standard tickets going for £27.50 (sh130,000) and VIP will go for £50 (sh250,000), which, by local standards, is a lot for tickets.
However, Salvado argued that for London, the price was informed by their thriving economy, and his is one of the cheapest shows there.
“Sh130,000 and sh250,000 are wild down here (Uganda), but there (London), the economy is good. Actually, we have some of the cheapest shows. Where I have reached now, I can charge sh100k for Africa Laughs, ordinary tickets,” he said.
Salvado’s last Africa Laughs show in October 2022 at the Kololo Airstrip was sh50,000 for ordinary tickets.
Salvado, who is the host of the show, also told The Kampala Sun that he manages to assemble star-studded line-ups for his shows because with his colleagues, besides having credible stage chemistry, they show up for each other free of charge.
“I am the host and the guys on the line-up are those I have performed with before. So, I know how good they are. I have a vibe with them and it is not about money. Most of my shows, when I bring these guys, it’s pro bono.
“I perform in their country, and when I need them, they come to my country. That is why I can afford to have all of them,” he revealed.
Salvado’s line-up has Kenya’s Eric Omondi, Zimbabwe’s Alfred Kainga, South Africa’s Thenjiwe, and Malawi’s Daliso Chaponda.
Meanwhile on Instagram, he wrote that he had planned to storm London for a while and after close to a decade, he decided to pursue his dream.
“In life you gotta follow your heart. I dreamt of this for a long time, having my own show in the UK. I’ve been building the Africa Laughs brand back here at home for 7 years, and I’m so proud to say I think it’s getting there, the dream is coming alive, together with my UK partner @akinlolujekins we are believing .. June 11th we are in London, 12th in Manchester … this is a show I prophesy is going to be a must watch in the near future.”
Then for his Kampala audience, Salvado is set for August:
“…to all the support I’m getting this far I say thanks .. if you believe it, you can achieve it .. Kampala we shall have a mega one in August.”
