Lucy Mwende Kariuki is one of the newer faces of Kenyan comedy whose appearances in both Churchill Show and Churchill Raw have made her a household name.
Popularly known by her stage name, ‘Kayellow Yellow’, Ms Mwende journey to the top has not been easy. In a video released on social media, the mother of one said she worked as a house help in Saudi Arabia for about three years.
“While I was in Saudi Arabia, I used to do short clips. I did not know that mimi naweza kuchekesha watu kama nimeshika Mic. So mimi nilikuwa nafanya short clips na Kasimu kangu, naweka kwa mtandao, watu wanafurahia,” she said.
Kayellow yellow revealed that her fans on Facebook used to request Daniel Ndambuki aka Churchill to recruit her in his comedy platform.
“I did not believe in myself but when I came back home, kwa bahati mzuri nikakuta kuna hii mashindano ya Ultimate Comic. Nilipita na ni kafurahia sana,” she said.
When asked about challenges she has gone through, Mwende said there were times she contemplated quitting.
“Kuna mahali kwa comedy nilikua nimefika nikasikia nikama naweza acha, mpaka nikaanza kujiuliza ama I’m not funny. Coz nikianza kuna auditions nilikua nimeenda. Hadi nikachoka,” she said.
Mwende also tried her hand at theater acting, specifically set books. “Nakumbuka kuna siku nilikua naenda auditions za set books. Kuna yenye nilichukuliwa then nikasomeshwa kitabu nikashika yote but wakati wa kuchaguliwa, niikambiwa kulikuwa na watu wengi so wewe, utafanya ya next time.”
Now, Mwende has big dreams of being an international comic and film producer.
“Nataka nikuwe wa kwanza kuperform an international English comedy with an accent. I also want to have my production company. Nikuwe naproduce vipindi mkuwe mnaona kwa screen Produced by Lucy Mwende.”
