Timothy Kimani alias Njugush wishes he had loved himself more when he was younger.
In an interview with Standard’s Sunday Magazine, the funnyman said not doing so is his biggest regret.
“Depression stinks and many do not understand it. And the sad thing is that many don’t understand it. People see you turn to alcohol and think that the alcohol is what caused the depression, yet the reverse is true.”
About two months ago, the online comedian lost a cousin to depression. And this, he said, has been the worst moment of his life.
“We waste so much time partying with people who would not care if anything happened to you and neglect the people who would be there for you in any circumstances.
“If I could give advice to my younger self, I would say to love myself more. Not doing so is my biggest regret. I wish I had loved myself more. I always cared about other people more than me. You waste so much time, money and emotions on people who do not even care about you. I always wonder what I could have achieved if I had loved myself more back then,” said Njugush.
The comedian is also learning to say No; “I used to find it difficult to say NO, so I would end up getting overwhelmed.”
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Njugush and his wife Celestine Ndinda aka Wakavinye have the most loyal following on social media and YouTube for their funny videos. However, it was not all rosy when they started out.
“I had just left the Real Househelps of Kawangware show. I had no idea what to do. We got broke. We had been given a fridge during our wedding and we were using as a cupboard because we had no food to put in it. We were jobless, and we came up with this idea to record some funny videos and post them on our social media platforms.”
“Someone offered to pay us for a series of videos. I could not believe that I could actually get paid to do that. So I sold my 32-inch TV for sh15,000, hired a camera, borrowed a laptop, learned editing online and shot the videos, only for the person to say that the client was no longer interested. I was crushed.
“We realised that if one person was willing to pay, even if the money was not paid, we could make some money out of it from other people.”
“While our days of struggling are a distant memory, I have this niggling fear of failure. That is what drives me. The thought of someone in future coming and asking, ‘what happened? You used to be so successful!’
Njugush Could Have Been a Pilot
“I wrote to Titus Naikuni who was the CEO of Kenya Airways when I was in high school as they had announced scholarships for needy bright students to study aviation. The thing is, I’m not sure if the letter ever got to him but clearly, it seems it did not, otherwise I would not be here. I gave it to a Kenya Airways driver who was picking up cabin crew from the neighbourhood.
When no call or email from Titus Naikuni came, he decided to try his hand at theatre, something he had always been interested in. His first gig earned him 500 shillings.
“I had incurred Sh7000 in debts in two months of going for rehearsals, and then we got that. It was so disappointing! Then that night we got back to Nairobi at 1am and there were no matatus to my place and cab fare was Sh3000. I spent the night with a watchman,” he told Sunday Magazine.
The comedian also spoke about his love life, his son and fears about his future. Read the full interview HERE
