Comedians in the Congo Are Taking Their Act to Funerals—and It’s a Sweet Relief (link added)

[Omaha Steve]

The country is notorious for violent conflict, but one troupe is helping grieving families turn tears into laughter.




(Photo: BBC/YouTube)

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/05/comedians-drc-funerals?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-07-06

JUL 5, 2015 David McNair is an award-winning reporter and editor based in Charlottesville, Va. He runs the hyper-local news site The DTM and his fiction has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review.


Even amid tragedy, there can be joy—at least that’s the encouraging message three young comedians are spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where major and minor conflicts in the troubled nation have claimed the lives of millions since the mid-1990s.

The three local actors—Junior Lamusasa Ekolo, Oliver Pindi Mikungu, and Rocher Libaku—who call themselves Les Papiers Mouchoirs, or “paper tissues,” are making appearances at funerals in an effort to help turn people’s tears into laughter while earning a livable income, the BBC reported.
“At first, it was difficult,” Ekolo told the BBC. “A lot of people were shocked to see us, but now what we do has become very important. Everyone prefers to have comedians.”

“Here in the Congo, there are funerals every day,” Libaku said. “And thanks to those funerals, I can feed my family.”

FULL story at link.

[Skittles]

1. link, please

[Omaha Steve]

2. Fixed

Thanks.

[Skittles]

3. awesome article

thank YOU!