Hilarious Story Party show worth the hype

The audience enjoy a hearty laugh at the Story Party show that was staged on 8th August 2018 in Nairobi. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Rachman's sexually explicit jokes made three mortified ladies from the audience audience storm off.
  • He was a captivating storyteller who made even the most banal tales come off as rib-crackers.
  • Story Party might be coming back to Nairobi some time next year.

New York comedian and travelling storyteller, Rachman Blake, brought his Story Party tour to Nairobi on Wednesday, last week. It was based on failed relationships and dates.

Stand-up comedian Rachman shared the stage with Elena Gabrielle (Australia) and our very own Mammito at Kenya National Theatre's main auditorium.

The sold out show was a show unlike any I've been to. I've attended Churchill Show and their Laugh Festival laced with adult-themed jokes, but those jokes are tamely compared to what Story Party staged.

NO FILTER
Rachman took to stage for the opening act and within five minutes, three ladies who had occupied front row seats stormed out. You could easily tell that they were mortified by the comedian's candour and sexually explicit language. He had no filters, so to speak.

I had been assigned a "curtain raiser" story for the Story party even and therefore had a grasp of what to expect while attending the show.

It was an evening of laughter at the Story Party show. PHOTO| COURTESY

As I sourced for content for the pre-event write up, I came across videos showing the different places where Story Party had been staged. Rachman is on an ambitious mission to stage 300 shows this year across the globe.

To keep the performances fresh for each audience, very little on past shows has been aired in the public domain.

The few videos I could access in addition to Rahman’s Facebook wall that is dotted with nude pictures of himself braced me for the likelihood of sexual explicitly in the story party event.

The cringing aside, I found the show extremely hilarious. The talented vocalist, Elena sung a brazen song on how everybody else is getting it except her.

POOR SWAHILI
Rachman is a wonderful storyteller and you are likely to enjoy his stories as soon as you get accustomed to the foul language.

He related surprisingly well with the audience despite his few hours stay in the country. However, his attempt at Swahili was woefully below par.

He kept saying "Mombasa” in place of “mambo” and/or “sasa” despite the audience correcting him repeatedly. We were tickled.

Stand-up Comedian Rachman Blake. PHOTO| COURTESY

His narrative skills were simply captivating with plenty of gestures and carefully conveyed tonal variation. He made even the most banal tales come off as rib-crackers.

I caught a breather when Elena took the stage; I could not relate with most of her content, no offence. Mammito on the other hand had me doubling over hysterically with her hilarious act. Her constant references to our Kenyan ways had most of us howling with laughter.

CHARISMATIC
Rachman was a fantastic host, full of charisma and warmth. He stood right at the entrance of the auditorium and greeted the anticipative audience while showing them to their seats.

"I know many of you are surprised to see me up here. If you had known that it was me who was ushering you in, maybe you'd have been a lot kinder," he said on stage.

In his book "50 True Dating Stories, Rachman comments on why he interacts with his audience and writes: “That will make you feel better because it could have been worse."

The show lasted for two hours though I honestly wished it had lasted longer. Surprisingly, Kenya was not originally part of the tour and was slotted in last minute.

That is probably why we never got to hear any dating stories from the audience.

Besides the laughter, I found the show very informative and an opportunity to learn from the mistakes. Learning that at some point when things are not working in a relationship, walking away could be a viable option. Rachman is globetrotting hoping to make more and more people realise this very thing.

He promised to be back next year and I simply can’t wait. of other people.