Munya Chawawa is a viral Zimbabwean comedian and satirist based in the United Kingdom who use the news as comic inspiration. Though Munya had already built an audience before lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic sent his videos into virality, not only by giving him plenty of bizarre news lines to draw inspiration from, but by shutting everyone indoors and making online entertainment crucial.
The hilarity of Chawawa’s sketches lies in the incisive way that he re-imagines British names and institutions: take Craig Covid and his new coronavirus-themed banger Staying In, Grime star Wiley turned school tutor or Barty Crease as a parody of every BBC News reporter, well, ever. Now, the comedian just announced on twitter that Barty Crease is now officially a correspondent for Netfix UK. Congratulations Munya!
Pleased to announce that Barty Crease, my news character - is now the official correspondent for @NetflixUK ✨🗞✨
— Munya Chawawa (@munyachawawa) September 21, 2020
'Netflix News' is a show I've written & presented to showcase Netflix's best new releases. 🍿👀 Episode 1 here: https://t.co/kLqf94FD11 @netflix pic.twitter.com/SEs5WTlrtN
Comedy wasn’t always Munya Chawawa’s first choice of career and yet, his self-produced comedy sketches have been going viral throughout the UK’s tumultuous lockdown period, offering some light relief to all those stuck at home.
Satirising and poking fun at mass topics and popular subjects has become Chawawa’s MO, and nothing is off limits: the government’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis, the mainstream media’s coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests, or Katie Hopkins getting banned from Twitter to name a few.
27-year-old Chawawa grew up in Zimbabwe before moving to a small village in Norfolk with dreams of becoming a presenter. Aware of what charisma meant from a young age, he developed a taste for being on screen by sending home videos to his grandparents.
“I pursued presenting but found it really hard to break down that door. So I became a producer and scriptwriter,” Chawawa says. It’s something that’s allowed him to refine and sharpen his comedic writing. “I decided being a presenter wasn’t a million miles off from being a comedy performer,” he continues. “I gave it a try two years ago via my online sketches, and the third one I did went viral.”
“I ended up getting sidetracked and realising that I really enjoyed doing comedy sketches. That feels like my calling.”