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Kenyan comedy can be quite lazy sometimes. If it’s not playing into a tribal stereotype, it’s making callous jokes about ‘team light skin’ vs ‘dark skin’. I become skeptical when I hear a Kenyan show being described as comedy series because it can be exhausting  to watch this lack of creativity over and over again. However, when I  watched Fundi-mentals, my outlook on Kenyan comedy completely changed.

Gerald Langiri is the star in this movie. The setting is in Kinoo where his monopoly as the only fundi in the area is threatened when a bigger multinational sets up shop in the area. This is because the multinational is providing better and cheaper repair services. In this show, Gerald Langiri plays Joseph and Charlie Karumi plays  his clueless assistant.

Like many fundis, Joseph is incompetent and promises more than he can deliver. There is a particular scene in the movie that leaves me in tears. A client invites him to her house to fix her washing machine. On arrival, he asks for all manner of things including Ksh. 200 to buy a pack of cigarettes that he doesn’t smoke. The things he requests are supposed to help him do his best work. He wastes a lot of time before he gets to the actual repair work which he does shoddily. When he is done, he tells the client that the machine is fixed and it will even hang clothes by itself. When the machine is tested, it spews out all the clothes and he is kicked out of the house.

In order to maintain his clientele, Joseph thinks of a way in which he can offer an express service. He decides to make use of his ‘fundamentals’, providing a unique service to lonely housewives and single women for a hefty fee. He certainly becomes the best fundi in Kinoo because his range of services is unrivaled.

It’s funny to watch Joseph go about his job while trying to keep it a secret from his nagging wife played by Florence Nduta. The on-screen chemistry between these two is something you need to see. Their banter is also hilarious.

This movie had me laughing from start to finish. Gerald Langiri is effortlessly funny and the movie is a must watch.

Gerald Langiri has had roles in other movies such as Veve. His most notable work was in House Lungula. He also plays Nico in the drama series Stay. Here, he plays a comically clueless and loyal servant who hides a painful past behind his smile and easy going demeanour.

Stay, Veve and Fundimentals are available on Showmax. FYI: Fundimentals is rated 18+ so it’s not family friendly.

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