Mammito Eunice

Eunice Wanjiru Njoki (born 18 September 1994), known as Mammito, is a Kenyan stand up comedian, actress, writer and mcee. She grew up in the slums of Kibera.

Mammito Eunice
Birth nameEunice Wanjiru Njoki
Born (1993-09-18) 18 September 1993
Nairobi, Kenya
Medium
  • Stand-up
  • television
Years active2015–present
Genres
Subject(s)
  • Everyday life

Early life and education

Mammito was born in Nairobi on September 18, 1993. She has never been able to know her father, and she does not know how it feels to have a father figure.[1] Her mother Nancy Njoki, a seamstress raised her single handed.[2] She grew up in the slums of Kibera.[3][4] She attended Laini Saba for primary education. Getting a meal alone, in these slums was quite a struggle.[5] Because life in the slums was challenging, her mother was a strict disciplinarian and did not allow her to play with the neighbour's children.[1]

Mammito joined Laini Saba Primary School in 2001 in Standard one. She sat for her KCPE in 2007. She then joined Gatero Girls High School, Nyahururu[3] in 2008 where she studied up to Form Three. In 2011 she changed school to Silanga Mixed Secondary School, Kibera where she sat her KCSE in 2011. She studied Community Development at Mount Kenya University.

At that time, she was involved in a lot of comedy, poetry and dance, which her aunt and mother disapproved of, saying it made her a joker.[3] With that, together with peer pressure setting in, she became rebellious and was sent to the village in Murang'a to stay with her grandmother. In Murang'a, she used to help her grandmother to sell school uniforms and other forms of clothes.[4]

Mammito later joined Mount Kenya University in 2015 where she studied and completed a Diploma in Community Development. At the university, she joined the drama group. During one of the talent shows, " I registered as a singer but when I stepped on the stage, I instead did stand-up comedy. The judges were so impressed that they gave me a standing ovation. It was at that moment that I knew what I wanted to be – a stand-up comedian."[6]She completed her course in 2016.

She got the name Mammito, from a clique of friends who used to call each other Mammito.[4]

Career

2015 - present

After university, Mammito started looking for a job as a social worker, but she failed to get one. She had never thought of doing comedy as a career. But after missing out on job opportunities, she auditioned for the Churchill Show.[3]. She failed to impress[6] a couple of times and would be sent away, only to be recalled because she lacked courage and stage presence despite her jokes being funny.[4] This continued until she was finally admitted.[3] in 2015.

In 2015 during her first open mic performance at the Churchill Show, she had so much stage fright.[6] that nobody laughed. "it’s like I was giving a speech, there was nothing but echo. There is even a time I forgot all my lines, I just looked blankly at the crowd and walked off stage, I was so embarrassed I just cried."[4]

In 2017, Mammito was scheduled to perform at the three day Kigali International Comedy Festival event in November.[7]

In 2018 Mammito took part in Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown television documentary as herself.[8] In June 2018, she performed at the Seka Festival Season 4 in Kigali. Rwanda.[9][10] In June 2018, She performed at the East Africa Comedy Show at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).[11] In December 2018, she returned to Rwanda to perform in the Evening of Laugh Comedy Show[10]

On 5 January 2019, Mammito headlined the Saturday Night Comedy at the Blues Restaurant in Nairobi.[12] Mammito performed at the 2019 Laugh Festival at the KICC.[13][14] On 2 August, she performed at the Queens of Comedy in Botswana.[15][16][17]

Personal life

Mammito has two siblings.[3] In 2018, she took a picture with Edwin Butita which led to speculations about her being pregnant with his baby.[18][19] She said she took that picture after having had lunch,[4] to explain the bulge.

She is a Christian.

Filmography

Television
Year Show Role Notes Network
2017 - present Churchill Show Herself NTV Kenya
2018 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Herself Season 12: Episode 1

References
  1. Okoth, Brian (27 January 2016). "#WCW: Confessions of comedienne Mammito; difficulty in relating with men is one". edaily. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. "Mammito |Kenyan Comedian- Biography, Age, Real names, Family, Photos". Life Issues in Kenya. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  3. Kamau, Richard (11 April 2016). "Everything You Need to Know About Churchill Show Comedienne Mammito". Nairobi Wire. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  4. Nyaga, Bonface (14 April 2019). "ONE ON ONE: Eunice Wanjiru Njoki aka Mammito". Daily Nation. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. Maina, Njange (31 October 2019). "Kibra's hall of fame: 10 stars who've made it in life". K24 TV. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. "EUNICE "MAMMITO" NJOKI Carving her niche in stand-up comedy". Parents Magazine Africa. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  7. Batamuriza, Natasha (1 November 2017). "Renowned Comedians To Grace The Kigali International Comedy Festival". Taarifa Rwanda. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" Kenya (TV Episode 2018), IMDb, retrieved 26 October 2019
  9. Akayezu, Jean De Dieu (10 March 2018). "Ibyamamare bya Afurika mu rwenya bizahurira I Kigali mu iserukiramuco rimaze umwaka ritegurwa" [Comedians from Africa to Meet in Kigali for a Festive that Has Been in Preparations for One Year]. Ukwezi (in Kinyarwanda). Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  10. Opobo, Moses (13 December 2018). "Comedy Knights in 'Evening of Laugh' comedy show". The New Times. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  11. Musungu, Nahashon (10 June 2018). "Kansiime loses her luggage but steals the show on comedy night". Nairobi News. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. Oneya, Faith (16 January 2019). "Kenya: Stand-Up Comedy Where No Topic Is Off Limits". Daily Nation. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. Nkurunzinza, James Peter (25 July 2019). "Rwandan comedian to perform at the 'Laugh Festival' in Nairobi". The New Times. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  14. Kagonye, Fredrick (29 July 2019). "'Wamlambez' dominates Laugh Festival". The Standard. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  15. Nokuthula (30 July 2019). "Queens Of Comedy Have The Best Medicine". TSWAlebs. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  16. "Major Moves Comedy Lines Up All Female Comics". Mining & Travel. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  17. Motimane, Ame (5 August 2019). "The Monitor :: Queens Of Comedy Warm Up Masa Audience". The Monitor. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  18. Monicah, Shanniq (24 January 2018). "Is Churchill's female comedian Mammito pregnant for Butita? - Evewoman". standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  19. Kerongo, Grace (3 October 2018). "Usitukane Wakunga! Pregnant Mammito causes panic when she goes into false labour (Video)". Classic 105. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
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