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Dignash tickles his listeners
25 October, 2005

GABORONE - It is extremely lucky families that have someone quite like him. Gabz FMs Michael "Dignash" Morapedi has a remarkable ability to make people laugh.

What makes him different from an ordinary comedian is his ability to talk in 15 different accents. He attributed this to his cross-cultural educational background and his good listening skills.

Dignash is your average city guy. He was born 34 years ago in Francistown, but his family relocated to Gaborone when he was two-years-old.

He said he has always had the talent to make people laugh, adding that he was a clown from as early as primary school. He only turned professional about five years ago.

He schooled at Thornhill Primary and Gaborone Secondary Schools. He later studied for an Institute of Marketing Management (IMM) through the University of London.

Dignash claims the title of undisputed champion of comedy in Botswana, but he says he has always wanted to be a lawyer.

"I have always wanted to be a lawyer but I think it was one of those situations where you say yeah! here is an opportunity so let me grab it.

"As you can imagine, it is every parents ambition to have their child pursue some form of a career or another and the main stream has always been law, economics, business and medicine." He said he was one of the people who flighted the RB2 pilot project and radio came naturally for him. " I took to radio like fish to water. I just clicked quite nicely." Dignash left the station after sometime to pursue other interests.

He is appreciative of the governments decision to free the airwaves, which resulted in the emergence of private radio stations: Yarona FM and Gabz FM.

Dignash describes his comedy as "contemporary comedy", noting that it tackles serious issues that affect the nation, but with an element of comedy so that listeners can digest and relate to it.

"People always remember things that are funny. There is always an underlining message in what I say, but I lace is with comedy so that it is not hard or too political.

Often people do not want to hear information that sounds like it is being read from a text book or they are being tutored. So my whole approach is to bring an element of comedy to some of the things I talk about, be it HIV/AIDS, politics, business, moral degradation or anything for as long as it has got to do with society." He said through comedy he has helped people solve issues that they never thought they could, citing a joke he made recently regarding size of the delegation that accompany President Festus Mogae on his overseas trips.

"My concern was the number of people who accompany the President. I was wondering whether they do not added value, because the dialogue was actually between the President and whoever he was meeting.

I suggested that he could be accompanied by maybe a special advisor and in some cases someone from the private sector." "They called and informed me that they are working on the issue. So just a couple of weeks ago there was an article in the Echo newspaper, saying they have reduced the number of people who accompany Mogae to three or four and not more than that." Dignash claimed that his listeners include Mogae and former president Sir Ketumile Masire when he is in the country. "Its a bonus to have the president listening to my show; it shows the type of audience I can attract." Dignash does not hesitate to call himself the best comedian in Botswana and he cited his recent show at Maitisong where he invited heavyweight South African comedians David Kau and Chris Forest to perform with him, so as to explore the international market.

"I feel I have reached the level I have always wanted as far as comedy is concerned. I feel I can take on the best, as I am not only the best in the country, but the only one." Dignash hosts a 3 p.m.-6 p.m. show called Dignah Live on Gabz FM on weekdays. He said his show is all about interacting with the listeners.

"The aim of my show is to add value to peoples lives and also to try and get an understanding of what really makes Gaborone tick.

"It is basically an interactive show, based on dialogue and I play all kinds of music, but not forgetting that we are an adult contemporary station." The most colourful part of Dignashs show is the: "We are now talking" segment where he calls people and pretend to be someone else.

Dignash released We are now talking, Volume 1 CD this year. He said the demand he had to reprint as demand is high. He added that plans are underway to release his second CD. BOPA  

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