Fun Factory Uganda is a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n entertainment company based in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. It was founded in 2010, with its flagship product being sketch comedy. It also has branched into television shows and

event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

. FFU's cast are trained at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

School of Liberal and Performing Arts. Their products include ''Comedicine'', ''U-Turn'', and ''Mizigo Express''.

History

Founding

Fun Factory Uganda got its start when fourteen members of Theatre Factory had a misunderstanding with the group's administration and broke away to form their own troupe on 5 January 2010, leaving only two members in the original Theatre Factory group.

2010–2019: The hustle begins

FFU's inaugural show was on 14 January 2010, performing at Pan World parking lot. They then proceeded to perform weekly on the same days and times that they used to at the National Theatre, where they attracted many youth and other fans. With an ever-growing audience, the management of the parking lot increased the group's rent, causing them to shift to the Hotel Africana poolside. After a few months, they had a disagreement with the hotel management, and had to relocate again, this time to Cinema Plaza. However, things were more challenging there, so they decided to search for a new location. They finally came to a mutual understanding with the National Theatre.

''Comedicine''

''Comedicine'' is a

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

created by FFU that has aired on a weekly basis. since inception of the group, except the first weeks of 2018. The show's success attracted soft drink brand

Mirinda Mirinda is a brand of soft drink originally created in Spain in 1959 and now owned by PepsiCo with global distribution. Its name comes from the Esperanto translation of "admirable" or "amazing". It is available in many fruit varieties, like ora ...

to partner with Fun Factory in the regional Mirinda Comedy tour in 2014.

Guest appearances

* Daniel Omara * Akite Agnes * Okello Okello * Patrick Salvador Idringi * Don Andre

End-of-year shows

Fun Factory Uganda has been hosting an end-of-year show called ''Five Star Madness'' since 2014. 2014 - ''Five Star Madness'' 2015 - ''Five Star Madness'' 2016 - ''Five Star Madness'' 2019 - ''Five Star Madness''

''U-Turn''

''U-Turn'' is a television show filmed and produced from live shows that take place every Thursday. Originally, it was called ''Barbed Wire'', under Theatre Factory, but when the members formed Fun Factory, they recreated the show and renamed it. In 2012, ''U-Turn, was voted as the second best locally produced show on TV. Following an annual survey by

Synovate Synovate was a market research company with more than 100 offices in 62 countries. It was acquired by Ipsos in 2011 which combined to be the third largest in the world. Company history Synovate was one of the largest firms specializing in custo ...

, ''U-Turn'' was the most watched entertainment TV show in Uganda. This prompted Mirinda, the show's sponsor, to come to an agreement and air ''U-Turn'' on NBS So, in 2015, U-Turn started airing on NBS TV.

''Mizigo Express''

''Mizigo Express'' is a sitcom produced by Fun Factory. It premiered on 3 October 2018.

Discography

* ''Yambala Mask'' * ''Weekume Weka''

Filmography

Awareness campaigns

* April 2015 – ''Comedicine'' was used in an awareness campaign when FFU partnered with the Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU), in order to encourage people to register to vote. * April 2015 – Raised 2 million shillings from the show ''Organised Chaos'' to help with treatment of Rosemary Nankabirwa, a former news anchor with NTV Uganda.

References

{{reflist

External links

Fun Factory Uganda on Facebook

Fun Factory Uganda on YouTube
Entertainment companies based in Uganda Television sketch shows Television series based on comedy sketches 2010s sitcoms Ugandan comedy television series