Kansiime Kubiryaba Anne (born 13 April 1986) and popularly known as Anne Kansiime, is a Ugandan entertainer, comedian, and actress. She has been referred to as "Africa's Queen of Comedy" by some African media outlets.

Background and education

She was born in Mparo in present-day

Rukiga District Rukiga District is a district in Western Uganda. Its capital is Mparo. However, the largest urban center in the district is Muhanga. Location Rukiga District is bordered by Ntungamo District to the east, the Republic of Rwanda to the southeast, ...

, in the Western Region of Uganda. At the time of her birth, Mparo was part of

Kabale District Kabale District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. Kabale hosts the district headquarters. It was originally part of Kigezi District, before the districts of Rukungiri, Kanungu, Kisoro, Rubanda and Rukiga and were excised to form sepa ...

. Her father is a retired banker, and her mother is a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. Kansiime attended Kabale Primary School. For her O-Level and A-Level education, she studied at

Bweranyangi Girls' Senior Secondary School Bweranyangi Girls' Secondary School is a girls-only boarding middle and high school in Bushenyi District in the Western Region of Uganda. Location The school campus is located on Bweranyangi Hill (elevation:) in the southern suburbs of the town ...

Bushenyi Bushenyi is a town in Western Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of Bushenyi District and the district headquarters are located there. The district is named after the town, in keeping with the practice in most of the districts in the country. Locat ...

. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from

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 ...

Career

Beginning in 2007, while still an undergraduate at Makerere University, Kansiime began to participate in drama skits acted by the theatre group ''Theatre Factory'', who played at the Uganda National Theatre 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 ...

's central business district. When Theatre Factory disintegrated, she joined Fun Factory, that replaced it. The group plays every Thursday evening. The best skits were broadcast on NTV Uganda in the ''Barbed Wire'' TV show that later became ''U-Turn''. She partnered with Brian Mulondo as a Taxi interview conductor in the ''MiniBuzz'' series and provided comic video dramatizations of topical issues that random passengers discussed. According to recorded interviews that she gave in 2014, Anne began posting some of her sketch comedy skits on YouTube. She received positive feedback and that encouraged her to post more videos. Her screen breakthrough came when

Citizen TV Citizen TV is a Kenyan free-to-air news television channel owned by Royal Media Services and broadcasting mostly in English and Swahili. It was started in 1999 and relaunched in June 2006. News and programs Citizen TV airs a variety of genre ...

from neighboring

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

offered her a slot to produce, star and present a comedy show once a week. That is how she came up with the Don't Mess With Kansiime comedy show. As of November 2014, her YouTube channel had amassed more than 15 million views. Her YouTube videos receive thousands of views and she has appeared on BBC Focus on Africa. She has played to packed houses in Blantyre, Gaborone, Kigali, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Lilongwe, London, Lusaka and Harare.

Other considerations

Even amongst various acting commitments, Kansiime has continued performing and touring as a standup comedian. Kansiime's comedy style tends to focus on aspects of her personal life. "I like talking about things that are going on in life, because that's always going to be different and original," she says. She is married to Gerald Ojok, a native Acholi. In Nov 2017, there were rumours that she divorced her husband. They have no children, as of February 2015. At that time, she was in the process of compiling an album of Children's songs, which she intends to release later in 2015.

Filmography

Awards

* Honorary recognition by the SIIKETV Rising Star Academy Awards, the "Queen of Comedy" 2018 * Comedy YouTube Sub-Saharan Africa Creator Award 2016 * Outstanding Female Comedian 2016 * Teeniez Funniest Comedian 2016 * African Entertainment Awards USA, Best Comedian's Award 2015 * Rising Star – Comedian of the Year 2015 * African Oscar Award for favorite comedian 2015 * Nollywood & African People's Choice Award for favorite comedian 2015 * YouTube silver play button 2015 * AIRTEL Women of Substance Awards 2014 * BEFFTA 2013 (Best Comedian) Winner * Lagos International Festival 2013 (Best Actress) Winner * Social Media Awards (Favorite Celebrity) winner * African Social Awards Malaysia (ASAM) – 2013

Charity

Anne Kansiime through her charity organisation, The Kansiime Foundation, supports needy but bright children by keeping them in school. She now supports over 35 children both in Primary and Secondary school.

Business

Anne Kansiime is also into leisure business. She runs Kansiime Backpackers and it is located on the shores of lake Bunyonyi, conveniently overseeing the lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District, Uganda.

References

External links

Official Website

Anne Kansiime on YouTubeKansiime Backpackers

The Kansiime Foundation

Keeping Up with Kansiime

Kansiime Anne’s London interview on The Sporah Show (VIDEO)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansiime, Anne 1986 births Living people Makerere University alumni 21st-century Ugandan actresses Ugandan writers Ugandan women comedians People from Rukiga District People from Western Region, Uganda Ugandan YouTubers People educated at Bweranyangi Girls' Senior Secondary School Ugandan stage actresses