PATRICK ‘TIKI’ CHIROODZA – THE MASTER OF SILENT COMEDY 

 

MEET PATRICK ‘TIKI’ CHIROODZA, THE MASTER OF SILENT COMEDY 

How Tiki Made People Laugh Without Saying a Word

 

By Kamangeni Phiri    15/03/2023

WELL before the World knew Mr Bean, a celebrated comedian character who can make people laugh without saying a single word, Zimbabwe had the legendary Tiki in the 1970s.

The two masters of silent comedy have a couple of things in common. They were only known by their surnames and lacked a first name. Both actors would be well-dressed and pretend to be intelligent while doing foolish things in a humorous manner that ended up causing problems for others.

But that’s all there is to it.

While British actor Mr Bean, real name Rowan Atkinson, has made millions of British pounds out of his “foolishness”, our own Tiki gained nothing except fame from his rib-cracking antics.

Perhaps his misfortune of low pay was encapsulated in his screen name, Tiki. The name was derived from a Rhodesian coin, tickey, which was a very small sum of money.

“A tickey was about three cents and it was popular with kids. One could buy a fizzy drink and three plain buns with it,” the veteran actor told Drewmas Media journalist, Andrew Neshamba in his online programme, Another Level.

Tiki was a sectoral hero who dominated the canvass screen from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when the Rhodesian film industry was still in its infancy. He was the major drawcard for the Rhodesian Ministry of Information’s Mobile Film Unit whenever they wanted to gather blacks and relay critical information to them.

It was shown in open spaces at a time when the majority of locals had no access to movie houses and had neither television nor radio sets in their homes. The white canvass would be mounted in between two poles or trees while the film, known as a bhaiskopo (bioscope) by locals, was beamed from a projector mostly mounted on a Land Rover bonnet. An accompanying running commentary would come from a loudspeaker or hailer.

At times the film would be shown at a local school. The target audience was blacks in rural communities and high-density suburbs, known then as African townships. 

The Adventures of Tiki was very popular wherever it was shown as locals were delighted to see one of their own on the screen. The role was first played by Andrew Kanyemba, then later on by Patrick Chiroodza who featured in most episodes.

The retired actor reminisced over the old days when local journalists visited him at his rural home last year.

“The Tiki films were very popular,” he told online presenter cum producer, Andrew Neshamba of Drewmas Media. “If they were not included at any showing people would choose to stay away.”

Chiroodza became the most popular African actor in Rhodesia yet not many of his fans knew his voice. He takes his time when speaking which he does with a deep voice whose intonation is reminiscent of the late former President, Robert Mugabe.

Chiroodza was so good at bringing the character Tiki to life that it became difficult to separate the character from the man and vice-versa.

He was so funny that he was loved by all ages, the youth and the old alike.

“The main purpose of the film was to gather people in one place so that the colonial government would send ‘important’ messages to the locals. They used the films to gauge what people wanted or were thinking. Ironically, people ended up enjoying silent films and showing more interest in them than in whatever important programme the regime would be trying to unpack. I gained fame in the process and my name kept growing as a brand. Eventually, I became a household name,” said Chiroodza in his deep voice.

However, the local film industry was still in its infancy in the 60s and 70s and Chiroodza was still young and naïve.

Patrick Chiroodza was born on 28 November 1950. He is the firstborn child of Nicholas Chiroodza and was an only child for many years.

“I later had many siblings, too many to count but I remain an only child from my mother’s side,” he said.

He started acting in 1963 at the age of 12 while still a primary school pupil. Chiroodza attended the local Chogugudza Primary School where he did his Sub A and B.

Patrick transferred to Harare for his Standard One and was enrolled at Kuwangira Primary School, near Mushandira Pamwe Hotel in Highfields. He was staying with his mother.

“I was resident in Harare since 1959 and witnessed the construction of Mushandira Pamwe Hotel, Gwanzura Stadium and Machipisa Beer hall. I was staying with my maternal uncle who was an agriculture extension officer,” said Chiroodza.

In 1963 when he was doing standard five, he transferred to Mupinyuri Primary School in Guruve where he spent a year. He then applied for a boarding place without his guardian’s knowledge. Chiroodza was offered a boarding place at St Phillips Magwenya School where he did standard six, form one and two. Secondary school went up to form two those days and Patrick went back to Harare.

In Harare, he got a job at the industrial site in 1969.

“Those days you did not have to apply for a job. You were approached by employers because there were so many job opportunities. But the salaries were pathetic, they were hand to mouth. That was our way of life,” Chiroodza intimated.

Patrick’s breakthrough came in 1970 when he was tipped by his uncle, Alexander Mutyambizi, about the Tiki auditions which were held close to the Kopje area in the capital (then Salisbury). He impressed the producer, Catherine Elseworth.

Chiroodza’s career in silent comedy began on March 3, 1970.

“It was all comedy, rehearsal after rehearsal. No talking except for instructions. It was all action no words. There were many such films at the time, the likes of Charlie Chaplin. To us, it was a new experience. No one was experienced in film acting. The local film industry was still very sleepy. It seemed the main objective was just to entertain people. The films were designed to help people forget their challenges and use comedy as a relief to their everyday lives,” he said.

The talented actor was featured in 11 short films as the main character. Some of the episodes he acted in are Tiki the waiter, Tiki learns to drive, Tiki and the stolen suitcase and Tiki and the pot plant.

He used to act together with Offson Nyaungwa and Josephine Gonzo.

Chiroodza says he was paid Rhodesian $10 after every shooting for playing the role of Tiki. At best, the money could buy a pair of shoes, trousers and a shirt.

Tiki, the village head of Chiroodza Village in Domboshava, is now a small-scale animal husbandry farmer specializing in piggery and poultry.

He might have been famous in the 1970s and 1980s but Chiroodza has nothing to show for his contributions, unlike his counterparts in Europe and the US, the likes of Rowan Atkinson who is said to be worth $150million and the late Charlie Chaplin who died US$400 million richer in 1977.

He never signed any contract, a development that denied him earning a lot through royalties since his productions were watched all over the country many times.

At the time, however, Tiki did not feel like he was being underpaid or abused.

“What I was paid was dependent on what I would have asked my employer to give me. Usually, it is the employer who decided what the worker gets as pay. It is only in retrospect that I may feel I could have been remunerated better, maybe as much as Charlie Chaplin.

In soccer, the pleasure is in scoring goals but in entertainment, the main objective is to entertain. I think I achieved that. At times the focus is on why the film was made but not how it was made,” he said.

Chiroodza became the face of local tourism as a result of his acting career. He spent 10 years serving in the tourism sector.

“I would welcome tourists at the airport and talk to them, show them places of interest as a representative of the company that employed me before handing them over to our colleagues at our many lodges,” he narrated.

On whether the films were meant to portray the black person as a fool, a person of limited intelligence, Chiroodza said:

“All over the world actors follow a script. You can only tell what a person is thinking through talking to him or her. If it’s all action you can only assume and when you are just acting without talking you might appear like a robot being directed to turn left or right and stop. To some extent, there could be some truth in the kind of films I featured because most of the time there isn’t much one does in terms of thinking.

The script is explained to you, why you have to follow it and as an employee, the focus will be on whatever you are doing to come out well. It was a question of putting one’s mind and energy into the project. That is why I ended up becoming this famous,” he said with a chuckle.

Chiroodza mentions the late US actor, Sidney Poitier, a black-American, as his role model. He used to watch a lot of his movies for inspiration.

“I used to enjoy watching his movies. During Rhodesia actors of colour like myself were sidelined. My films were not national they were sectoral. They only used them if they wanted to penetrate a certain community. The information services were the sole distributors of my films,” he said.

Locally, Chiroodzo admires Safirio Madzikatire (Mukadota), Phillip Mushangwe aka Paraffin, who are both late, and Stephen Chigorimbo for their talents and for taking acting as a profession. He, however, feels they were helped to be visible and relevant to the sector by the corporate world and the film industry.

Chiroodza claims he was never approached for possible more acting roles or engaged to feature in commercials after the Tiki role.

He is married and a father of four; Tawanda, Tapiwa, Nicky and Freeman, and none of the kids are into acting.

It seems like a lifetime ago that Tiki used to crack our ribs with his “wordless jokes.”

What a pleasant surprise that the man is alive and well in his rural home in Domboshava where he is a village head.

Even more surprising; the master of silent comedy is in real life an eloquent speaker full of street lingo and jokes.

“Actor haafi, film ndiro rinopera. (The main actor never dies, it’s the movie that ends),” said the mirthful Chiroodzo.