The Kenyan comedy duo Kimbuyu & Njeri khan hide behind masks made from trashed jerrycans. They're a viral sensation on TikTok.
Category
ЁЯЧЮ
NewsTranscript
00:00 Mukeve!
00:01 Watu waboda boda!
00:03 Here we have our president, Mr. Ruto Zakayo.
00:06 This is Grand P, small guy from Ghana.
00:09 This is Commander, Pastor Nga.
00:12 Most people think of broken jerry cans as trash.
00:21 But one comedy collective in Nairobi, Kenya, sees them as unusual treasure.
00:26 We are doing this to save the environment, making art through recycling.
00:30 Meet Kimbuyu and Jerry Can,
00:34 two comedians that have become a viral sensation in Kenya by putting a new spin on upcycling.
00:40 The reason we hide our faces is because Kimbuyu and Jerry Can is not about us.
00:50 I wish everyone could understand that the whole world has plastics,
00:54 and if they can wear the mask and go to collect the plastics,
00:58 nobody will know whether it's them or not.
01:01 Rather, they'll have played a part in conserving the environment.
01:05 From the very beginning, I loved recycling things, so the environment part came first.
01:13 Then I realized the jerry cans could become faces of people.
01:17 Then the comedy aspect came to support the conservation part.
01:23 But we haven't given up on the conservation part.
01:26 Recent estimates put the trash generated in Kenya at between 3,000 to 4,000 tons per day.
01:32 Because plastic contains major pollutants,
01:35 plastic waste in particular causes major harm to the environment.
01:39 A study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that
01:43 over 73% of plastic waste in Kenya's landfill was uncollected.
01:48 The main reason of finding creativity in recycling the jerry can is because
01:53 this type of plastic is available in every home in the world.
01:56 But this jerry can takes 500 years before it decomposes.
02:00 I said to myself, I want my future generation to live in a better environment,
02:05 and the only thing that I can do is to recycle my jerry cans that I use in the house every day
02:11 and make something constructive out of it.
02:16 And the only thing I can do is to save my jerry cans that I use in the house.
02:21 Maybe even when we finish with the food, we take that jerry can and do something with it.
02:26 And later on...
02:28 Later, my partner in this, Jerry Can, told me that you put whatever you had made on TikTok
02:34 and day two, you were at 100,000 followers.
02:38 It was amazing.
02:40 Every jerry can is like a person.
02:44 Every jerry can resembles a human being.
02:47 Or maybe you are all created in the form of jerry cans.
02:51 Then I decided I could come up with the face of one person.
02:55 But mainly, all this was because of environmental conservation.
03:00 How are you? Have you eaten?
03:11 No, I haven't eaten.
03:13 A jerry can in Swahili language is known as kibuyu.
03:16 But in slang language, the man of the house is known as mbuyu.
03:21 And now, I felt kibuyu was a good name, so we called one of us Kim, then mbuyu.
03:27 So it became Kimbuyu.
03:29 And then my partner said that his wife is called Njeri.
03:33 Because now the other name of Kimbuyu is jerry can,
03:36 that's how we call it in Swahili.
03:39 So that's how we came up with Njeri can, and it was amazing.
03:43 It looks like it's about satire, but it must be real.
03:46 Shut up! You are a hero!
03:48 Kimbuyu and jerry can don't just deal with trash.
03:51 They use their particular brand of satire to address issues that affect the lives of ordinary Kenyans,
03:57 such as the rising cost of living.
03:59 For us, we do all the stories.
04:01 For us, we do all the stories.
04:03 We do all the stories.
04:05 We do all the stories.
04:09 For us, we address all stories affecting the normal Kenyan.
04:12 For example, right now, the cost of living is very high,
04:16 and even if it's through comedy, we address to the Kenyans whatever is happening with even our government in Kenya.
04:23 We do all the stories.
04:25 The process of creating the comedy,
04:30 most of our fans know that we use our celebrities as it is more relatable with them.
04:35 I usually go online to see what's trending and the characters involved,
04:40 then we automatically work on it.
04:42 There isn't too much planning involved.
04:45 Then, we float. We don't look at anything that's been done.
04:48 Then, we float. We don't look at anything that's been done.
04:54 Ideally, when you look at people's faces, there aren't that many.
04:58 We have a dog face, we have a cat face.
05:01 So, what I do, I check the jerrycans that resemble the face of the character I want to imitate.
05:06 I do a bit of touch-ups, I add some accessories to make it more realistic.
05:11 Then also, create their specific character, how they behave.
05:16 I've never heard or seen negative comments about Kimbuyu and Jerrycan.
05:24 I think we have taken that part of entertaining our audience,
05:29 because people out here are very depressed.
05:34 If we could find a better way of recycling things,
05:39 we'll be able to have a proper chain of conservation.
05:44 Nowadays, we have a lot of people who are doing this,
05:49 and we're taking it there, it's growing, you know?
05:54 Nowadays, I don't see this as jerrycans. I see them as humans.
05:58 So, adopt one, be creative, and help us conserve the environment for the future generations.
06:04 Satiric comedy isn't only about making people laugh.
06:08 It draws people's attention to issues that affect society, and by doing so, inspires change.
06:14 Kimbuyu and Jerrycan, through their unique brand of satire,
06:19 are helping Kenyans find solutions that aren't political, but practical.
06:25 That's what you are now?
06:28 My son, I call you a suffragette. You're just a suffragette.
06:31 Enough is enough!
06:33 What do you mean?
06:35 (glass shattering)