Being a news anchor was one of Toropito’s childhood aspirations, as he grew up in Murehwa.
REPORT BY TAWANDA MARWIZI The comedian (born Shingirai Mutizwa), however did not do well at school, making it impossible for him to achieve his dreams. but his determination to join the profession saw him venturing into comic news reading on stage.
The rising stand-up comedian dwells on various social issues in a light and exciting way.
“My ambition from school was to be a real news anchor and I always like to do that.
“Things did not go according to expectations and I decided to act as one, commenting on different social issues,” said Toropito.
Born in Nyazura in October 1979, Toropito did his primary and secondary education in Murehwa before coming to Harare, where he started his career in 2001.
“I started performing at weddings and I was happy with the response I got from people. I then decided to take it further until I joined Simuka Comedy,” said Toropito.
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The father of three said he was inspired by Blessing Chimhowa, who acted as Mbudziyadhura in previous Gringo series.
“Honestly, I wanted to get into full-time acting in different soaps and dramas, but Chimhowa advised me to think of something unique and I decided to be a comic news anchor,” he said.
For Toropito, comedy is the only source of income and he said his family was happy with his profession.
However, lack of funding for his projects is his major problem, which has caused delays in some of his projects.
If all goes well, Toropito hopes to release his first musical album before the end of this year.
“I want to release my first gospel album this year, where I will include some exciting gospel ‘news’. We are putting final touches to the project and I hope we will be done before the end of the year.”
If Toropito releases his first album, he will join fellow comedian Freddy “Kapfupi” Manjalima, who has moved from acting to music.
