How taxi driver helped coin Njugush's stage name

By Robert Mutasi 

Comedian Njugush, after returning from the UK where he had a highly received comedy show, has decided to take his fans back a bit to explain how he got into acting and more importantly how his name ‘Njugush’ came about.

In an interview with content creator Oga Obinna, Njugush said that he started acting without a name, and many people saw him in online videos without a name to identify him.

"When I got the chance to act, I was supposed to be a substitute, but I was later pushed further back to be a substitute for other substitutes. So it was that we should find a name for this guy. I don't have a name and people on YouTube are saying there is that guy, there is that guy. I tried to find a name when we were shooting. I tried to find a cool name that had never been used before but I couldn't. We failed to get a name after about 10 minutes…" Njugush recounted.

After failing to get a name and needing to be on set to start acting his part, the director ordered him not to worry and just go on the set as time was running out.

And that's when he got a name, which are famous up to now. 

"The director said let's shoot and we'll search for a name later. When we started rolling, action, there was a taxi driver in the background, we heard him call ‘Njuguna’... he was calling his friend named Njuguna. We said, why not go with this. So we went with Njuguna, but instead of me saying my name is Njuguna, people thought it was too long, so on YouTube people started calling me Njugush... ah Njugush where was he today, and so forth… and that's how the name Njugush was born," he narrated.

The comedian gained great popularity several years ago after acting in a show that was broadcast on one of the local television stations, The Real Househelps of Kawangware, TRHK.

Currently, Njugush is working with his wife to create comedy skits, which however have divided his fans with some saying he has lost his quality by doing scripted things – skits, instead of doing surprise standup comedy.