Eddie Kadi

I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spent 8 memorable years there before moving to the UK with my family. English was not a language I was familiar with, but being very young I picked up on it quickly. I would say that I was pretty active at school. After my initial struggle to come to terms with the cold weather and the long school days (in Congo we did half days 8am-12pm), I got involved in a lot of school activities. Throughout my primary and secondary school years, I was involved in the football teams, school music groups and also school council.

I guess these activities shaped me appropriately for the job I have today. I didn’t find comedy, comedy found me. My first ever show was a showcase on behalf of a university society of which I was a spokesperson. The initial plan was to compare a simple talent show, but somehow laughter became the main part of the night.  This was a night that got my friends excited enough to encourage to perform a lot more. I have to admit I really enjoyed this night, because I was being myself on stage, yet I had this massive effect on not just my friends but total strangers. The feeling of being able to influence so many peoples moods in one go, is priceless. Its that same feeling that continues to fuel my passion for performance.

Since that first night with the help and support of my close friends (who are now business partners) and family I’ve gone on to perform in venues not just around the UK but also around the world working with some incredible people. This same job has allowed me to go back to my country of birth for the first time in 18 years and be able to catch up on so much mainly my family.

I have done 6 one man comedy shows in 500, 800 and 2000 capacity venues. Throughout my journey one thing that has kept me going and striving for more is my passion for performing and making people laugh. Also the great team that found me who always believe I can take that next big leap. I’m a greater believer in the fact that people always give out advice based on their own limits an not the limits of the person receiving the advice. So with that in mind I never set any limits to what I can achieve, and I like to make decisions that make me feel alive and excited.

So my most recent and 7th one man show was at the world famous O2 arena on September 4th, and it was the biggest event I have done. I was extremely excited about it, as I think most artists would say, the bigger the stage the bigger the buzz.
I would say that my most memorable moment on stage (before then) was standing at the Indigo2 last year at the end of my second sell out show (2000 capacity) within 3 months there and seeing all those people laughing and having a good time. I remember thinking this can only get better if there were more people in here reacting exactly the same way. That is what I aimed to achieve at the O2 arena on September 4th. The main message behind this entire journey is you can achieve whatever you want, as long as you put your mind to it.

Ok so I saw a girl in central London crossing the road, and I politely called her to get her attention… ‘Excuse me, excuse me’ I said. She turns around and says ‘listen yeah, I don’t have anytime for a wasteman!!’…Me a wasteman .When did I ever pick up rubbish. How rude…So I politely responded and said ‘oh no no sorry madam this is a mix up, you see I wasn’t chatting you up, I was looking for London zoo and since you look like a Koala bear. You can take me there!!’

Thank you very much for taking time to read up on me. Come and check me out on
www.eddiekadi.com