So a South Sudanese comic put on a comedy fest in a land of 'suffering.' How'd it go?

Akau Jambo can find humor anywhere.

In a joke about getting picked up by the police at a protest in South Sudan, he quips, "I was saying all sorts of crazy things, like I don't care, you can arrest me. Then when they finally arrested me I was like, 'Oh, you guys are serious?'" he says. "You people don't joke!"

The 25-year-old South Sudanese comedian has spurred laughter across Africa, performing in clubs in Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

He also aims to bring levity to South Sudan despite lingering ethnic tensions and armed clashes that have persisted after the country's civil war, which officially ended in 2018.

And even though the comedy scene — especially the English-language comedy scene — is small in Juba, the capital of 440,000, he has big dreams.

Last weekend, he hosted the country's first-ever international comedy festival.

Comics flew in from across the continent to perform – hopefully the first