Bataung Moeketsi
SOCIAL media sensation Boitelo Thakholi aka Spacebah hopes to use the attention his gags have garnered as a launch pad for his comedy career.
While playing a game of Liboko with his friends one June 2010 night, Spacebah accidentally bumped heads with his friend leaving him with some cracked and loose teeth. Spacebah however, decided to have the teeth removed due to the pain he endured.
From that time, he was immediately nicknamed Lisene, a name given to people with dentures. And he added a twist to it, calling himself Spacebah (space bar).
In February this year, the jester posted a video on Facebook where he joked about his dentures. He said he was now unable to eat certain foods because of his lack of teeth. The climax of his clip was his proclamation that the loss of teeth did not in any way dwindle his charm as he was still attracting beautiful women. The clip has now attracted 32 000 views.
Born in Roma, Spacebah says he has always had a knack for comedy having started warming up to the genre when he was in Form B at St Thomas High School in Matelile, Mafeteng.
Spacebah told the Weekender this week that he would crack jokes in the middle of classes until his Science teacher, Posholi Maluke, helped him get performance slots at school events.
“After my former teacher realised how funny I was, I got an opportunity to showcase my talent in front of students, staff and guests at our school events,” Spacebah said.
“In 2018, I took part in the comedy category of a public speaking competition held at Methodist High School (Maseru) by African Leaders Hub. I then qualified for the next level of the competition that was meant to be held in Cape Town. However, due to lack of funds, I failed to travel.”
He said he was inspired to keep going by the genre’s ability to heal souls and of course, the fact that his friends found it as a worthy escape.
“Friends would come and offload their problems on me and my jokes relieved them,” he said.
Although he is still young, Spacebah does not aspire to further his education. Instead, he chooses to focus on honing his talent.
Although he acknowledges his parents, Mathalea Seeiso and Richard Thakholi’s desire for him to find a course to study, he says they fully support his dream. He moved out of his family’s Matelile home in February 2020 to live in Borokhoaneng, Maseru as his parents saw it fit that he experiences life on his own.
Apart from pursing his dream of being a comedian, Spacebah also uses his platform to sell advertising space as he assures the placement will be seen by over 2000 people.
Spacebah says despite having garnered over 80 000 views on his Facebook page, with most comments being positive, he still receives negative feedback.
He however, says he has grown affectionate towarsds his fans.
He said followers who may be curious to know what happened to his teeth must stay tuned to his Facebook page.
Spacebah aspires to perform at high profile gigs and hopes for a long career as a comedian.
