Ever since going viral on Facebook in 2016 with the video ‘Rio Dry Swim’, Ronald ‘Kunch’ Reynolds has become one of Guyana’s leading and most recognized comedians. He is prominent in many music videos, local films, and his YouTube channel, ‘Kunchi TV’ has received over 12.5 million views with 262 videos and 71.3K subscribers to date.

His Facebook page, says:

“This page is all about fun and making people happy

Our comedies are unique and quite simply, outside the box”.

Ronald ‘Kunch’ Reynolds

Ronald Reynolds, a natural jokester and prankster, likes making his friends and family laugh ever since he was a child. In 2011, he decided to take comedy seriously (no pun intended) and joined Mori J Van, a comedy company, where because of his natural talent, he was thrust into many leading roles. After the company dissolved, he used his acquired skills and creativity and kept on producing skits for the local entertainment industry. However, Kunch would soon feel that he was being underpaid and exploited by promoters and decided he should just do comedy for the fun of it and forget about the money.

The turning point in Reynolds’ career came when he created the “Rio dry swim’ video which was a comedic depiction of a swimming competition in the lead-up to the Rio Olympics in 2016; he uploaded it to Facebook. The video went viral with over 60 million views within 3 months and was shared by several celebrities. However, because the music used in the video was copyrighted, Facebook removed not only the video but the entire page from their platform. He would then create his YouTube channel, ‘Kunchi TV’, and repost the video but since it was already seen by many on Facebook the views here were not as big.

Since then Kunchi TV keeps churning out weekly videos which parody many Guyanese social issues. In these videos, Reynolds plays the role of several characters. “Miss Pepper”, “Black Girl”, “Kunchi”, along with Miss Pepper’s brother “Swaggle” and grandmother. Through these personas, Ronald Reynolds can get his message out on certain cultural issues. When dealing with women topics he goes into drag as ‘Miss Pepper’ or ‘BlackGirl’. When false male masculinity is needed to be displayed, he is himself Kunchi, and for wisdom and emphasizing the values of the good old days, the church-going grandmother is the character he plays. Some of the topics covered can be seen in these tiles:  ‘The Deceiving Friend’, ‘The Insecure & Controlling Boyfriend’, ‘When Big Men Like School Girl’, ‘Bad Influence’, ‘Hide Peep & Theif’, The Home Wrecker’, ‘When You Leave A Madman To Baby Sit’, ‘Life As A Homeless Man’, ‘When Girls Like Car Men’, ‘Rich Boyfriend vs Poor Boyfriend’, and ‘Lend Money In Peace, Get Back In War’. and more.

Aside from acting in the videos himself, Reynolds is often assisted by his wife, Rodlyn Reynolds, and friends Anthony Alleyne, Tavis Johnson, and Ellis Forde.

Caribbean Entertainment Hub recognizes the importance of laughter in our culture. It permeates every fabric of our society and is one of our main coping mechanisms, especially during the Covid-19 lockdown. Kunchi tv has entertained the Guyanese masses before and during these trying times. If you are not familiar with him, we advise you to do so on Kunchi tv.

Hashtags #KunchiTv #RonaldReynolds #MissPepper #GuyaneseEntertainment #GuyaneseComedy

Source: Guyana Chronicle – https://guyanachronicle.com/2019/01/18/taking-guyanese-culture-viral-kunchi-tv/