Phil Chard and Danis Dube
Phil Chard and Danis Dube
Writer: Rutendo Nyamuda, Founder & Editor
Photographers: Tinashe Gakaka
Have you ever planned to pop into a friend’s place for about an hour max, but before you know it, you’ve been swept up into many mini conversations, laughed from the pit of your stomach, gone off track, somehow found your way back and by the time you look at the clock it’s three hours later and you have no idea where time went? Well that’s exactly what interviewing Phil Chard and Danis Dube, aka Danny that Guy, co-hosts of one of Zimbabwe’s top rated podcasts - 2 Broke Twimbos was like.
Like many co-hosts, Phil and Danis had always moved in similar circles. However, the catalyst for the two of them to come together and launch a podcast was their comedic interactions on Twitter. But not just any Twitter, specifically with Zimbabweans on Twitter aka Twimbos.
“I was cracking jokes on Twitter, he was cracking jokes and we built this rapport on Twitter. At the time, we also had nothing going on in our lives. I think the key to being very successful in social media is to not be successful,” jokes Phil.
“Be unemployed,” Danis jumps in.
In 2014, after not much convincing, the pair launched their much-anticipated podcast to an audience who was always waiting in the wings. And although launching was the easy part, they admit finding rhythm and chemistry has been a working relationship built over time.
“The common theme you'll find throughout this interview is usually me suggesting an idea, and Dan pushing against it, and then slowly realising I was right,” says Phil.
“That is completely untrue,” Danis rebuttals. “See, Phil always thinks that he has an idea and I push against it. What he doesn't realise is he has an overall view, and I fill it in with what works and it's fine. It's okay there doesn't need to be definitions. The end result is we have something that works”.
Phil and Danis have their fair share of similarities and differences. Phil tends to be a bit more technical and minutiae side of things while Danis on the other hand tends to see things from an overall bird's eye view perspective. And when it comes to humour Phil leans more towards witticisms and Danis on the other hand finds great delight in toilet humour. However, they both admit that the key for them has been their willingness to compromise.
“Two people, three people no matter how many people - as long as it's more than one person - when trying to build something together, are often going to come at loggerheads on something because we're all different, we all have different ideas of what works and what doesn't work. And either, you have to fit in exactly like your compatibility has to be exact, which is extremely rare; or there has to be a willingness to compromise… [and] I think that willingness to compromise, I find it quite rare, to be honest," says Daanis.
Finding common ground has been one of the fundamental successes of the duo’s podcast. And while being in sync and sharing a common vision is one thing, having the patience to produce long-form podcasts, that average two to three hours and the longest being five hours, is a completely different ballgame that Phil and Danis are playing in.
2 Broke Twimbos grew traction very quickly, they grew an incredible fanbase not just in Zim but outside the borders too. They were in the heart of the entertainment industry, interviewing the who's who. Drawing in 5 000 subscribers and reaching between 20 000 and 30 000 downloads a week they were at the top of their game. And then a twist of events. A break.
“The podcast break was because of me,” says Phil. “I was not in a good space at the time. I had just lost a job, they had taken a substantial amount of money from me. I went from living alone to having to live with Dan.”
What was initially thought to be a one month break, turned into months and before they knew it 2 Broke Twimbos became a passing thought.
“At some point, we weren't even thinking about the podcast. I mean, it was always in the back of the mind. But we were no longer like we would regularly talk about what if we try this week? What if we try next week? What do we want to do and then at some point, we were not talking about that at all.” says Danis.
During the break both Danis and Phil equally experienced new opportunities at work, studying, and traveling. And after 18 months apart, the duo decided to return. But this time they approached things a little differently. They started thinking about their podcast as a business, they put in more structure and reimagined their brand as a whole.
They were, after all, a far cry from when they started podcasting in their mid-20s where they were well-established and entrenched in the industry. But they pushed on and are back better, stronger and with greater numbers than ever.
With their dream realised, Phil and Danis are incredibly pleased that they did not give up.Their next big plan is to pass on the mantle, educate fellow-Zimbabweans on the art and build a studio for the next generation of podcasters.
“I think Africa Podcast Day is bigger than all of Africa, it’s bigger than all of us. For us, our job is to make sure that as many people know about it, take it as their own and in five years have their own gatherings, their own celebrations, their own teachable moments and to connect it with what’s really happening across Africa”
