Guy Goma strikes again

In May 2006, a gentleman by the name of Guy Goma walked into the BBC building in London for a job interview. After an unfortunate and frankly incredible chain of events, Mr Goma found himself being introduced as an expert on a live show. To his credit, apart from the priceless expression of initial shock, he gamely persevered and went on to cement his place on year-end quiz and comedy shows from then on until the end of time. Full interview is below.



Soon after this, Mr Goma, fed up with the embarrassment and ridicule he had to endure on a daily basis, migrated to South Africa to begin a new career. There, he enlisted as an intelligence officer / security staff. Goma quickly rose through the ranks with canniness and presence of mind, qualities he displayed in abundance in his BBC interview. 

In December 2013, he walked into a stadium in South Africa with a delegation of foreign dignitaries. As he was showing them to their seats, he was approached by another gentleman with a clipboard. Within a few minutes, after an unfortunate and frankly incredible chain of events, he found himself filling in as sign-language interpreter for Nelson Mandela's funeral. Before he knew what was going on, President Obama walked onto the dais and began his speech. And Guy Goma began interpreting.

©Getty images

Of course I made the second half up. But it's my story and I'm sticking with it.

PS: Radio interview with the real sign-language interpreter, Thamsanqa Jantjies, is below. I highly recommend it.