Every celebrity seems to hold an interesting past before making it into the limelight. For Gilbert Baraza Alias Mtumishi it gets even more exciting.

This is the man who has seen it all and changed for the better to where he is now.

Mtumishi before becoming a household name revealed to gospel artist Mbuvi on his show Coffee with Mbuvi on what poverty pushed him to do including shaving hair and nails for the dead.

Mchungaji who is the firstborn in a family of four took responsibility as a parent to his siblings at a very tender age after his father was rendered jobless and mother could not afford to live in Kawangware area in Nairobi thus had to go back in the village.

Mtumishi with the unfortunate circumstances was forced to drop out of school and later on depended on studying from a school situated along the Nairobi River in which depended on well wishers.

After struggling to cope up with the life in Nairobi having to seek shelter in the streets, the comedian was lured into criminal life by a school mate, a life which he later on ditched after almost losing his life in the hands of the flying squad in which he and his gang tried to steal from.

Mtumishi then vowed to turn a new leaf after the narrow escape in which he initially thought wouldn’t have made it out alive but still describes the whole scenario as an opportunity from God to start a new life.

With all the drama in his life, the comedian then resulted in going back to his former residence where he was born in Kawangware.

He then opted to go back to school and finish up on his O-level by working tirelessly to pay for his school fees and studying at the same time.

Mtumishi would study one week and work the next week in order to pay up the fees, a deal he had made with the school principal and at this point, he worked at a construction site earning 500/- per day.

Mtumishi, later on, found a job working as a barber in a kinyozi based in Kawangware.

His life took a different turn when a guy popped into the kinyozi one day seeking to hire a barber with an interesting pay of 2000/- per day.

The man did not get into the details of what the job entails and Mtumishi gladly jumped on the opportunity knowing very well that with that kind of money he would be able to change his life.

Later in the day, the man drove into a mortuary and that was when the funny comedian sensed that things were not right.

He has then ushered into the morgue and required to begin work immediately, a task which involved him shaving the hair of the dead.

A week later in the job the comedian decided to quit.

A move inspired by the death of his close friend whom they grew up together.

While working on the shift, Mtumishi, as usual, was required to shave the dead and upon seeing the body of his close friend decided to leave the job and later on got into acting.

One thing led to another and in spite of the opposition from his mother on doing acting as a career, he was lucky enough to land a gig with a friend whom he later on met and worked as a team with by the name Mchungaji.

Their comedy was so unique and much loved by Kenyans that they became a popular image in the comedy show Churchill Live.