( CNN ) If laughter is the best medicine then Patrick `` Salvado '' Idringi should be Uganda 's chief doctor . The comedian 's blend of laugh-out-loud humor and cheeky charm has brought him widespread following in his home country and abroad , and even landed him inside the pages of Vogue . However , he has followed an unorthodox path to success , having spent years working as a switch engineer for one of Uganda 's biggest telecoms companies . It was only when he entered a comedy competition on the encouragement of his sisters and came second that he realized he could make a living out of his funnyman persona . `` I left my job in 2011 because I was making unserious money by being serious . I realized you can make serious money from being unserious , '' Salvado says . But leaving secure employment with a regular monthly paycheck had been far from easy , and the comedian had to quickly learn the ropes of being a freelance performer . Some gigs would offer beer instead of payment , but Salvado soon realized that that was n't going to help him pay his rent . `` Leaving my job was one of the hardest moments of my life , especially the first month , because I was n't sure how I was going to make ends meet , '' he says . He even entertained the idea of returning to his old job , but in the end stuck with his new profession . `` I was patient , because deep down in my heart I knew it was going to work . I did n't know how long it would take , but I definitely knew it was going to work , '' he says . Salvado mines his own personal experience for his show material , and attributes his success to his openness to talk about subjects that some comedians in Uganda might avoid , such as sex , love and death . He says that , while he loved engineering , he always felt something was missing , and that he was n't using his full potential , but that comedy has helped him grow as a person . `` When you do a joke today , there 's no way you 're going to do it tomorrow . So you 're challenged to do something better , you 're challenged to use your head , to use your mind , to use every part of your body to the best of your ability , '' Salvado says . `` It has helped me actually exploit most of the things that I did n't know I could do . So I should say comedy has changed my life . ''
Patrick ' Salvado ' Smith is one of Uganda 's best known comedians . He had previously worked as an engineer for a mining company . He credits his success to his ability to talk openly about taboo subjects .