DSTV Comedy Festival

I am an ardent fan of stand-up comedy. I'm totally in love with it especially South African. So last month I headed to club Latinova in Rosebank for the first installment of DSTV Comedy Festival. My goodness! What a show! The line up boasted of an up and coming comedian and actor Thomas Gumede whom I never really thought he can be that funny. There was also Chris Mapane who kept audience in stitches with his dance moves. Roni Madimola must be the one of the wittiest and underrated comedians that I know. Not only his jokes are intelligent but relevant too. Eugene Khoza was the one who closed the show. He is indeed a crowd favorite.

Yesterday was the second instalment of the festival. I gotta say i was a bit disappointed. There was no order. It was difficult to hear what some of the comedians were saying because some people were yapping non-stop. It seemed everyone had a bit too much to drink. At one point I felt like throwing stuff at them. It was so vexatious and annoying. What made things worse is seeing Ntosh Madlingozi, who is the facilitator of the whole thing, busy up and down chatting up women. I don't mind him chatting up women but not when someone is performing. It distracts the mood. At one point him and some comedians, who were in a little corner, were chatting so so loud that people had to shoosh them. That was a just a sad sight.

My advise to the organisers is to move the festival from month end to the middle of the month. In this way it will limit any Tom, Dick and Harry who had to wait month-end to get paid. I mean, Latinova is a la mode classy joint and I'd like to believe they wouldn't like to spoil their image because of some roudy people.

Now back to the show. The show was relatively good. The MC was Eugene Khoza. That dude is funny. He doesn't need any script to be funny. He just improvise as he goes. The show kicked off with Zee 'The Protege'. Personally I think Zee will be more funnier if he was sharing his jokes with the group of friends. And also if you gonna tell the jokes at least try not to tell jokes that circulates in emails. Chances are that two thirds of the crowd know them and if you are gonna tell them try to spice it up with your own style.

Some James dude from USA followed him and he was not funny at all. I was so embarrased. He was followed by a British black lady, Eva Adelle, and boy wasn't she funny! It's pity I didn't get her name. She received a standing ovation from me. She was followed by a white dude from Cape Town. His jokes were alright but he is no Chris Forest. I don't think he completely connected with the audience which was 90% black.

Kagiso Lediga took on stage next. He is one of my favorite comedians because of his subtle, witty and sarcastic humor. I think he could have been more funny but the crowd at this stage seemed out of order. At one point he had to call them to order. I believe he prematurely ended his act. I'd have loved to hear more of him.

Trevor Noah, the pretty boy, ended the show. That colored boy is hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. His ability to speak different languages is one of his best weapons besides his pretty face. His is very intelligent. His humour is observational. And the crowd loves him especially women and he uses that to his advantages.

All in all it was a good show except for the few incidents...To Be Continued...

Part III

On the 26th of March 2009 DSTV offered the third installment of the comedy festival. As usual it didn't disappoint. I believe South Africa has a great talent when it comes to stand-up comedy. The show was hosted by Tshepo Mogale. I totally enjoyed the way Tshepo controlled the crowd. It's high time that we as people learn that when there is a show we need to pay attention.

Siya B opened the show. That boy is so funny. You might remember Siya as 'Cassius' in a tv drama 'A Place Called Home'. And he can sing too. He had the crowd on the palm of his hand in such a way that after the show they chanted his name. Unfortunately he had already left so we couldn't get an 'encore'...

Joey Rasdien followed him. Joey is to comedy what Lil' Wayne is to hip-hop - totally crazy! He is a rockstar. There was this one time where he told a joke and the crowd was cheering loudly, he just told them, in his colored accent 'Stop making noise! You are cheering so that I can get off stage..voetsek!!'. I thought that was funny...

Kedebone Mulaudzi took the stage next. I liked the way he related a joke about blacks naming their children with names like 'Airtime Ndlovu', Mortgage Ngidi, etc!

Conrad Koch closed the show. He is more of a ventriloquist than a stand-up comedian. Even though he was funny, I am not too sure if he was what the audience expected that night...