A taste of Deep Fried humour
He is known as Daniel Friedman by the government but fans of his political and social musical satire know him as Deep Fried Man. As he prepares for his show, In Good Taste, at The Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg, Deep Fried Man spoke about what to look forward to this weekend. I’ve been gigging as usual, I took my last one-man show, Deep Fried Man Kills, to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and performed in some exotic locations such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein and even Port Elizabeth. I started a new YouTube channel called MalContent. I filmed scenes for a few films like Kagiso Lediga and John Barkers’ upcoming mockumentary Wonderboy for President and made a small cameo in new, local romcom Mrs Right Guy. I shot a special for Comedy Central and did some campaigns for brands like Absa, You and Me Mobile and BrightRock Insurance. I also beat my top score in Tetris. My Tetris game is on fleek. I try to cover all the bases when it comes to topical humour. So our president, the student protests and racist tweeters will all be making an appearance. There will also be some social satire about more general stuff and some of my usual personal self-satire relating to being a white South African. And, for the first time, I’m also looking further than South Africa, so topics such as Donald Trump, the Islamic State and even the conflict in the Middle East will be making an appearance. My first three one-man shows were all in smaller venues than the Lyric. Because this is a bigger show we are bringing in a bunch of new elements. I am collaborating with some other musicians. I don’t want to give too much away but there will be anything from classical musos to rappers onstage with me. There will be visuals, improv, giveaways. It’s billed as a musical comedy extravaganza and we’ve really tried to make it just that. Whacked, the artist management agency who is producing the show, is known for its impressive productions. Ha ha, that’s true, from September my main responsibility will be keeping Deep Fried Man junior (working title) alive and fed. Other than that I am planning to take a scaled-down version of In Good Taste to various places in South Africa. I also may release some music: some real music recorded in a studio. I need to take advantage of that SABC 90% quota while it’s still in effect.