Laughing at oddities
WIT: COMEDY IS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE AND HE LIKES TO SLEEP BEFORE HE GOES ON STAGE
Trevor Gumbi jokes about his divorce, battling with addiction, finding love, creating life, and filing for bankruptcy.
While most recognise him for his spicy tweets and others for his wittiness when it comes to making the masses laugh out loud, with some appreciating his acting skills, Trevor says although he is an allround entertainer, fatherhood is all he knows, and what most describes him. The comedian, presenter and actor says besides his ex-wife, comedy is indeed his first love. “Comedy is the love of my life,” Gumbi said.
Relationship with his first love
“I didn’t grow up knowing comedy,” the comedian said, adding that before doing stand-up comedy, he had never watched anybody on television do it. “I didn’t think I would become popular, and it never crossed my mind that people would like my kind of humour,” pointing out that the first time he tried comedy was a certain night in some place in Melville, Johannesburg.
Before hi ing the stage
“I don’t think I prepare to make people laugh before going on stage,” Gumbi said, adding that to him there is no tough crowd. “When people don’t laugh at your jokes, it simply means that you are not delivering what the people want, meaning that you are not doing a good job.”
The comedian says he doesn’t believe that there is anything special about being a comedian, comparing it to being a call centre agent. “If the call centre agent doesn’t say what I want to hear, I switch off, same applies to comedy. You have to be able to relate to dif- ferent people, and if you can’t switch, maybe you shouldn’t be a comedian.”
His policy
The 37-year-old says he tells jokes about his own life, so it means he finds no need to prepare before hitting the stage. “I don’t talk about things I don’t know. I speak about my experiences,” he says, adding that he never listens to comedians that come on stage before his turn has passed as that is his napping time. “I like to sleep before a show. This is be- cause this is the most nerve-racking time where people expect you to climb the stage and make them laugh, so I prefer to switch off and have someone wake me up five minutes before I come on stage.”
The Divorce Tour
Gumbi’s The Divorce Tour, which is coming to The Globe in Silverstar Casino in Johannesburg on November 4, tells the tale of a 37-year-old recovering drug addict and father, who, in a short space of time, has battled addiction, found love, created life, filed for bankruptcy, won it all and lost it all, all before the age of 35. “This tour is covering my much publicised marriage and divorce,” he explained, adding that he has been working closely with ‘the love of his life and the mother of his kids on this, to prevent the media sensationalising the entire story. “At the end of the day, what it is is not what people think. It’s a love story not a sad one, hence we have decided to tell our story on our grounds like we did with Sober Companion on SABC3. “Obviously people talk about these stories on social media,” he elaborated, indicating that he and Lucille, his ex, are good for business.
Who is Trevor?
“Personally all I am and all I will ever be is dad,” the father of two said, explaining that this is vital to him because he didn’t have a father figure growing up. On a career level though, Gumbi says he is a versatile entertainer. “I’m a comedian, actor writer and want to produce content that will entertain people.” He says in Mzansi, “comedy is all we have, and it binds us because we are a country that laughs a lot and want to laugh since there is so much against us.”
I don’t think I prepare to make people laugh before going on stage.