Comedy at your fingertips
LAUGH OUT LOUD: WHERE TO GO IN JOBURG TO GET YOUR FUNNYBONE TICKLED
Are you ready for The Live Series, Kings and Queens of Comedy and the Comics Choice Awards?
Y ou don’t need gloves and a scarf to warm up these cold winter nights in Joburg.
Just take a drive to Gold Reef City or the Sandton Convention Centre for side-splitting comedy, sure to warm every limb on your body.
THE LIVE SERIES
This neatly packaged 75-minute stand-up comedy special features two of South Africa’s best known comedians.
Next month, look out for four very special The Live Series events at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City. On August 4 and 5 Joey Rasdien will take the stage, while Jason Goliath will take over on August 18 and 19.
Produced by award-winning production company Mannequin Pictures and following in the footsteps of entertainment giants Netflix, The Live Series was developed exclusively for DStv’s Box Office. However, a few diehard comedy fans are able to get their dose of laughter before the Box Office debut as the comedy special is always filmed in front of a live audience.
This will be The Live Series’ fifth and sixth episode. It previously featured comedy greats such as Barry Hilton, Marc Lottering, Donovan Goliath and an election-themed special entitled The National Comics Party. Get your tickets through Computicket.com.
KINGS AND QUEENS OF COMEDY
In medieval times, a jester was employed by a nobleman or monarch to entertain him and his guests.
The heavyweights of South African comedy are by no means jesters, but they certainly do entertain … Catch the Kings & Queens of
Comedy at the Sandton Convention Centre tommorow night for a show of hysterical proportions. Shining their comical armour and sharpening their witty swords for the night, the stellar line-up of comedy giants includes Joey Rasdien (MC), Khanyisa Bunu, Krijay Govender, Mark Banks, Mpho Popps, Muthu Murugan, Ndumiso Lindi, Rob van Vuuren, Tracey-Lee Oliver, Trevor Gumbi and Tumi Morake. Don’t miss the Kings & Queens
of Comedy2 at The Pavilion at the Sandton Convention Centre. The show is rated PG16 and starts at 8pm.
THE COMICS CHOICE AWARDS
Last week, the Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards announced this year’s nominees in 11 award categories.
Comedians, media and industry were the first to hear the names called out at a special press lunch held on Wednesday at Katzy’s in Rosebank.
Comedians vote for their fellow comedians, ultimately determining who will be nominated and then go on to receive a Waldo (the Savanna CCA’s statuette), making the awards one of the highest accolades a comedian can receive in South Africa and Africa.
This is the first year that the Savanna Pan-African Comic of the Year Award was introduced, truly taking the Savanna CCA’s into Africa.
It has been the awards’ vision for many years to expand into Africa and take the continent’s talent to a global stage. It’s exciting to see this vision come to life for the first time.
Announcing the nominees, Meenal Harry, Savanna global marketing manager, said: “Comedy in all its shapes and forms allows us to bring a different perspective to life – it provokes us to see the lighter side of life, while also allowing us to digest in smaller bits the seriousness of negative occurrences in society.
“As Savanna continues to expand our partnership with and support of comedy, launching the inaugural Savanna Pan African Comic of the Year award, we look to offer a platform for African comedians to be recognised for the important role they play in society and provide the same comedic relief to consumers and audiences in the rest of Africa.”
The nominees in this category are:
Patrick Idringi (aka Salvado) from Uganda. Bright Okpocha (aka Basketmouth) from Nigeria. Carl Joshua Ncube from Zimbabwe. Tshepo “Masapo” Mpiti from Lesotho Fernando Filipe from Angola. The Savanna Audience Choice Award is the only category in which the public can vote for their favourite comic. Public voting, via SMS, is open and will close on Friday, August 25. Make sure to cast your vote for the comedian of your choice below by texting their unique code and your name to 45757 (each SMS is charged at R1.50 and errors will be billed. Free minutes do not apply). You can vote up to 20 times.
The Audience Choice Award nominees are:
Elton Mduduzi Ntuli (unique voting code: 17163)
Pelepele Mchunu (unique voting code: 58085)
Thapelo Maila (unique voting code: 72116)
Luphelo Kodwa (unique voting code: 40009)
Thabang ER (unique voting code: 68906).
A highlight of every nominee announcement is the Lifetime Achiever.
This award is made to an act with 20 years or more experience in comedy.
The Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards is honoured to announce that Cyril Green is this year’s Lifetime Achiever recipient. Be sure to book your tickets for the Lifetime Achiever Grilling of a Lifetime on August 16 at Parker’s Comedy Club, where Cyril will be roasted by his fellow comedians. This is a unique format that makes for a phenomenal, onceoff, limited experience for comedy fans. Of course, it all culminates on September 9 at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City when the Savanna CCA’s main awards ceremony takes place.