‘Stupidity is not an option’
Comedian John Vlismas’s new show focuses on whether South Africans are racists and if so, why? writes Tanya Waterworth
COMEDIAN John Vlismas says it’s high time “we declared war on stupidity”. Popular for his sharp commentary, Vlismas focuses his one-man show, Revelations
II – The Good Racist, on whether South Africans are racists and if so, why?
“Whichever way you look at it, we have come a long way as a country; whether we are heading in the right direction is up for debate,” said the comedian, who will be in Durban on March 3 and 4.
“Our real history is much more complicated and ridiculous than most people realise. We tend to rely on Chappie paper facts whenever we attack each other. Maybe our common enemy is ignorance,” he said.
Vlismas said research for the show’s content took nearly six months.
“I read a lot, loads of books, articles, opinions, I spoke to a lot of people and made a mountain of notes over five months. I discovered that we have a very brilliant band of young South African voices emerging and we should really listen to them.”
But racism is a difficult, multifaceted topic, not for the faint-hearted and, in fact, at one point, Vlismas nearly threw out the whole concept.
“I nearly gave up on this show when I was well into the research. It’s a dark subject, even for me and so polarising – on the one hand, you don’t want to pander, and on the other, it would be disingenuous to exploit it.”
But, as he explained, we live in interesting times.
“We live in a time of relative abundance statistically. Life expectancy is constantly climbing, you are more likely to kill yourself than die in a war. Terrorism actually kills relatively few people and the average human is far more likely to die of obesity than starve to death.
“The climate is changing, but we’re a smart bunch who have a solid grasp on most things around us. We’ll be on Mars soon and staring into the universe with unprecedented clarity any day now.
“We’ve found the answer to how matter jumped into existence and we have AI (artificial intelligence) diagnosing disease more accurately than the best human minds,” he said.
And he’s not overly concerned about being offensive, saying taking offence simply means “your beliefs don’t stand up to scrutiny. The most offensive people are those whose position is indefensible. Smart people get that and allow others to point it out. Others think they can hide it”.
Do South Africans accept a change of mindset?
“No, we don’t. We just want to tweet that we do. I don’t t think any large group of people is that keen on mental exercise. The masses love to have everything dumbed down so we can munch our Pringles and know who to blame for the bad stuff.
“If you want to be popular, just point out a bad guy, if there isn’t one, just make one up – most people are fine with that,” he said.
Which is perhaps why it’s important to push the boundaries of comedy to the outer edge.
“This is just my opinion, but great comedy belongs next door to horror. Ultimately life is an affirmation for that, for the moment death is not in charge. Great comedy flies in the face of oblivion and raises a finger in the face of the darkness that waits for us all on the horizon,” he said.
The show, which attracted packed audiences in Joburg in August, will have some fresh content for the Durban outings.
Returning to his home turf, Vlismas is looking forward to challenging Durban audiences, which, compared with upcountry audiences, he described as “a change in energy and taste – with a big appetite for Indian stereotypes”.
“But I find people who come to my show share a similar mindset – pretty sharp, robust and ready to hear some adult words.” Revelations II - The Good Racist is on for two nights at the Durban Jewish Centre in Masinga Road. Book through Computicket.