‘Skhumba’ takes SA on a unique trip
Filming is under way on Showmax’s first travel show
In each 30-minute episode, the Comic’s Choice Comic of the Year 2017 will get down and dirty with a fellow South African comedian in their hometown, exploring places that won’t make any tourism brochures and stories that would be edited out of any authorised biographies.
“As much as we love South African comedians, we are only exposed to what they do on stage as opposed to their backgrounds,” says Skhumba.
Skhumbuzo “Skhumba” Hlophe is a Tembisa-born comic who first graced the comedy scene over 10 years ago, with his larger-than-life comedy which has his crowd in stitches every time he appears on stage.
Skhumba’s career has soared over the past five years, but his feet are still firmly on the ground. Last year proved to be his best year yet, with 22 out of 24 shows sold out around the country.
He’s currently touring his fourth one-man special in four years, #IMeanBizniss.
“So on
I wanted to dig deeper into their lives and where they come from – far more than what I could ever get out of them by doing a normal interview, like on my radio show on Kaya FM.”
The first season’s guests are Celeste Ntuli (Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal), who was the most nominated comedian with Skhumba going into the 2018 Comic’s Choice Awards; the last three Native Tongue winners, Siya Seya (Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth), Salesman (Pretoria) and Mashabela Galane (Moletjie, Limpopo); 2016 Comic of the Year winner Tumi Morake (Bloemfontein); and 2015 Intermediate winner Schalk Bezuidenhout (Kempton Park, Gauteng).
is flipping funny,” says director Vincent Moloi, who helmed the 2018 Best Drama Safta winner
and also took home Best Documentary Director last year for
“It’s real. It represents, to me, the ultimate exploration of South Africa’s humour in a very honest and truthful way. It has an uncompromisingly authentic texture.”
The first season will end with an hour-long stand-up special, featuring Skhumba and his guests, and one new comedian from each hometown visited.
will be the third Showmax Original, building on the success of (2017) and
(2019), which both set the record for the most first-day unique views of any show on the platform.
“Showmax is rapidly becoming the home of South African comedy, with the roasts of AKA (coming soon), Somizi and Kenny Kunene;
and stand-up specials from the likes of Barry Hilton and David Kau,” says Candice Fangueiro, head of content at Showmax.
The first show airs on February 28, with new episodes every Thursday. —