Shining a spotlight on home-grown talent
THE third Heat City Comedy Festival started on Tuesday and will run at several venues in Durban until August 4.
The objective of the festival, said the event organiser, Bob Perfect, is to shine the spotlight on the city’s home-grown talent.
“It will also give Durban audiences access to exciting acts from around South Africa today. The long-term goal is to provide a consistent platform for a range of comedians to showcase their talents.”
He said the comedy scene was competitive with young comedians wanting to outperform each other and the older comics did not want to be outdated. “So audiences are in for a treat.” Two comedians who are guaranteed to bring laughs to the stage are Melissa Jhinku and Akhil Maharaj.
Jhinku, a retired doctor, has been doing stand-up comedy for less than a year and has experimented with comedic poetry.
This, she said, was different from conventional stand-up.
“I cover medical topics, and I try my best to promote body positivity,” she said.
On the progression of women in the comedy scene, Jhinku, who debuted at a lady’s comedy night, said the number of comediennes had drastically increased.
This was attributed to more venues creating opportunities for women.
“The fact that about 10% of comedians in Durban are female tells us there are underlying issues that hinder women approaching the stage.
“I do not know if this is because of confidence issues, a negative view towards women, a lack of support, or something else. From my recent experience, I have found comediennes to be just as funny as their male counterparts, maybe even more so.
“As a community of comedians, we need to encourage women and create opportunities for them to grow and thrive.”
Over the past two years, Maharaj has been a communications manager by day and a comedian by night.
“I would describe my comedy style as something similar to an observational/ one-liner style,” said Maharaj, who grew up in Richards Bay and now resides in KwaDukuza.
“I talk a lot about my life. We all lead different lives. It’s honestly comforting when you find that through the line of relatability, you can connect random people through laughter. I also enjoy talking about subjects that may be considered tongue in cheek . . .”
He said he was inspired to enter the comedy scene after watching a DVD of Canadian comedian, Russel Peters.
“It had my family howling at the TV screen. I was young and did not understand most of the jokes. All I knew was that if an Indian guy can make people laugh like this, I could do it too.”
Maharaj said it took him years to build the courage to follow his dreams. “I’m just happy I started this journey when I did.”
Other comedians to grace the festival include Neil Green, Simmi Areff, Cyril Basker, Dillan Oliphant, Keenan Cerff and Nabeel Peer.
The shows will be staged at The Winston Pub, The Charlatan, Happy Hippo, Cool Runnings and Seabrooke’s Theatre at DHS.
Ticktets via webtickets.com. For more information, see the Heat City Comedy Festival Facebook page.