Balls
Billed as “girl power comedy”, The Thunderbirds soar into the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival today
“OF STEEL, papa. Of steel…”
This is the caption underneath an Instagram picture of comedian and TV presenter, Nina Hastie. She sports a wry smile, a red blazer and oh, in each hand, is a silver ball. The first thing I ask her before her appearance at the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival this weekend is: how essential is it to have balls of steel in stand-up comedy?
“You know,” she says and then laughs. “To avoid assimilation, one has to understand what it is one believes in. Comedy is not just patriarchal but there’s a machismo because you rely on your ego to survive in this space.
“I read something that says ‘selfesteem is an environmental factor,’” the Trendingsa presenter continues. “As a stand-up comedian, you don’t rely on the beat or a band or smoke or mirrors or anything. You rely on the truth you offer to the audience. And if it goes wrong and people don’t accept that truth, you really have to have a lot of self-esteem to get through your next day.
“Because there are so many men and so few women in that environment, men encourage each other and when women start banding together in that space, it threatens that status quo.”
And so, Hastie got together with fellow comedians, Gilli Apter and Claudine Ullman and the three of them are now known as The Thunderbirds. The have each carved a lane in comedy as individuals but found that, as a unit, they have more power to lift up themselves and other women.
Today is the last day of the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival at the Joburg theatre. Names like Kagiso Lediga, Tumi Morake and John Vlismas host various shows on the programme. And today, The Thunderbirds have their own.
“I MC because that’s my forte,” she explains the structure of the show. “And due to the nature of me being very busy hosting a television show late night which is when I should be in the stand-up comedy rooms, I use my MC skill to the benefit of the show.
“And then Claudine comes up – we alternate and change the structure sometimes – and does a couple of characters (performances). I come back and do a link and this is when we open the next slot to an up and coming female comic.
“It’s a safe space for a new, female comic and the theatre is primed in your favour because the audience is full of people who have bought into the fact that they actually want to listen to a female comic,” says Hastie. “Then Gilli comes on and does stand-up and after that, Claudine and I come back and do character work and bring Gilli on too. So it’s a whole show on its own.”
From a five-hour road trip to the National Arts Festival, the three comedians solidified The Thunderbirds as a name, a show and a potential movement. At JICF, they aim to continue to kick down doors for other women because, Hastie says: “The barriers of entry into stand-up comedy are put into place by some actual, real life logistical issues. It’s late nights. It’s in remote areas. It’s in dodgy bars. So if you’re a woman who doesn’t have a car or a husband to escort you to these places, for you to get an open mic and actually start doing stand-up comedy is very challenging.
“Once you’re there, you’re faced with the camaraderie of men, which is hard to penetrate. Then to get onto the line-up, you’re competing with some of the world’s best comedians who use those open spots to practice for international shows or prepping for something, so to get an open spot is difficult. So you have to be tenacious and… ballsy.”
Tickets at Webtickets.co.za