‘Moosa’ fun at casino dome
Comedy man supreme Riaad Moosa filled the seats at the Umfolozi Casino Resort dome on Friday night and owned the stage in a commanding one-man show.
He also took possession of the hearts and minds of his delighted audience, leaving them appreciative of a no-frills act that was indeed a belly-laugh-a-minute.
The strength of Riaad’s patter is his ability to see the comical and absurd in the everyday walk of life, so that in sharing his funny life experiences, it intersects perfectly with the exact same situations his audience share and can identify with.
What a relief to be listening to a comedian who does not have to rely on blasphemy, foul language, face-pulling and cheap shots to get a laugh; in fact, the genius of his act is that he makes himself the object of the amusement.
The jokes were all at his own expense, whether it be his failure to understand the ways, directions and decisions of his wife, to trying to understand the mindset of the conspiracy theorists during the Covid pandemic, exploring the great abyss that is a woman’s handbag, or attempting to get his children ready on time.
No notes, no background music, no light or sound effects – just a brilliant, unassuming delivery that hit the funny bones of all present.
Intelligent and effortless, Riaad appeared to be ad-libbing the entire set, his one joke or anecdote leading into the next in a non-stop verbal attack on the crowd’s senses.
Bouncing off the super audience reaction, he appeared to be enjoying the show as much as we did.
Warmly thanking the patrons for being ‘the most recent audience I have ever had’, Riaad is soon jetting off to Dubai to promote his latest movie and to delight crowds there as he did here - laughing all the way to the bank, we hope.