SOME of SA and the world’s best comedians are to hit the stage at Africa’s first Comedy Central International Comedy Festival in Gauteng from November 26 to December 5, Savannah Premium Cider and Comedy Central said this week.
Home-grown talent such as Trevor Noah, Donovan Goliath and Schalk Bezuidenhout would share stage time with Nigerian Basketmouth and Comedy Central’s “Roastmaster General” American Jeff Ross, said Savannah SA marketing manager Marcel Swain.
Swain said comedic style would be split into different evenings, with some nights devoted to “more risqué” comedy so that those for whom this was too much could skip it. There would also be shows in African languages including Afrikaans.
“Vernacular comedy is massive in SA,” said Swain. Savannah decided to sponsor an international comedy festival because “our guys can stand on the same stage as the international guys”.
The festival will start with November 26-28 performances by Trevor Noah, host of the US’s popular The Daily Show since the end of September. Noah will be on his own NationWild tour of SA.
It will be the first time for audiences in SA to see Ross perform, with his debut show entitled The Roast Gala. “I am so excited to be performing in SA for the first time that not even the vuvuzelas can drown me out,” Ross said.
Nigerian star Basketmouth (known to his friends as Bright Okpocha), who has organised stand-up comedy concerts across the globe, is to bring his Best of Africa show to the festival. Basketmouth has just had a successful appearance on Comedy Central Presents Lord of the Ribs.
Uganda’s Salvado (Patrick Indringi), who won the country’s best male comedian award this year, is also to appear at the festival.
Swain said Savanna was also putting its money into bringing US actor, writer and comedian Kevin Hart to SA in March with his What Now? Comedy Tour.
Source: BDlive