Have you always wanted to become a comedian ? Not really , I knew that I wanted to become an entertainer . I joined an Arts and Culture Group called ' Thabang le Rena Cultural Group ', ( ThaCuGro ), when I was only 8 years , we did stage drama , poetry and music . Even though I have always been funny , kegotše ke rata gokaelana , I just didn ' t think stand-up comedy could be someone ' s career .
Which comedian or comedians made you want to get on stage ? It was after I watched MashabelaGalane perform at SA State Theatre on 24 November 2012 , I used to think in order for one to become a standup comedian one must be well spoken . I speak that “ Benny and Betty ” type of English , I do not have the ' twang '. He was killing it ka Sepedi and that ' s when I got inspired .
What was your first time on stage like ? My first time on stage was much easier than I expected . Prior to doing comedy , I had done a lot of public speaking , so I lost my stage fright a long time ago . I really enjoyed it . It was not bad at all
How many performances did it take before you realized , " I got this "? I got it with my first performance . I was ready . My brothers from Comedy Society in Pretoria helped me arrange my set properly before I go on stage . I also read a few standup comedy books , watched DVD ' s and studied about successful comedians , their style and what makes them different .
What types of crowds are the worst to perform for ? Those who watch comedy for free , mostly in clubs . It is not always the case but in most instances they tend to not respect the artist and become rowdy , why ? It ' s because they got nothing to lose . They didn ' t spend money to be there so they don ' t care , if people pay , even if it ' s as little as R10 at entrance , you know that they are there because they want to be there .
What happens if people don ‛ t laugh ? I keep going and just pretend I was serious and it was not a Joke . LOL !
How do you deal with hecklers ? It depends on the situation , I speak on stress and at times I might make a joke alluding to some stress in that person ' s day . The other way of dealing with it is that I would lose eye contact with that person . Pretend they don ' t exist . Others know he is being rude and by doing this , he is the one who looks bad , not you . Batho ba gana ke majwala ..
Aren ‛ t hecklers helping the show ? No , they are spoiling it . Sometimes they even mess up with your set if you entertain them .
What do you do to generate new ideas if you ' re struggling to come up with new material ? I watch the news , I read newspapers . As long as we still have Mr Jacob as our President then there is no way most comedians will run out of material ?
Photo Cred : Kgaugelo Mojapelo
www . megaartists . co . za Mar- Apr 2016 Page 9