Stand-up comedy in South Africa

Pieter Dirk Uys as his alter ego Evita Bezuidenhout

© Evita se Perron

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Comedy events abound in South Africa, from intimate weekly stand-up evenings in bars and restaurants to anything-goes improv evenings at bigger venues like comedian Kurt Schoonraad's Jou Ma Se Comedy Club at Albert Hall, in Cape Town. There are also large crowd-pulling performances in some of the country's fringe and mainstream theatres.

One thing's for sure, when deciding to experience a comedy night out on the town, there is a smorgasbord of stand-up styles to choose from.

The easiest way to keep a check on South Africa's comedy events is to go to comedy blogs, The Comedy Shop online, the different theatres' websites and Computicket online. Then for a fun night out, find out who is performing where and when. Plan carefully, especially if wanting to see a particular comedian perform, because sometimes they may make a once-off appearance at a specific gig before moving on to the next.

Comedy nights in South Africa may revolve around a theme or a particular group of comedians, who follow similar styles, but they are fun, spontaneous evenings where anything and everything goes and where fresh comedic talents often take the mic providing some exciting, never-before-seen performances.

In fact, some comedy events in South Africa are set up to specifically showcase brand new talent and to give these fledgling comedians an opportunity to stand up, take the mic and make people laugh.

South African comedy nights are normally rowdy affairs; South African people, who are used to living in a country laced with sobering issues, love escaping through laughter and especially laughing at themselves.

So audiences at these comedy events are usually not easily offended, which is why you can expect cynicism, satire, controversy, off-the-wall impersonations and good old slapstick humour, all handed out on large gutsy platters and taken by the audience with a hearty pinch of salt.