The annual Mass Hysteria comedy show which sees comedians play parly as a cabinet of long-winded but LOL-worthy titles is back.
The show, which will have Joburg and Cape Town runs in August and October, respectively, will feature John Vlismas as Minister of Non-Communicative Diseases, Mpho Popps Modikoane as Minister of Television and Gratuitous Adverts and Nik Rabinowitz as Minister of Shark-Infested Water Affairs.
It will also treat crowds to Tumi Morake as Minister of Ben10s, YOLO and Homesteads, Chester Missing as the Shadow Puppet Minister as well as Alan Committie as Minister for Upgrading, Downsizing, Insighting and Outsourcing. Marc Lottering will return as Minister of the Cape, Retail Therapy and Statues.
Lottering is thrilled to be back with this line-up and says: “I was away because comedy festivals make me nervous. You have to wait backstage, listen to the laughter before you go on and say: ‘Oh, lord, I have to follow that?’ I always ask the producers of the shows to put me on after the unfunniest comedian. You’ll have to come to Mass Hysteria to see whom I perform after.”
He’s obviously joking, but this kind of humour is standard banter between the comedians on this line-up. At one point during the press conference, Vlismas rolls his eyes when introducing Missing and ventriloquist, Conrad Koch, saying: “This is a controversial post because why would we have to pay two salaries?”
It’s an odd list of portfolios to be in charge of but Lottering is not complaining about being the Minister of the Cape, Retail Therapy and Statues. As he explains: “I wrote some things just to be silly and make people smile, but I do want to make it my business to put coloureds on TV. These days, we have colour TVs, but everything is still black and white.”
I ask him how he will change that and without skipping a beat he starts: “ We’re going to first –” then he jumps up and laughs out loud: “Wait! I’m not a real minister,” he looks at me, hand covering his mouth while he giggles: “I can’t believe that just happened. That was weird.”
We joke that politics might be his calling after all since he is so passionate about putting coloured people on TV to act as CEOs and not just gangsters. But he is adamant that he wants to remain a comedian and a regular citizen for now because becoming a minister is not funny.
“I don’t know the names of the different portfolios in the real parliament,” he starts, “but people forget that there are things in this country that work. I live my life around coffee shops. There are a lot of sexy coffee shops around. I don’t know which minister is organising that, but I’m happy. So long as they keep the generators running.”
l Mass Hysteria, The Teatro in Montecasino, Joburg, August 19 to 23 and then at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town from October 14 to 25. Book at Computicket.