Pricking the nation’s funny bone

Noko Mosoete

Noko Mosoete

Published Aug 14, 2015

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In SePedi, Noko Mosoete’s first name means “porcupine”. But her real demeanour is the opposite of prickly. The comedienne who has been nominated in the Savanna Newcomer Comic category of the Comic’s Choice Awards, is warm and quick to chuckle. When we meet on a hot day in Pretoria, she’s still speechless about being considered for the awards, which are now in their fifth year.

“It feels,” she pauses, “I don’t know. Getting a nomination was something everyone was saying I should expect because of the way the industry has been receiving me. After only four months of doing comedy, I was already on stages with people like Kagiso Lediga.”

Raised in Limpopo, the 31-year-old funnywoman came to Pretoria to study linguistics at the Tshwane University of Technology.

“But I couldn’t find a job except as a lecturer at a private college,” she remembers.

As the private sector doesn’t dish out permanent posts, Mosoete felt it fitting to study further so she could become a teacher at Further Education and Training colleges.

It was during this phase that she decided to take comedy seriously: “I started doing comedy when I got a job because that’s when I could afford to go to shows.”

Having always wanted to act – a la Monique – but knowing she also had a knack for stand-up, Mosoete decided to join the Comedy Society last year where rehearsals take place every Wednesday.

This society of seasoned comedians who care deeply about the craft of being funny is clearly an integral part of Mosoete’s life. It’s clear in how her eyes light up when talking about it. This and the advent of more recognisable female faces in the funny business have helped the comedienne home in on her career.

When I ask her which superheroes each of the comediennes who are nominated for the Comic’s Choice Awards would be, Mosoete doesn’t like the idea. She thinks these women are more powerful than what the Marvel universe could offer.

“If I could put her in the Bible, Tumi Morake would be the Moses of all women because she came to lead us into the promised land,” Mosoete emphatically says.

“Celeste Ntuli is who I use when I’m trying to convince my parents that comedy works,” she chuckles. “My parents watch Isibaya so when she comes on TV, I tell my parents that she’s also a comedian so she’s my example of success.”

If watching her at events like Vernacular Spectacular is anything to go by, Mosoete will have success in heaps. Her brand of comedy is an inward look at her life and mostly what she doesn’t want in it.

“I think the funniest jokes are the ones that are personal,” she says, “unlike why did the chicken cross the road? Comedy is about conviction so you have to convince the audience of who you are.”

l The fifth annual Comic’s Choice Awards take place at the Teatro at Montecasino on Saturday. Tickets are available at Computicket.

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