John Vlismas is planning his own solo roast of President Jacob Zuma in his new show Revelations – Open Wide, Here I Come.
The show is taking place on May 23 and 24 at the Lyric Theatre.
But JZ and his shower cap are not the only controversial part of the show. “I am attacking my own sacred cows,” says the hyperactive, hyperintelligent comedian. “The concept is that if I am going to tackle sacred cows why not tackle my own sacred cows.”
The name of the show is inspired by the Book of Revelations. “The book is also called the Apocalypse of John, who is mad,” he explains. “We, as a species, are determined that the world is going to end from the Mayan calendar to the Bible.”
With topics like this the show is bound to be explosive, vicious, thought-provoking, and of course very funny. But Vlismas who has always pushed boundaries since his early days as a stand-up comedian in Durban Poison, has bigger plans for this cutting-edge show.
This includes a rock band as well as multimedia visuals.
“I have a band called the Spinebenders performing. It will be their first public performance. I am also using True Detective influenced visuals.”
True Detective is the HBO eight-part mini series starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.
“It’s a multimedia comedy show. I collect a lot of technology and am using some of it in the show. I don’t want that eighties vibe of a lone guy standing in front of a brick wall. Those days are over. Nowadays it must be like watching Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson.”
He says he would like to take the show national, but logistically it is hard to move the show due to the amount of equipment involved. The show is being filmed for Comedy Central.
Vlismas has also decided that he enjoys behind-the-scenes production as much as being onstage. To this end he is working on corporate productions like The Gathering. “Corporate people liked the way we do the annual Comedy Awards and started commissioning us to do work for them. These in turn allows us to use the bigger toys that we buy.
“I really want to be the Brian Eno of local comedy. I don’t care if I’m on the stage or behind the scenes. I get the same kicks out of designing stuff. My hero, however, is Brian Eno who always sits quietly in the background.”
Vlismas also has his own TV studio for the various productions he works on. But he has his own nefarious plans for the future. “When I am older I want to shoot dark sketches with people like Casper de Vries and Riaan van Staden right here in this studio and put it on YouTube.”
• Tickets are available from Computicket.