‘Our country has enough material to last thousands of lifetimes. Our president is quite the comedian himself,” says stand-up comedian Dillan Oliphant as he explains where he finds inspiration for his material.
Tonight chatted to him about his upcoming performance at the Coloured Comedy Festival. The two-day fest engages in typical bruino tales from some of the most hilarious South African comedians and runs at Sibaya’s iZulu Theatre this weekend.
The show seeks to not only showcase the best of current and emerging stand-up comic talent, but also explore the unique South African cultural narrative.
Some of the other acts included on the bill are Richelieu B (pictured, far right), Neil Green, Calvin Stoffel and Liam E.
Explaining how he first caught the comedy bug, Oliphant says it began in 2010.
“I figured if Bafana can be funny, why can’t I? I won the Nando’s comedy competition in my first two months of comedy and ever since, I’ve been doing comedy professionally.
“But I was always the quiet and reserved kind. I loved jokes and laughing, but never saw it as a viable option. In fact, when I told my family and friends that I wanted to do comedy, everyone thought I was just joking.” As for his set at the Coloured Comedy fest, the jokester says he gets his inspiration from his daily life.
“This includes where I’m from which is Eldorado Park – the Afrikaans Wentworth of Johannesburg.”
For those lucky folk who managed to catch Trevor Noah’s NationWild show last year, you would be familiar with Oliphant’s style of comedy as he was one of the guys touring with Noah.
Commenting on that experience, he says: “I still can’t believe I got to tour with Africa’s biggest comedian and the host of The Daily Show. Ever since I started comedy, it has been a goal of mine to just share a stage and I got to go around the country with Trevor.
“Trevor’s work ethic is unbelievable and he’s nothing but an inspiration to me. And like Whitney Houston says: ‘People need someone to look up to’ and Trevor’s that guy, because he’s also very tall.”
Steering the conversation towards Oliphant’s one-man show, The Oliphant in the Room, the comedian says it was a dream come true to have a solo show of his own: “And it was sold out at the Market Theatre, the place where I watched my first comedy show. That just took it to another level. It was some of my best material I have written over the five years of comedy so it was a huge success and I look forward to touring the show all over the country.”
On the fest this weekend, Oliphant reveals: “It’s awesome that a mixed group can get together, laugh and not just stab and sell cheap drugs. It’s also an awesome way to have coloureds debunk all our stereotypes and show peeps how our coloured people really behave.”
l The Coloured Comedy Fest, Friday, Saturday at 8pm at Sibaya iZulu Theatre. R120 at Computicket and Shoprite outlets.