HEAVY
DIRECTOR: Rob van Vuuren
CAST: Kagiso 'KG' Mokgadi, Calvin Benson
VENUE: Golden Arrow Studio, Baxter
UNTIL: Saturday
RATING: ***
Kagiso “KG” Mokgadi (pictured) makes much of his size, so if he suddenly went on a Stuart Lightbody dieting moment, half his very funny schtick would probably have to change very drastically.
He is not an observational people watcher, his patter is about his own personal experiences as the son of a sangoma father and Western medicine nurse mother.
If you have seen his stand-up show before then about a third of what he says will be familiar, but the rest is new. But, his strength lies more in the delivery anyway.
KG is a big one for the pregnant pause. He speaks at a measured pace, very easy to understand, but he also knows how to use the meaningful silence to emphasise his point, and give the audience time to catch up and laugh.
And laugh you will, because he is amusing.
He spends a lot of his energy not doing anything, but then again he also spends a lot of time eating because he loves his food, so here is someone we can all empathise with. Or at least, most of us.
So that is half of where the title comes from. But, he also manages to touch on some heavy subjects, highlighting some of the absurdities of how South Africans engage with each other.
While everyone has their own way of looking at the world, KG can articulate his viewpoint in a way that is not offensive, but is funny because he shows us how illogical we are being. Or at least, how illogical from his point of view.
He is also quite magnanimous – support act Calvin Benson warmed up the crowd very quickly with his assured jokes which drew very much on his coloured identity and his rapid-fire pace was well-received by the crowd.
• Please pay attention to the PG 13 age restriction.