Comedy’s Kau-boy rides into town

Leading South African comedian, David Kau (pictured), is embarking on a new one-man show. Simply titled David Kau: Here To Make You Laugh, he will perform at The Artscape Theatre today and tomorrow.

Fifteen years since his foray into comedy, Kau wants to launch his return to the stage in the Mother City. He was in town to perform at last year’s Nando’s Comedy Festival but Here To Make You Laugh will be the first time he’ll deliver a set that is longer than 15 minutes in about three years.

“I have been busy with the Blacks Only comedy show,” he tells me over the phone as he rushes to a radio interview, “but I haven’t done Blacks Only in Cape Town for about three years and I haven’t done a one- man show here in,well, I don’t even remember in how long.

“Things tend to be the same in Joburg after a while and I wanted to start here because Cape Town is different.

“After this, I want to go to all the other cities that don’t get that much attention and probably end off in Joburg where the audience might be bigger and then we can shoot a DVD.”

His previous DVD, I Did These Jokes First – which was released in 2006 – sold well and resulted in Kau performing what he called the prequel to I Did These Jokes First, another one-man show called I Should’ve Done These Jokes First, in 2010.

Both shows went the way of his quarterly Blacks Only shows in Joburg and were sold out, so it remains to be seen if Cape Town will break what Kau has become accustomed to.

Something tells me Kau is sweating the numbers, though, as performing in the Mother City means more to him than just making money. After all, Kau’s comedy career was launched when he became the only black person to perform at the 1998 Smirnoff Comedy Festival which featured 44 comedians.

He says: “I do get inspired to come back to Cape Town sometimes because I do get bored.

“Joburg city in general does get boring sometimes. For instance, I went to a club gig here in Cape Town last night and didn’t know any other comedians on the line-up except the MC.

“That’s refreshing and new and what I love about Cape Town is that the audience is very cosmopolitan and mixed – exactly like how things were when we first started comedy. Tourists from America, the UK, Australia and even Namibia were in the audience at Mr Pickwicks so that makes Cape Town great.

“Especially when it comes to writing material because you have to write for a mixed audience, whereas in Joburg there are automatically a lot of black people who are going to be in the audience.”

Kau is looking forward to performing to a mixed crowd and we’re looking forward to seeing how getting married and becoming a father of two, as well as his view on politics and more will affect his material when David Kau: Here To Make You Laugh hits the stage.

• See David Kau in Here To Make You Laugh at The Artscape Theatre on DF Malan Street today and tomorrow. Tickets are priced between R120 and R150 at Computicket.

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