“I’m a cool dad. That’s my thang,” Phil Dunphy self-assuredly boasts during the pilot episode of Modern Family. “I’m hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL? Laugh out loud. OMG? Oh, my god. WTF? Why the face?”
Then again, Phil doesn’t live in South Africa. But Nik Rabinowitz does. That’s why he’s not only the kind of cool dad that knows what that abbreviation really stands for, but also one that fluently weaves it into his vocabulary when referring to the state of the nation. We all do.
Hell, with daily reports of high-ranking officials faking their degrees, those DA outfits worn to SONA and Baleka Mbete being unable to “recognise” anyone from up where she was sitting in parliament, it’s now even the first thing my GPS asks when I switch it on in the morning.
“You know that feeling. You’ve made pasta, poured yourself a drink and are about to enjoy one of modern life’s greatest pleasures: dinner in front of the TV. And then it’s all snatched away from you in an instant thanks to load shedding,” Rabinowitz reveals in the programme.
“Whether it’s the robots that haven’t worked in so long that motorists are confused when actually they do for a change, or politicians marching into parliament in Pep Store overalls, hard hats and Italian shoes; at some point you’ve probably asked yourself, ‘What the EFF?’”
Directed by Brent Palmer, this is the funnyman’s latest stand-up show at the Baxter following 2013’s uNik. At the time up-and-coming comedian Kagiso “KG” Mokgadi opened for him, and it has been great seeing his name pop up more frequently in the press since.
For that reason I was very excited to hear that Sne Dladla was given an opening slot this time around. If you did not see this multi-skilled young performer in last year’s Fergus of Galloway, or more recently in David Kramer’s Orpheus in Africa, then do make a plan to go see both those productions when they make their inevitable return to Cape Town.
Armed with a guitar, his trademark expressive facial features and a smile that could disarm even Randall Abrahams, a lot of his routine revolves around highlighting behavioural stereotypes associated with specific racial groups. And while Whites having two left feet, Blacks not being able to swim and Indians liking curry has certainly become the go-to gag of the local stand-up circuit, Dladla brings a freshness and tone to his observations that makes his material feel different.
Already a showbiz triple threat (a performer equally skilled at dancing, singing and acting), to learn here then that he’s also a witty wordsmith with a great sense of humour makes him a very interesting individual to track in the coming years. There is a new kind of local theatre brewing, and it is young artists like him that will be at the forefront of it.
But back to our cool dad. The last time we saw Rabinowitz he just returned from playing cricket with an Afrikaans Jews in Israel and double-checking to see if that was really a flower-eating moose he saw sauntering into a Canadian Shoprite.
This time around, however, he keeps it all local. Choosing to begin right where he himself lives, the audience is first taken on a detour through the “leafy green ganglands of Constantia,” before ending at the fiasco that was our recent State of the Nation Address.
Which brings us to Msholozi, who, along with Oscar Pistorius, have unfortunately (for them) drawn the shortest straw in What the EFF? The Guptas, Nkandla, all of his wives, the shower incident, the middle-finger pushing up the glasses and, of course, the giggling while rome burns down; Rabinowitz lines them all up while never missing his target.
A comedian who draws inspiration from various sources, while he certainly isn’t scared to “go there” with his jokes, one never gets the idea that he’s saying things just for the sake of effect alone.
By way of three lightboxes flickering photos ranging from Kim Kardashian’s Paper Magazine cover to Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo-Zuma cutting cake, the viewer will often also be taken beyond the laughter in order to question the ultimate insanity of it all. In the end, you might as well let go and ride this roller-coaster with both hands while cackling like the captain of our country’s ship himself. An animated show full of cheek and lots of “Oh, No You Didn’t!”-moments, make sure to go see What the EFF? first on how it’s done properly.
l Tickets: R120 – R165, 0861 915 8000, see www.computicket.com