The 99% Zulu Comedy show turns 10 this year and its founder, Monwabisi Grootboom, is 100% ecstatic. Hosted by fiercely funny comedian Celeste Ntuli (pictured), who is also known as The Queen of Zulu Comedy, the show promises to be one for the books.
Having actually started 11 years ago as the 100% Zulu Comedy show in Durban, at a time when there was virtually no comedy organisation dedicated to comedy in one’s mother tongue, Grootboom says he realised early on that he needed to change the name.
“We noticed that not just Zulu people attended the shows so we knew we had to redefine it,” he explains. “It wasn’t just language, but other races would attend as well. That also forced us to make it 99% and not 100% because we wanted to accommodate comedians who aren’t Zulu as well.”
Today, several comedians have found fame by specifically delivering their gags in their mother tongue, including vernacular slang. But that wasn’t the case when Grootboom decided to embark on this journey of organising what would become one of the most recognised brands in comedy.
He says: “South Africa’s entertainment landscape is broadly in English. Back when we started, David Kau and Kagiso Lediga had just graduated from UCT (the University of Cape Town) and were starting the Pure Monate Show, so I asked them to come and do workshops in Durban, which were fruitful.
“South Africans are more receptive towards anything done in English and look down on anything that is vernac,” he continues, “so after those workshops, we wanted to introduce a project that would bring pride to anyone who identifies with vernac. That’s our way of contributing to deconstructing the colonial mindset and, lastly, there are just some gags that are more meaningful in a vernac context.”
No one knows that better than Ntuli. The comedian has been a mainstay on the 99% Zulu Comedy show and is described by Grootboom as “an ornament of the show, she’s a part of us”. Last year was actually the only time that Ntuli didn’t grace the stage and that’s because she and Grootboom decided to give her a break so she could give her acting career (Isibaya on Mzansi Magic) her full attention.
“Celeste isn’t just one of the people we pride ourselves on here at 99% Zulu Comedy,” says Grootboom, “but Celeste represents one of five – and that’s a rough number – females in South African comedy, so it’s important that she hosts.”
The first decade has been good to Grootboom and his team and the next 10 should be even better. He shares that they’ve “been inspired by comedy brands like Def Comedy Jam in how it went from a live show to a TV brand, so we are in the middle of discussions to make a show produced for TV next year”. There are also talks of being a part of a festival in the near future – which will further the biggest dream Grootboom has for his brand: “To be a springboard for vernacular comedy in this country.”