A threesome’s show hosted by an anti-comedy MC promises to be a “tour de farce”.
‘Our poster had an arrow on it and no matter who we stuck the poster next to, we were funnier than them,” chuckles Warren Robertson. He is one third of the comedians who are putting on a short run of Funnier Than Them at the Theatre On The Square from October 21 to 25.
Robertson is laughing when he breaks down the title but if the successful run at this year’s National Arts Festival and sold-out Cape Town shows are anything to go by, he and Chris Forrest and Daniel “Deep Fried Man” Friedman should be taken seriously.
All jokes aside, how did the idea of doing three sets by three totally different comedians – a deadpan comedian, a dark observational comedian and a musical comedian - – come about?
“We get drunk together and make each other laugh a lot,” says Robertson, “although our styles are different, they are complementary because we all share a sense of humour. If the two of them can make me laugh then we are on to something.”
They are also on to a very unique twist of the regular stand-up comedy show. They’ve added an animated host called Gerry D Atric.
He dislikes Robertson and Forrest – who co-host the Lolz show on Ballz Radio which takes a humorous look at new headlines every week – and frequent Lolz guest, Deep Fried Man, equally.
Dubbed the “anti-comedy MC”, this uber old comic ties the show together by being a satirical representation of the opposite of everything that Funnier Than Them is about. “He tells 1990s jokes,” explains Robertson, “and he hates all of us. We’ve made him purposefully different from us.”
Another decidedly different comedian will be at the Theatre On The Square stage after the Funnier Than Them run.
But unlike Gerry D Atric, Robert Whitehead is an actor and comedian who is about progress while trying to push the envelope. He will star in Doobee Boobies, staged from October 28.
The musical drag show is a bigger and better version of one that was staged a few years ago. In it, you’ll meet famous – some whom you’ll recognise as caricatures of small screen sirens – and not-so-famous drag queens.
Whitehead zones in on the idea of femaleness using the classic traits of drag shows: innuendo, mime and traditional drag. Through six characters, Whitehead will breathe life into a subgenre that sometimes needs saving.
Robertson doesn’t think the comedians are overnight saviours of the culture with Funnier Than Them, but he does believe that “comedians need to start taking control of our own shows and challenge certain expectations. Chris, Daniel and I believe that shows like Funnier Than Them are going to be the way forward.”
And if they were superheroes, like say in The Avengers, which superheroes would the comedians personify? Robertson pauses then says, “Chris would be the old venerable leader. Wait! No, he’d be Captain America. Then Daniel would be Iron Man because that guitar is like his shiny suit.
“Also, he is the one with all the money.”
And Robertson? Which Avenger would he be? “I’ll be the one Scarlett Johansson plays,” he laughs, “because I’m the sexy one.”
• Funnier Than Them is at the Theatre On The Square at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton from October 21 to 25. Doobee Boobies is at the same venue from October 28 to November 15. Book at the box office or go to www.theatreonthesquare.co.za