NOW in its 10th year, the 99% Zulu Comedy returns to Durban for its fourth annual Vodacom Durban July comedy special. Taking place on July 2 at the Olive Convention Centre, the show also forms the second Durban leg of its 10th anniversary celebration which was sold out last month. A decade later, and the show is bigger and better than ever before.
Tonight caught up with the producer of the 99% Zulu Comedy, Monwabisi Grootboom, to learn more about its success over the years: “The sense of achievement certainly feels good. The feeling is more awesome when one reflects the many layers of obstacles we’ve had to overcome in order to reach the current success. Most of our challenges were – and to some extent still are – political, social and economic. We pride ourselves of the role we play in sustaining jobs for artists; social cohesion; comedy development as a national growth sector in the creative industries as well as language development. I’m very grateful for the support the country has shown over the years in order for us to have reached 10 years still with great demand.”
There’s no denying that the show has gained a huge following over the years. Why do you think it resonates so with local audiences?
“The show, much as it is branded ‘Zulu’, is very deliberately multilingual although it has Nguni language dominance. The consumers find it very relevant in that the show is professionally produced; urbane; features seasoned comedians of diverse backgrounds and the content is very relevant politically and socially,” Grootboom shares.
With regards to audience attendance and growth over the years, he says: “The show began at the BAT Centre and resided there until 2008 when the venue became too small. While the growth of the show was a 3 000-seater venue (sold out) at the ICC in 2009, the actual climax was when we initiated a footprint to Joburg, PE, East London, Witbank, Secunda and Cape Town. Selling out anything from 1 000 to 3 000-seater venues in these cities and towns is the crown of the brand.”
The show will cover issues such as politics, current affairs, race, romantic relationships, cultures, HIV/Aids and so on.
As for the line-up and production of this show in comparison to the first leg, there will be a different approach. Grootboom says: “The upcoming show will feature different comical elements that complete a well-rounded comedy production. We always like to keep surprise elements for our audience, even in the line-up.
“However, the upcoming show will be hosted by Celeste Ntuli and headlined by Skhumba Hlophe, who hosted the first leg of our 10th anniversary last month. The show features seven comedians and will have some pleasant surprises. In addition, Mpumi, whose break to fame came through Euphonik and Heavy K, will be featured as a musician. So we always feature new and fresh faces who have never been showcased on our stage. The surprise element always leaves room for creativity and space for artists the audience wasn’t expecting.”
l Catch the 99% Zulu Comedy show on July 2 at the Olive Convention Centre at 8pm. From R180 at Computicket.