The Comedy Central Roast of Somizi in partnership with Showmax is making headlines and has the country buzzing with post event commentary.
South Africans will get the chance to see what the hype is all about when the show which set Golf Reef City ablaze with South Africa’s headliners airs on Comedy Central (DStv channel 122) on May 7 at 9pm. The extended uncensored version will be broadcast to Showmax subscribers from May 8.
Recorded in front of a live sold out audience on April 26 at the Lyric Theatre, the 80-minute show saw theatre goers gasp, roar with laughter and eagerly champion on panel members. Everyone can now share in the side-splitting show’s hilarity and hype around the man in the firing line, radio jock and TV host Somizi Mhlongo.
Roast Master Gareth Cliff was joined by the who’s who of the entertainment and comedy world including Mpho Popps, Skhumba, DJ Fresh, Nomzamo Mbatha,Kurt Darren, Ntsiki Mazwai, Joanne Joseph, Schalk Bezuidenhout and politician Fikile Mbalula.
Surprise guests included Idols judge Randall Abrahams. Then the man himself Somizi took centre stage, unleashed his wrath, extracted his revenge and burnt the house down.
Quipped Gareth Cliff: “We’re here to honour one of the greatest entertainers of many a generation. Dancer, actor, TV show host ... And probably the biggest chance-taker of our time.” Joseph went one better – “Somizi, I love you, but you were really crap playing a straight guy in Sarafina.”
The barbs flew and it wasn’t only Somizi who was in for a roasting: “We have Fikile Mbalula sitting here looking like Agnes Matabane” (from DJ Fresh); “Bra Fikile, where do you party now since the Saxonwold shebeen is closed?” (Nomzamo Mbatha); “Fresh, we all like burning mix CDs for our friends but we don’t call it a career!” (Kurt Darren); “Ntsiki, your sister is the famous lead singer of Bongo Maffin, but you’re just an angry muffin” (Fikile Mbalula).
With only a handful of lines that are suitable for all ages, the roasts require strictly R18 age adherence.
For all the buzz of the Comedy Central Roast of Somizi that you didn’t see, in the build up to the premier, tune into:
The Glitz and Glamour from the Red Carpet on MTV (Channel 130 on DStv) at 8pm.
The behind the scenes on BET (Channel 129 on DStv) at 8.30pm.