IT’S his birthday and David Kau is bringing on the funny. Yep, our celebrated South African comedian turns 37, marking more than 17 years in stand-up. And he is rounding up a few friends, including long-time BFF Kagiso Lediga, for a night of unadulterated funniness with MoJokes.
He shares: “I’m going to tell as many jokes as I can, for as long as the audience is willing to sit and laugh through them. I haven’t done a one- man show in a while. I have new material dripping out of my ass. I’m turning 37 this Saturday and have been doing comedy for over 17 years. I’m going to have a ball.”
While Kau belongs to a refreshing legion of homegrown comedians, as does Lediga, they don’t see themselves through the fame-tinted glasses of their fans.
He notes: “I don’t think Kagiso thinks he’s a celebrity. But I pretty much ask him to be in anything I do, if not in front of the camera or behind it, then on stage. He can do a minute or 10 minutes, it doesn’t matter, if he’s available. He may be going to direct or shoot a commercial in Cape Town, so we will see. I’ve basically told comedians and some DJs/musicians I know to pop in if they are available. I have no idea who will come.”
Interestingly, Blacks Only Comedy has been running for 11 years now.
Kau says: “It’s a platform for comedians to perform in any language they want to, but it’s still mostly in English. It’s also for black people to laugh as much and as hard as they want.”
The line-up includes Skhumba Hlophe, Thapelo “Tips” Seemise, Loyiso Madinga, Sifiso Nene, Schalk Bezuidenhout, Mashabela Galane and, as Kau says, “That comedian on every poster!”
They will also tour the show in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, East London, Port Elizabeth and Durban.
On a comedian only being as good as his last show, Kau reveals: “I always have fresh material. Making people laugh, or ‘telling jokes’ as some people call it, is like baking cupcakes to me.
“They are always fresh, but might taste the same, come in different flavours, but you will always go back based on how they last tasted. This might not make sense, but that’s part of what inspires my material – cupcakes, my wife, my kids, South Africans, my trips overseas and what I can remember about my life growing up in the townships, and trying to make sense of all of this in the country and time we live in today.”
In case you are wondering, he has not had that awkward stage moment with a joke that was “too soon”.
As for more females joining stand-up comedy, Kau believes there is a still a long way to go for a more representative population in that regard and is determined to have a hand in finding them.
“Tumi Morake and Celeste Ntuli are doing great. There’s Thenjiwe (very popular on Facebook and Whatsapp) and Nina Hastie. And I’m starting to follow Lihle Lindzy. Hopefully, I will do a show where I’m the only male on the line-up.”
Living in a world where timing is everything, it looks like Kau has got it spot on. Aside from the DVD of MoJokes, tours in South Africa and parts of Africa, he is also producing Hlophe’s first one-man show tour, followed by a DVD.
Also in the kitty, there’s a second season of David Kau’s House TV show, he is developing a sports show for Seemise, as well as looking to write, direct and produce his next feature film.
He quips: “And, get solar powered energy for my house and say bye-bye to Eskom… this won’t fit in one pipeline.” (laughs)
Of course, it would make for a riotous punchline at some laugh-shedding stage!
• David Kau will be performing at The Soweto Theatre tomorrow and on Saturday at 8pm. Tickets cost between R120 and R200. His Blacks Only Comedy will be at Emperors Palace on May 30. Ticket prices range from R200, R225, R250, R300, R325 to R350. Tickets for both shows are available through Computicket.