Maureen Isaacson
Kedibone Mulaudzi, who will host the fifth annual Soweto Comedy Festival at Maponya Mall, says that “comedy is the best medicine”.
Mulaudzi, who has shared the stage with Chris Rock, is the regular host of the weekly Soweto Premium Comedy Nights at Nino’s Maponya Mall, Joburg Premium Comedy Nights at Darkie Café, Anderson Street, and Tshwane Comedy Nights at The South African State Theatre. He said he “is just the right clown” to host the festival.
“If you come to our show you need to leave there feeling good. The comedy celebrates people and our culture and ourselves as South Africans. Yes, there are people such as Julius Malema and our president – and so we don’t need to write comedy, it’s just there,” said Mulaudzi.
Politicians like to watch Late Night News with Loyiso Gola on eTV on Friday nights, he said, because they are able to laugh at themselves. That’s why they should attend the Soweto Comedy festival.
New Breed Comedy, a company he founded with other comedians, brought “the New Breed Festival” to Soweto by popular demand, said Mulaudzi. “We used to have comedy night on Wednesdays at Horror Cafe in Newtown, and although people came from Joburg’s northern and southern suburbs, they came mainly from Soweto and requested that we bring comedy to Soweto.”
Each show of this year’s five-night Soweto Comedy Festival will be recorded for a DVD to be released later this year. The fest will run at the movie theatres in Maponya Mall from Thursday until Sunday. Shows start at 8pm.
For more info and the line-up, visit www.sowetocomedyfest.co.za, join the Soweto Comedy Festival group on Facebook or follow ‘SowetoComedyFe’ on Twitter. For block bookings, contact Nandipha Dubula at [email protected]