Kagiso "KG" Mokgadi used to tease people a lot while he was growing up.
He would be in the school bus with his friends travelling from Mabopane to Pretoria West when the "games" would begin.
“There was this one guy, Clement, that I destroyed once and he kicked me out of the bus.”
Mokgadi said his friends would tell him how funny he was and that he should pursue a career in stand-up comedy. “They felt I needed to get paid for the nonsense I spoke. I think I've known I was funny my whole life.
"I was more doubtful after I became a professional.”
Mokgadi is part of the line-up in the upcoming Johannesburg International Comedy Festival (JICF) and is one of the "new" exciting talents to look out for.
He was motivated to go professional in 2013 by friends in industry.
“It was a choice between working in Poland (in IT) or doing stand-up.
"I spoke to a couple of guys in making the decision knowing I would lose pension benefits and thinking I would have to convince the wife, which, surprisingly, she did not need much of.”
When he first saw comedy in the 1990s he was confident that he could do it.
“In college, we were that group of broke guys and used comedy to get people to hang out with us.”
As part of the JICF, Mokgadi intends to make his mark.
“Takunda Bimha gave me a call and said we are looking for fresh faces that Jozi people might not know and my name popped up in a conversation with Kagiso Lediga.”
The JICF takes place from March 14- March 16
Bimha is the founder and director for JICF, which is presented by radio station 947.
The festival will be a big laugh with four days of world-class, side-splitting comedy.
The biggest independent international comedy festival in Africa, the JICF rolls out its third edition with more than 40 local, continental and international comics at the Nelson Mandela and The Fringe at the Joburg Theatre.
Regarding the local comedy circuit, Mokgadi said he was in awe of its growth. “It is beautiful. There was a point where all your favourite comics are your favourites because they are famous.
"I love David Kau, Kagiso Lediga, Stuart Taylor and the like, who have been doing it for a long time.
"Then you have a space for people like Dylan Skews and Siya Seya who no one really knows but are so funny and confident."
Mokgadi will be spreading his wings with one-man shows in Port Elizabeth, Joburg and Pretoria this year.
The festival extravaganza takes place at the Joburg Theatre from March 14 to 17. For more information see www.jicf.co.za. Tickets range from R150 to R250 and are available via www.joburgtheatre.com and by calling 086167067.