If you want to test a comedian’s abilities, forget sold-out arenas and television specials. Put them in front of a room full of journalists.
We are not an easy crowd.
Journalists spend their days chasing deadlines, attending community meetings, covering local events, following municipal issues and trying to make sense of the stories that shape our neighbourhoods. Most of us have developed a healthy scepticism about almost everything, including claims that something will be “a great night out”.
Yet on Tuesday evening at the Baxter Theatre, the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival achieved something remarkable.
It made journalists laugh.
Not polite chuckles. Not the obligatory smiles people produce when they know they are supposed to be having fun.
Real laughter.
The kind that sneaks up on you, leaves your cheeks sore and momentarily makes you forget about tomorrow’s deadlines.
As the proud media partner of the festival, Cape Community Media staff and invited guests joined a packed audience for what turned out to be an evening of comedy, music, impressions, variety entertainment and wonderfully unpredictable moments.
The annual festival, now in its 27th year, has become one of Cape Town’s great winter traditions. For nearly three decades, it has brought together some of South Africa’s best-known comedians, exciting emerging talent and world-class international performers, earning a reputation as one of the country’s premier comedy events.
This year’s line-up delivered exactly that.
Master of ceremonies Alan Committie held everything together with the confidence and ease of a man who has spent decades making people laugh. Whether introducing acts, interacting with the audience or filling the gaps between performances, Committie ensured there was never a lull in the evening.
Emo Adams brought his trademark blend of humour, music and storytelling. Effortlessly charming and endlessly likeable, he had the audience hanging on every word.
Jason Goliath demonstrated why he remains one of South Africa’s most recognisable comedy performers. His observations about South African life landed perfectly with an audience that recognised every absurdity he described.
One of the international highlights was Mike Woodhams, whose uncanny celebrity impressions and musical comedy routines repeatedly left audience members wondering how one person could sound like so many others.
The festival’s commitment to nurturing new talent was equally evident. Recent Jive Funny Championship joint winners Chuma Bentele and Zachary Esau have emerged as exciting new voices on the local comedy scene. Their success reflects one of the festival’s greatest strengths, creating opportunities for fresh talent to develop and shine alongside established stars.
That investment in emerging performers has been part of the festival’s DNA since its inception. It ensures that while audiences come to see household names, they often leave having discovered their next favourite comedian.
Looking around the theatre, it was impossible not to notice how quickly the audience relaxed. Editors, reporters, photographers and community storytellers who spend their days focused on the issues affecting local neighbourhoods were suddenly united by something much simpler, laughter.
The longer the evening went on, the more it became clear that comedians and community journalists have more in common than many people realise.
Cape Community Media’s publications are built around hyper-local storytelling. Every week our newsrooms report on the issues, triumphs, frustrations and quirks that shape life in the communities we serve. Comedians do much the same thing, albeit with a microphone instead of a notebook.
Both pay attention to what is happening around them.
Both listen to ordinary people.
Both reflect the realities of everyday life.
Both rely on freedom of expression.
Whether it is a community journalist highlighting a neighbourhood issue or a comedian finding humour in the shared experiences of South Africans, both help us make sense of the world around us.
In South Africa, both professions are blessed with an endless supply of material. Every day seems to produce a fresh political controversy, government mishap, social media meltdown or bizarre headline.
That is what makes the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival more than just another night at the theatre.
Founded as a celebration of freedom of expression in South Africa’s young democracy, the festival remains a reminder of why voices matter, whether they belong to reporters, commentators, satirists or comedians.
Perhaps that is why journalists and comedians have always been natural allies. Both spend their days observing society, asking questions and trying to make sense of a country that is equal parts inspiring, frustrating, hilarious and bewildering.
The only real difference is that journalists write the story in the morning and comedians turn it into a punchline that evening.
In South Africa, both professions have job security.
Judging by the laughter at the Baxter Theatre on Tuesday night, nobody is likely to run out of material anytime soon.