I recently attended the Savanna Newcomer Showcase held at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town.
There were a number of well-established comedians from in and around Cape Town in attendance.
For the first time, the SNS event came to Cape Town, and we were excited to witness 20 fresh comedians battle it out in a five-minute slot each to prove their comedic talent in front of established comedians and a difficult crowd of people who weren’t just laughing for any joke but those earned.
The “Savanna Newcomer Showcase” is the first in a series of build-up events ahead of the upcoming “Savanna Comics’ Choice Comedy Awards” and has become a staple on the annual comedy calendar.
My friend Angelique and I were seated in the fourth row from the stage and had the perfect view.
Schalk Bezuidenhout was the MC and really kept the crowd entertained between sets with his hilarious commentary after each comedian was done.
But what happened halfway through the show left the audience in a bitter mood. I, for one, was shocked by the experience.
A Durban-based comedian walked onto stage and, within the first minute of his set, made a distasteful joke about the late Kiernan (AKA) Forbes on the same day that his memorial was held.
The comedian joked about being from Durban and apologised for the recent negative publicity surrounding his hometown and then joked about the way AKA was killed.
I couldn’t believe he made an AKA joke about his death while most people were mourning the death of Super Mega. Did this comedian also not know that he was in the hometown of AKA while he made this bad joke?
Now, I know that you will probably brush it off, saying, “Argh, it's just comedy. These things happen”, but this was too much at that moment.
Actor Maurice Paige immediately stood up and shouted, from three rows behind me, “Jou ma se p***” at the top of his lungs.
The entire theatre came to an awkward silence, and people started to boo the comedian, who clearly saw he was heading for disaster.
Paige stormed out of the theatre as he burst into tears and said: “That’s my brother you making these jokes of. The man died last week and it's his memorial today. Don’t you have respect?”
I caught up with the multi-award-winning actor shortly after the incident. He said: “It's personal for me. I knew Kiernan personally and because he is a coloured Capetonian, I felt this was going too far. I don't think his joke was appropriate.
“You don’t make such a joke about anyone. The way he died was vicious and you cant make a joke about the way he was taken out.
“I know its a comedy show but comedians need to know when to make a perfect joke at a perfect time.”
“I know comedians want to use what is relevant at that time, but not something about the way AKA was taken out. Man, that’s just too sensitive.”
Cape Town comedians Stuart Taylor and Kenwyn Davids shared tips on what comedians need to do to steer clear of “bad jokes“.
Taylor said: “Often it's not so much about was it appropriate as opposed to was it funny because that’s where new comics miss the mark.
“Read the room, there’s an age-old adage that says tragedy plus time equals comedy. You can make fun of anything, if enough water is under the bridge.
“I’m writing about my own traumas, but you need to let the dust settle before you take it on.
“There is a thing called too soon. Sometimes, the wound is just too raw for you to do the joke. Unless it was phenomenally funny, scrap that out. Do something funnier.”
Davids said: “There is an easy line to draw in comedy, you need to know the audience you are speaking to. If you're going to an event where the audience are female survivors of abuse, then you, a male comedian, can’t make jokes about abuse.
“It’s going to be offensive. But at the same time, know what you can speak about. As men, we know we can’t make jokes about abuse or GBV because you, as the man, is the perpetrator there.
“This is an art form, a form of expression. Sometimes things work and other times, it doesn’t. The line we speak of is based on the individual and the audience.
“Comedy is about taking risks and that’s where you understand where the line is for yourself.”
* Venecia Valentine is an Entertainment Writer for IOL.