I sometimes wonder if Capetonians know just how good they have it. Let me explain. I come from a small town called Kimberley. Around there all we have are diamond mines and pubs. When you go out for a night on the town, you go dancing since there isn’t much else to do. Either that or you stay at home and braai with your friends. The yearly ‘Gariep Fees’ was the closest we came to having a festival of any sorts in our mining town. I am not saying there is anything wrong with those two activities, but when that is all you have available to you, the boredom sets in rather easily.
Since I have moved to Cape Town though, I have been spoiled for choice. We have musicals, drama, ballet, opera and of course, my favourite, comedy shows. At any night of the week I can drive to a venue around Cape Town hosting a comedy night and see people who I have only ever seen on TV perform live on stage, mere meters away from me. Yip, Capetonians have it really good.
Not so long ago, I went to Ragazzis for an Open Mic night show. Ragazzi’s is a small bar where the stage is basically the stairs that lead out to the balcony that overlooks Long Street. The Open Mic event is held on the last Wednesday of every month for anyone interested in going. Any newbie comics can come and show their stuff to a crowd that will either love them, or hate them. The event is organised by local Cape Town Comic Rustum August. I was fortunate enough to have a sit down with Rustum to talk to him about the different shows he and the Starving Comics organise:
The point I was trying to make at the beginning of this article is that Capetonians have all these great shows and opportunities right at their finger tips. We do not have to wait for a big festival to come to town for us to be entertained. Let’s not forget this and let’s try and support the local acts as much as we can. If they are bad, it is our job to let them know so they can improve, and if they are good, let’s stand together and cheer for them.
RJ: Tell me more about the Starving Comics, who you guys are and what you guys do around Cape Town for comedy.
RA: Starving Comics is a comedy collective, essentially it started in 2008, there were four of us, and we started at Zula. Now there are just two of us that organise at Zula, and I organise my own shows. Starving comics is probably the unofficial collective of Cape Town comedy, there’s no real structure, and nobody is in charge. Okay, well, I book the gigs so I have to pretty much make sure everybody shows up. There’s no hierarchical order. It’s a collective for people who want to try and boost comedy as a career I guess.
RJ: What gigs do you do around Cape Town?
RA: We do Sundays, it’s called Comics at Work. It’s basically a pretty raw show, so there’s no microphone, no pressure; you take your notes on stage. That’s on Sunday at the Armchair. There’s Zula on Mondays. I run this open mic night once a month, on the last Wednesday of every month. Then the second last Wednesday there’s Pakalolo in Tableview and the last Thursday of every month there’s comedy at Pakalolo in Hout Bay. There’s also Somerset West on the first and last Saturday of every month, but that’s just me.
RJ: So how would you describe the comedy industry in Cape Town?
RA: It ebbs and flows, I think. Winter is obviously a bit of a struggle, but it’s been developing over the past four years. Some venues thrive, others don’t. The weekly ones don’t really gain as many audience members as we’d like but if we don’t do it every week we kind of lose momentum. That’s what happened when Zula moved from its old premises. I mean it had been going downhill for a while, but we didn’t do it for three weeks and then we had the Show Down which was pretty well attended but now it’s back to 16, 20 people which at the old Zula was never... I think the lowest attendance we ever had there was about 24? And that was bad attendance, considering. We’ve had nights at the old venue with 100 people, 120 up to 150. It’s not always conducive comedy, but it’s a gig.
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| Rustum August |
RJ: How long have you been doing comedy personally?
RA: My first show was in 2007. I actually spoke to Martin Evans about this yesterday, he MC’d the event and I fuckin’ died on my ass, I didn’t know what I was doing. I can look back now and it’s painful but I’ve come a long way. The first one was in 2007, but essentially I really got into it in 2008. February 2008 is when we started Zula. So I’ve been gigging it since 2008.
RJ: You obviously see a lot of guys trying to get into comedy. What tips would you give to comedians who are just starting out?
RA: Comedy is a very personal thing and for me originality is something that your personality can only bring out. Comedy has a formula like anything else. If you learn the formula you’ve got to then try and imprint your own personality, observations and your own story telling to the formula. The essentiality of comedy is to set up a punch line. I do very short setups. I often have one-worded punch lines. People tell stories and set it up and they get laughs in-between and there’s a big pay off at the end – which doesn’t suit my somewhat schitzo personality. I mean I don’t know if you’ve ever seen me perform, there’s no order of like, now I’m talking about dogs, I talk about anything. A lot of people don’t find it funny – it probably isn’t funny most of time – but some people enjoy it, ja, some people really get into it. I can’t watch myself... I always say I’m getting better, but I don’t really know how good I am. I don’t even think I’m good, I think I’m bad approaching average.
RJ: What do you think comedy in Cape Town needs to give it that extra boost, to push it over the top?
RA: It needs publicity. Sponsorships are another thing, but it needs publicity. People need to be made aware that there’s not just Trevor Noah and Loyiso Gola doing comedy, there are other forms of it. Fair enough, if I walk into a night club and I see a band I don’t know will I give them a listen, I doubt it, but if I read about them I’m more likely to. A lot of us are stuck in our shells in Cape Town. We’re these odd click orientated, but it basically needs people to know that comedy is happening and there are people out there trying to make a career out of this. And it’s only dependant on people that come out and constantly support and spread the word. Other than that comedians need to start writing more, doing more and I think building on what they have at the moment. A lot of us are safe in what we do and once you have a reputation on the scene you don’t want to spoil it by, you know, trying new jokes and being shit. So it’s that fine line between constantly building on what you have as well as keeping the old stuff. Constantly evolving your style, your material, because when you start even you don’t know what you’re comfortable with.
RJ: I’ve only ever seen you doing your 15 minute set in a club, are you planning on doing a one-man show?
RA: It obviously will get to that point, but I’m not sure how much of an audience I have. There are a handful of people who would want to come see me for an hour. I don’t know how to deal with an hour really. But I will do it in the future no doubt, at the moment I don’t feel the rush. I see a lot of up-and-coming comics are doing one man shows and I’m all for it but it comes back to constantly creating. I think the more established guys could provide some knowledge like “where to from here”. I mean, we’re all doing it, there’s kind of a scene, but we don’t know where to from here. I see a lot of comedians in the day time unmotivated because, well, they smoke a lot of dope, but it’s also from not knowing where to from here. I mean, I’ve been doing it for four and a half years and I know a little bit, but only because I’ve exposed myself to it and I’ve gone to see people who have done one man shows and spoken to them. That’s obviously the next step but what’s in-between?
RJ: Do all the comics in South Africa basically know each other and are they all friendly towards each other or is it just Cape Town that’s close? I’ve noticed you guys seem to support each other where you can.
RA: I can’t speak for the rest of the country... People who’ve come down and played have been friendly, nobody’s been a ‘primadonna’. There is a camaraderie around Cape Town comics, we are all supportive of the direction we’re heading in, but there’s also a feeling amongst some of us that there’s a click, like Starving Comics is only So-and-so and So-and-so. But if you hang out with your mates who are comics then obviously it’s going to seem like it. Some personalities gel and others just don’t. It’s just the nature of any business or industry.
- Comics @ Work every Sunday at the Armchair theatre
- C.O.M.E. (Comedy on Monday Evenings) at Zula bar
- Open Mic Comedy Night at Ragazzi’s on the last Wendesday
- First and Last Saturday of every Month at Old Bridge Tavern.
- Pakalolo TableView on the second last Wednesday of every month.
- Pakalolo Houtbay on the second last Thursday of every month.
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