Sure, it’s one thing to crack a joke around the braai, but to do it on stage, night after night? These four comedy kings of SA have managed to make it their day job.
Dalin Oliver
This Capetonian has managed to merge his true loves: comedy and sports. For years he was on-air as Good Hope FM’s side-splitting sports presenter, and now he’s travelling the world with his one-man shows… as one does, you know. He’s on his sixth show right now. Before the Boks headed to France for the World Cup, they sat down with him for a six-part sports show called The Late Late Tackle with Dalin Oliver’. Somehow, he also manages to find time to be one half of the duo behind the ‘Non-Travelling Reserves’ sports podcast. But before all this, he was entertaining students in the classroom. Yep, this former Maths and history teacher changed tack after working abroad changed his view on life.
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“Never did I think that this would be the story ’14 years later. After my first gig in Athlone, I knew I wanted to be a comedian,” he told Expresso Morning Show. “I bombed but also didn’t bomb, because my friends were there, and they would laugh no matter what. I’m just so grateful to the core of people who supported me: university, sport and school friends, and the people who created stages for us. I wouldn’t be here without them. I also had hair back then, so I’ve watched my career grow and hairline decrease!”
Dalin spent four months performing overseas in 2024 and looks on track to do the same this year. “As a comic, after I hit 30, I felt I know a bit about life. I know the difference between sheets for a king or queen bed. Now, there’s more lived experience… and I can speak about things from a more mature perspective.”
KG Mokgadi
It’s often said that behind every joke is a kernel of truth — and that’s definitely the case when KG is in the driver’s seat for Politically Aweh, an award-winning online satirical news show, or his own one-man comedy shows. Whether it’s small-town corruption or having his own Covid baby, nothing is off limits. “All my jokes are for real — the truth is easy to remember! With a lie, you spend too much time wondering what you lied about;’ he told ‘The Dressing Room’ podcast.
@kagisokgmokgadi in South Africa appliance have different use that the rest if the world. The education is also different #southafrica #Eskom #eskomesepush #loadshedding #africa #corruption ♬ original sound – kagiso
Back in 2010, he was faced with a choice: take an IT job opportunity in Europe or pursue his stand-up career. He was miserable here in the job as it was, so it was no use being miserable with it in Germany, he reckoned. His wife and comic friends told him it was a “no-brainer”, yet he needed more convincing it would work.
“After my first comedy show, I was sure. I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life: he says. Fast-forward 15 years and his award cabinet is filling up quickly. He’s mentoring up-and-coming comic Khanyisa JamJam. And KG’s a sangoma — just like his father — and reveals that “the ancestors have you on speed-dial and call you whenever they want”. Who knows what will happen in the next 15 years?
Riaad Moosa
You probably know that Riaad is a medical doctor, for real, but did you know he was a comedy magician before that? Yep, he graduated from the College of Magic in Cape Town as a teen, way before his dilemma of choosing between medicine and stand-up comedy began.
He got his first true taste of stand-up while on a gap year from university. He spent time with the Cape Comedy Collective, and although he returned to campus, the comedy bug had bitten. After completing his medical internship, he stepped onto stage full-time, and a string of shows followed.
“Very soon, I got rid of my [magician’s] bag of tricks and just started doing stand-up comedy,” he told BizCommunity. From Material, the 2012 autobiographical film, to his Virtual Comedy Club, Riaad is always ready to poke fun at himself first.
“I use myself as a template for my comedy,” he told The Guardian. “So my background as a Muslim man, my being a doctor, I talk about my family quite a lot, my kids… Anything that resonates with me, I talk about. The important thing is it should work in a family setting.”
Loyiso Gola
Loyiso learnt at a young age what comedy means: re-enacting stories for his parents and their friends had them laughing — but also hearing him out. It was one way he got airtime with adults. He’d also be the guy joking around with his school sports team after a loss lifting their spirits.
“I already knew the mechanics of comedy. But I realised, as much as I was funny, stand-up comedy is a completely different ballgame,” he told GQ magazine. “It’s a discipline. Many people are funny, but to be good at stand-up, you have to understand why something is funny. You also need to be able to do it repeatedly.”
He takes the task of writing a show seriously, only talking about what he finds funny and not what he thinks others will chuckle at. He takes time to “just be”, allowing ideas to simmer to the surface.
“As a comedian, the more removed you are, the better,” he told The Guardian. When you’re researching a satirical show, you immerse yourself in politics, there’s a lot of information… But I don’t want that. I don’t want special knowledge from the minister who sent me an email. I want to know as much as, and no more than, the man in the street.”
And this is clear in his Netflix special, Unlearning, filmed in the Zeitz-MOCAA art museum in Cape Town in 2021. He unpicks everything we’ve learnt growing up but should question, keeping the audience in stitches with personal experiences of just that.
The twice Emmy-nominated comedian is a household name in SA, but his ambitions are global. His goal is to have material that transcends borders, with audiences lining up anywhere he lands. Why? Because this will make him a better comedian.
By: Christi Nortier
Photography by: Supplied
Text courtesy of MAN magazine
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