CLAIM TO FAME: Actor & Comedian
What projects have you got lined up this year?
I have a lot, mostly science and history with my kids. It’s tragic when as an adult you put in huge effort and your Grade 5 only gets a C, but it’s better than the D I used to get. So I’ve obviously improved as an adult. More importantly, though, I’m working on putting together the absolute best braai festival in South Africa, aka “The Ultimate Braai Master Live”. We had our inaugural event last year, and as a passionate braaier myself, I loved it. This year is going to be bigger and better and I can’t wait. There’s braai food, braai gadgets, braai demos braai comedy, braai beer, braai wine, other braai booze.
Which do you find funnier? British or American humour?
Both. The assumption behind the question is dry, intelligent humour vs slapstick, but I’ve seen a lot of American comics & sitcoms doing high-brow stuff. I’ve also watched Benny Hill get chased around by random ladies, but before I start ranting, the short answer, if I had to choose, is British; I completely loved series such as Monty Python and Fawlty Towers the first time I saw them.
What city did you travel to the last and how did you find it?
Sydney. I found it easy. The pilot did most of the work, I just got on the plane. I was there for The Sydney Comedy Festival and Meatstock (a BBQ and Music festival) and I loved both. The city is like Cape Town on steroids, super well-run and efficient (although there is no giant mountain to help with navigation. It was a bit weird how organised it all was, and weirder still that a part of me missed the chaos. I started to feel a bit homesick, so the friend I was staying with turned off all the lights for two hours and mugged me, that helped a lot.
Despite our challenges in SA, what about our country can we still be grateful for?
Being alive… No, seriously, we have so much that I love. We have so many diverse cultures and interesting people, this means we’ll always be open-minded, and willing to listen to new ideas and alternative points of view. We have a lot of challenges, but this has made South Africans more resilient and innovative than most. South Africans have the best sense of humour, and our ability to laugh at ourselves is unparalleled. We have a beautiful country with so much in terms of landscape and biodiversity and I truly believe, as a population, we have our differences, but if we stand together and strive for a common goal, we’ll be unstoppable, the Springboks are proof of this. IB