When you fall in love, your body experiences a rush of hormones to the brain. The same can be said when you laugh! This Valentines Day, why not give yourself a double dose of the happies when the annual Kings & Queens of Comedy presented by East Coast Radio kicks off its season with a steamy Valentines Edition at the Durban ICC on the 14th of February 2020.
Kings & Queens of Comedy has always been about celebrating the best in South African comedy and this royal-line up features a bevy of fan favourites taking center stage including Darren Maule, Mo Vawda, Neil Green, Nik Rabinowitz, Ndumiso Lindi, Rob van Buuren, Rory Petzer, Thenjiwe Moseley and Tumi Morake, as well as some brand new faces to the KNQ stage whom include, Dillan Oliphant, Ebenheazer Dibakwane, Mojak Lehoko and Prins.
"This top-class line-up is what comedy loving auidences love about attending our shows, It's a brand that we have nurtured and that we are extremely proud of. 2020 is going to see some exciting comedy developments from our end" - said Blu Blood MD and KNQ promoter, Osman Osman.
Celebrating eight years of Kings & Queens of Comedy, Blu Blood created the brand in 2012 in Johannesburg and it has since grown to be one of the leading comedy brands in South Africa, promoting and showcasing local talent from around the country. The comedy heavy weights have shined their comical armour and sharpened their witty swords and are ready to take hilarity to the next level. Kings & Queens of Comedy: Valentine's Edition, 14 February 2020 at the Durban ICC. Tickets from R180 are available from Computicket.
Everyone's favourite comedic sitcom might not be making a come back but with our local comedians around, at least we'll still have something to laugh about. F.R.I.E.N.D.S is the all new live stand up comedy show that's hitting Durban is next. 'The One in Durban' features Darren Maule as your host and joining him on stage is his fellow comedian friends, Celeste Ntuli, Schalk Benzuidenhout, Ndumiso Lindi, Mark Banks, Marc Lottering, Lindy Johnson, Neil Green and Robby Collins.
Taking places on the 11th of October at the Durban ICC, you can enjoy an evening of hysterics with this bunch. Darren, had this to say about the show "Sometimes people forget that I began my career in stand-up comedy. I worked my way up through the comedy ranks, eventually moved onto TV and have spent the better part of the last 8 years on radio. I've been busy, it's no wonder I miss my comedy friends! This show is a win-win for everyone!"
Time and time again, research has proven that not only is laughter the best medicine but that having friends helps us live longer and healthier lives and improves our general happiness and mood. Which is why Darren's picked his personal favourites - some of the best in the business - for this top notch night of entertainment. "One thing I that I love the most about stnad-up comedy is the camaraderie that I haven't experienced elsewhere before. It doesn't matter who you are, when you are backstage about to do a gig, whether you've done as many shows as you can count on one hand or 5000 shows like the greats, it doesn't matter. Everyone has a connection, a real sense of 'we are a unique bunch of people with a very particular skill set; we will find you and when we do, we will make you laugh!'" -added Darren
Tickets for Darren Maule and Friends start fro R200 and are available from Computicket, the show starts are 8pm and is rated PG-16.
Another hilarious production brought to you by East Coast Radio and Blu Blood.
South Africa's favourite Doctor come comedian is back with another tour that is sure to leave the audiences in stitches!....of laughter, not the medical type. In his latest show, 'Life Begins', Riaad explores the myth of the saying "Life Begin's at 40", in a hilarious one man show which is a snapshot into his life as a 40 year old, a father of three kids, husband, comedian, actor and with all the current cultural and political issues thrown in.
Having already treated sold-out crowds in Johannesburg and Cape Town, the next leg of his tour see's him visiting Rustenburg, Newcastle, Durban and Empangeni from the 21st of October.
"Even though I am now 40, in many ways, I feel like I'm still crawling and I'm looking back at my journey from being an aspirational doctor, coming from a relatively conservative Muslim background, where both of my parents were doctors, and how I actually journeyed to becoming a stand-up comedian" - says Riaad
Being a qualified Doctor, Riaad has spent most of his life treating people with laughter on stage and in doing so he has won many awards for his stand-up, acting, writing and presenting. He has built his reputation to be one of South Africa's most popular and acclaimed funny men. His jokes serve as a remedy for the nations ill's.
"The show is very philosophical and existential. It involves the normal issues of getting older while at the same time experiencing, at a maturity where I'm supposed to be wise, a world that is completely turned on its head - with Trump, with Brexit; In South Africa, the 'State Capture', 'Fees Must Fall, 'DOOM'. And it's about how I negotiate all these things happening around me while trying to maintain a positive attitude. Through my comedic lends, I hope to put a different spin on that and hopefully my next 40 years will be lived with renewed vigour and excitement" _ Moosa added
To make sure you get your prescription of laughter with Riaad Moosa's side splitting funny one-man show, Life Begins, at the following venues around South Africa:
21 October (20h00) - Rustenburg Civic Centre, Rustenburg
4 November (20h00) - Blackrock Casino, Newcastle
10, 11, 12 November (20h00) - The Playhouse Theatre, Durban
18 November (20h00) - Umfolozi Hotel Casino and Convention Centre Resort, Empangeni
Tickets from R150 and are now on sale at Computicket online and outlets.
Durban's very own Magician extraordinaire is back to mesmerize and mystify local audiences and leave them spell bound in a new show featuring brand new acts. Fresh from his recent trip to Las Vegas and Hollywood, Mo Magic ready to take audiences through his world class magic, mystifying mentalism, incredible illusions and family friendly comedy in a 90 minute interactive performance themed "Moments of Wonder", all taking place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from the 9th to the 12th of March. Themed around the concept of wonder, he points out that we as human experience "wonder" on a daily basis in different forms, e.g. whilst watching movies, listening to music, spending time with loved ones and whilst watching the sun rise or set. he takes a number of these scenarios and creates magic with them, putting his own spin on them, and shares these moments of wonder with the audience. The magician does not want to give too much away and would rather the audience experience the magic for themselves in his latest theatre production.
"Moments of Wonder" will run from the 9-12 March 2017 at the Elizabeth Sneddon theatre (UKZN campus), the moves to the Hexagon theatre in Pietermaritzburg (UKZN) from the 30 March - 1 April. Mo's previous theatre productions ("Amazing You!" in 2012 and "Mo Magic" in 2016) were sell out successes and ticket s for this run of "Moments of Wonder" are limited. Book your tickets early and be part of the magic. Tickets start from R100 and are available at Computicket, Shoprite & Checkers.
Madame Zingara has been around in South Africa for a while now, touring around the country and wowing the audiences where ever they go. Not only with the live acts and performances but also with their mouth watering menu! Now I've seen features about Madame Zingara on TV and read a bit about it in the press before but I always thought it wasn't for me. I never really enjoyed the circus and I'm not the biggest fan of theater or dressing up so you could see why I never really wanted to go for it but last week I was invited by the people down at Suncoast Casino to attend the special media VIP night and figured here's my chance to go see what all the fuss was about.
The invite said to dress smart but also noted that there will be a store at the venue to buy props and face painting. The hell kind of event was I going for?! Dressed up in my suit I made it to the venue which is the second parking area at Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World, just my luck the mother of all storms decided to hit Durban that night, no sweat, I bolted to the entrance passing the complementary bar on the way in. A stop for a cool beverage was a must as Durban's humidity was still relentless despite the pouring rain.
As I entered the tent it felt like I jumped into a fantasy world, antique furniture, dim lighting , props all around, even some moving ones! Everyone was dressed in their best outfits and most sporting painted faces and garments from the store. Feeling a bit left out, I went into the store to see what was on sale. Everything from hats, to various accessories and props even a face painting stand with a number of styles to choose from. Having arrived late I didn't get a chance to browse the entire store as we had to make our way into the main tent arena so the show could commence.
At my table I was joined by some familiar faces from the online world, glad that I had some company throughout the evening. We were greeted promptly by our waitress for the night who explained the menu and the choices we had, gave us some time to decide while she got us some drinks and our mezze platters. Now I've heard that besides the breath taking acts, the food served at Madame Zingara is quite phenomenal so I was really looking forward to that aspect of the night as well.
The Food
The Mezze platter which was all veg was a wonderful array of tapas, marinated tomatoes and olives, cream of mushroom soup, pita and tatziki, also on the plate was a beetroot tart. I personally am not a fan of beetroot but decided to give it go, much to my surprise it was delicious! For the following 2 courses we could choose from a variety of options, for starters opted for the spinach, ricotta and butternut ravioli and for the mains, the much talked about chili chocolate steak was on everyone's mind but I don't eat beef so I chose to have the lamb shank. All of which lived up to the hype, the ravioli was done to perfection with flavours that burst in your mouth along with the rich napoletana sauce.
The lamb shank was quite a sizable one, served with a thick gravy and roasted veg with mash, it was cooked beautifully with just a fork required to eat it as the meat just fell off the bone. Dessert took things to another level with rich malva pudding and red velvet cheese cake both served with a lovely vanilla ice cream. The food was certainly one of the main highlights of the night, it's quite astonishing to see such a wide variety catered for such a big audience and every meal prepared was done so with perfection and timeously. Hats off to the chef and his helpers!
The Show
Normally when I attend a show I know very little about, I usually do some research on it so I know what to expect, this time round I didn't do that so I went in completely oblivious and basically made everything a surprise for me, one of my followers did mention that I would enjoy the bath tub act and boy were they right! But more of that later.
The two main characters are this fairy (Klien Pomplenickle) who doesn't speak very well nor can she fly and her supposedly fairy god father (Hot Mr MC), who's swag holds no boundaries as he even sports a grill! They are sort of the master of ceremonies for night as they take us through their journey and introduce the various acts. The performers come from all parts of the world showcasing their unique talents, be it gymnastics, aerobatics, singing or theatrics. Each and every one of the acts had the audience on the edge of their seats with displays that pushed boundaries and kept everyone captivated. As spoken before, the bath tub scene was one to watch out for, and if you are sitting close to the stage you might want to carry a towel as things do get wet! One of the last acts saw an Argentinian duo spell bound the crowd with their beats and drums, we also had a chance to meet and chat with one of them after the show, it was quite cool to learn more about the lives of these performers as they travel the world entertaining thousands. I don't want to give away too much about the performances as I feel you need to experience yourself.
It's certainly nothing that I expected and I was pleasantly surprised, whether you're a fan or not, if you get the chance go, head on down and enjoy an evening of great food, impeccable service and brilliant entertainment. It will be money well spent and if you were left anything like how I was left feeling, you would want to go see it again!
The show is on at the Suncoast Casino until the 30th of April, ticket prices start from R390 and are available from the website:
Website:www.madamezingara.com
Facebook: Madame Zingara
Twitter: @madame_zingara
