[PRESS OFFICE] If laughter is the best medicine, then Funny People Africa is just what the doctor ordered for South Africa at a time when Eskom is making us all feel sick and tired.
Now streaming first on Showmax, Funny People Africa is a six-part stand-up comedy series featuring 18 comedians from five African countries discussing life, love and chickens…
Here are five of our favourites:
Eddie Kadi
Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but raised in London, Kadi was named Best Comedy Newcomer at The Black Entertainment Comedy Awards in 2006. Since then he’s sold out the O2 Arena in London, been a presenter on BBC 1Xtra, and appeared on QI, among other achievements. Last year, the BBC hailed Eddie as a “global king of comedy” and asked “Could he be the funniest man in Africa?” Watch him on Funny People Africa and let us know how you’d answer…
Robby Collins
Once a lanky, long-limbed actor on the Durban theatre circuit, Robby is now an award-winning comic, loved for his ability to find the funny in otherwise painful experiences. A 2018 Comics’ Choice Comic of the Year nominee, Robby has opened for everyone from Dave Chappelle to Trevor Noah. In 2014 he won the Standard Bank Ovation Award at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival for his first one-man show, That Bushman’s Crazy, and in 2016 and 2017 he was invited to perform at the world’s biggest comedy festival, Just for Laughs, in Montreal, Canada. He was also part of the International Emmy-nominated writing team on Late Nite News With Loyiso Gola.
Glen Biderman-Pam
Glen Biderman-Pam is often the sidekick, whether he’s Rael Rosen, the groom’s best man and business partner in Tali’s Wedding Diary; the barman in #WTFTUMI; or the in-studio comedian in Larger Than Life with Jason Goliath. So it’s great to see him centre stage in Funny People Africa, finding the humour in white guilt and showing why he’s a regular nominee at the Comics’ Choice Awards.
Carl Joshua Ncube
Carl was nominated as the Comics’ Choice Pan African Comic Of The Year for the last two years in a row. To quote Comedy Central Africa, “Carl Joshua Ncube has to be the funniest comedian Zimbabwe’s ever produced.” Carl’s been featured as “the new face of Zimbabwean comedy” on CNN African Voices and has performed in 15 countries on four continents.
Dillan Oliphant
Straight out of Eldorado Park, Dillan won Newcomer Of The Year at the Comic’s Choice Awards in 2012. Having opened for Trevor Noah and featured on the International Emmy-nominated Late Nite News With Loyiso Gola, Dillan has built his brand on deadpan one-liners that make you not only laugh but think as well.
But wait there’s more…
The impressive lineup also includes Richelieu Beaunoir, 2016 Comedy Central Roast Battle Champion of South Africa; 2017 Comics’ Choice Intermediate winner Ebenhaezer Dibakwane; 2016 Standard Bank Ovation Award winner Tyson Ngubeni; 2016 Comics’ Choice Breakthough Comic Prins; Q Dube, winner of the 2017 Outstanding Comedian award at Zimbabwe’s National Arts Merit Awards; and 2015 JokeNation winner Ola, a British comic of Nigerian descent. South Africa’s Dylan Skews, Kate Pinchuck, Nicholas Goliath, and Stella Dlangalala complete the lineup with Zambia’s Lolo Malumo and Zimbabwe’s George Kuda and Long John.
Filmed at Goliath & Goliath Melrose Arch over two nights in early February 2019, Funny People Africa is produced by Mannequin Pictures, a SAFTA-winning production company responsible for comedy specials like Trevor Noah’s Daywalker and The Live Series with Barry Hilton, Donovan Goliath and Marc Lottering.
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