The Soweto Comedy Festival is back and its bigger than ever

The theme for this year’s festival will be ‘The funny business of Comedy’ and it will aim to highlight how the comedy industry has contributed towards creating jobs for up and coming comedians and how the comedy industry has transformed in the past eight years.

The line-up includes mainstream comedians who have managed to establish stable careers out of comedy. Producers of the show have opted to feature comedians who pioneered the explosion of vernac comedy. Vernac comedy is at the forefront and it is in-sync with other vernac cultures like vernac hip hop and Vernac TV.

Organiser of the show, Nubreed creative director, Kedibone Mulaudzi, says that they want to show fans that comedy can not only be funny but it can also be a stable business. Mulaudzi, who has been instrumental in training comedians like Trevor Noah, Chris Mapane, Jay Boogie and many others through his Nubreed’s Comedy Academy, maintains that fans will experience a once in a lifetime show, never to be repeated again.

“This is the first time that these popular South African comedians – seven of them worked in the same house. These guys are always getting bookings across the country every week;we have really chosen the cream of the crop in their field of Vernac comedy,” he says.

The festival normally takes place over four days, but this time around the producers decided to compress the show into two hot shows that will kick start at 20:00 on both Friday, 31 July and Saturday, 1 August. The venue, the Soweto Theatre plays significant role in hosting the show as it has given a platform to up and coming comedians to showcase their skills through a bigger crowd.

“We have a deep connection with the theatre, because it is in Soweto and it belongs to the people, so we feel like we have a spiritual link. The Soweto Comedy Festival was the first comedy show to be done when the Theatre opened its doors,” said Mulaudzi.

The lineup includes legends in the business such as Mashabela Galane (Strictly Vernac, Rocking the Mother Tongue), Tol A$$ Mo (Mo Love, Ek Se Lets Talk and others), Thapelo Tips Shampoo (SABC1 Sports @10, the movie Taxi Ride and others), Chris Mapane (Resident Comedian on Selimathunzi and Metro FM's PreParty), Jay Boogie (Oz Comedy Nights), MduNtuli (Multiple award winner), Smowkey Nyembe (Oz Comedy Nights), Kedibone Mulaudzi (Comedy Central, DailySun TV, Joyous Celebration) and more.

To purchase tickets, visit The Soweto Theatre’s website, here.

For more information on the Soweto Comedy Festival, which takes place from Friday, 31 July to Saturday, 1 August, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.