By Michelle Strydom

South African comedy lovers are in for a treat this July. What excites you the most about your upcoming comedy show?

What I love most about stand-up comedy is the audience. Live comedy may literally be the last place on earth where a bug-eyed black man can say anything and not get shot. I could still get mugged after the show or cussed at by someone who took offense from a joke. Fortunately, no one gives offense, people take offense.

Do you still get nervous before performing?

Before a show, you can't get nervous because you're trying hard not to be annoyed. Random people won't leave you alone. They just corner you and ask unbelievably stupid questions, one after another rapid fire: "Is the Headless Horseman gay? “Want to see my ‘One band one sound’ tattoo? I have to take off my pants to show you though.” or “How long were you in the hospital after they pulled that alien bug out of your @$$ in Evolution?”

You’ve been to South Africa before, attended the Roast Battle and shot the Madiba series. What do you love most about the country?

Africa looks like paradise and feels like home. South Africa's history is very similar to Southern United States where I was born and raised. Despite the homogeneity of our pasts, the Nguni Bantu term Ubuntu best describes what I love most about South Africa.

In the Madiba miniseries you recently filmed, you portray the South African revolutionary, Oliver Tambo. What was the experience like?

Tambo is one of my heroes. It's daunting to play the role of someone whom you admire and respect so deeply. I don't think it's possible to encapsulate Oliver Tambo's impact on me or on the world in a single interview. In my humble opinion, Adelaide, Oliver and the entire Tambo family’s commitment to faith and human rights is important on many levels. It's one of the few examples of how a family stayed together through tremendous adversity.

Many outsiders have certain assumptions or beliefs about South Africa. Did you have any assumptions when you first visited the country?

I was Secretary General of the model organisation of African unity in 1990 before I dropped out of college, moved to Los Angeles and became a writer on NBC's hit show A Different World. I studied the ANC and all of the SADCC countries in the region too extensively to have any real misconceptions. What did surprise me, was the distinction South Africans made between Africans and coloured people. In America and rest of the world, coloured is a derogatory term used to describe all shades of Black people.

What do you think of the South African accent?

Accents tend to change by region. People in Cape Town don't sound the same as Free State residents. With the 11 official languages, South Africa has a lot of different sounds. It's definitely one of the most difficult accents to master, especially when you discover just how much the way people speak has changed since the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Catch Stand Up and Laugh with Orlando Jones on Friday, 22 July to Saturday, 23 July at the Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace. Tickets can be purchased via Computicket.

For more information, connect with Jones on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.