On Fire Comedy, in conjunction with festival partners Savanna Premium Cider, Edgars, Comedy Central, and East Coast Radio, have concluded negotiations to film the Kill or Die show, which will be packaged as a 24-minute special to air on Comedy Central. 

Kill or Die is a showcase of Durban’s newest and youngest local comedy talent to perform to a live audience and will feature Neville Pillay, Musa, Venessa Morton, Shannon Rice, Mfundo, Andrew Hughes, Ntshebe, Rory Petzer, Davin M, Sbu Mnyanda, and Tibs. It will be headlined by Joey Rasdien.

The show was initially not scheduled for filming, but one of the missions of the organisers and partners is to promote and showcase up-and-coming talent. 

“We have always been passionate about creating platforms for new talent – after all, they’re the future of Durban Comedy,” says On Fire Comedy co-owner, Jem Atkins. “We know that Savanna already does some great work to support local comedians and Edgars is also passionate about its local focus.  This is an opportunity for all of us to do something specifically for Durban and so we took a decision to fund the filming, while Comedy Central will provide the airtime. This way, money raised by the festival can be invested back into the promise we’ve made to make Durban the comedy capital of the country.”

On Fire Comedy will create the 24-minute special from the 90 minutes of live show content. “The pressure is on for the newcomers to step up and claim a spot in the TV show,” says Jess Knauf, co-owner of On Fire Comedy. “We want to put Durban talent on a pedestal, but that doesn’t mean we create a culture of handouts. What we’re doing is creating an ambitious target, and asking local comics to push themselves so that the ones who get the exposure deserve it. There’s nothing like healthy competition to raise the standard.”

Kill or Die takes place on Thursday, 15 December at 20:30 at New York Restaurant and Bar, Morningside. Tickets cost R70 at Computicket.

For the first time, the Savanna Durban Summer Comedy Festival will host Beyond a Joke, a series of panel discussions focused on the “business of funny”. 

On Fire Comedy have announced that Loyiso Gola – one of SA’s most successful and globally recognised comedians – will join the Beyond a Joke panel. Mike Saunders, well-known Durban social media guru, author, and founder of DigitLab will also be joining the panel.

Gola and Saunders will add their knowledge and insight, along with other Durban celebrities and experts during the interactive, lively panel discussions taking place on Friday, 16 December at 14:30 at the Durban Jewish Centre. Tickets are R130 at Computicket.

For more information, visit www.onfirecomedy.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.