Stellar cast for Funny Festival’s silver jubilee

A stellar cast of seasoned stand-up comics, singers, and entertainers, accompanied by international acts, is lining up to perform in the 25th anniversary edition of South Africa’s premier comedy variety show, the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival.

A Cape Town institution which has consistently played to capacity houses in its month-long run, the festival takes place at the Baxter Theatre from Monday June 10 to Sunday July 7.

Producer Eddy Cassar, who founded the festival in 1997, says audiences can once again look forward to an evening of high-quality entertainment at what Capetonians have fondly come to call “Jive”.

This year’s quarter-century celebratory show sees hugely popular international entertainers, American circus artist/comedian Mario Queen of the Circus and British-Armenian comedic pianist Kev Orkian, return to Cape Town to join the likes of award-winning local performers Emo and Loukmaan Adams and comedy supremo Alan Committie for the full run of the festival.

Completing the line-up will be some of South Africa’s great comedic talents, including Dalin Oliver, Khanyisa Bunu, Dillan Oliphant, Sifiso Nene, Kagiso KG Mokgadi and Yaseen Barnes.

Says Cassar: “We’ve got an excellent line-up this year as we turn 25, which is a very special milestone.”

The annual Jive Funny Championship – the city’s biggest stand-up comedy talent search which gives the winner a covetable slot on the festival stage – is also in the celebratory mix and open-mic sessions have already begun.

Alan Committie, who has been the show’s Master of Ceremonies for 16 years, describes the festival in the heart of the wet Cape winter as “a month of joyous crowds meeting high-quality comedy entertainment”.

Integral to the show’s success is not only Cassar’s passion for and commitment to the project since its inception but the involvement of Jive Cooldrinks as title sponsor for 13 years.

“It takes a lot of work to put on a sell-out show that is a financial success … It’s important to have a sponsor and a business strategy,” says Cassar.

Sharief Parker, Jive Cooldrinks CEO and founder, says the festival has “brought a lot to the Jive brand” and vice versa; the relationship is one of “camaraderie, negotiation, and give-and-take, which is very rare”.

Says Parker: “The common denominator between Eddy and Jive Cooldrinks is that the festival is engineered to speak to our community, which resonated with us and our company culture. Jive is entrenched in the community and has an emotional link to it.”

The successful partnership is set to continue for at least four more years, with Jive recently contracting Cassar to produce four more funny festivals.

Renowned singer, songwriter, and producer David Kramer, who first worked with Cassar in 1995 when he was approached to do the publicity and sponsorship for Kramer and Taliep Petersen’s musical Kat and the Kings, says Cassar has a special talent for finding sponsors and “getting them on board”.

Committie says Cassar is a “superb business-relationship strategist”. “He is a warm-hearted, generous, hard-working family man who takes pride in his ability to find the symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship between sponsors, artists, and audiences. This is his super-power. He is supreme at it.”

Part of the Jive magic is the “size, enthusiasm and generosity of the audiences”, Committie believes.

Cassar has “taught the crowd to expect clean, clever and high-quality entertainment and they have consistently responded with huge attendance, early booking, big block bookings and – most importantly – very big reactions and guffaws”.

Comedian Marc Lottering agrees. “Eddy’s festival – after all, that’s what it really is – affords every comedian and performer the privilege of walking onto the Baxter Theatre stage nightly, with a built-in, loyal, 650-strong comedy audience.

“As a producer myself, I know that this is the most precious gift that any artist could ask for, regardless of how long you’ve been in the business.”

Cassar’s skilled and meticulous curation of the show is one of its many stand-out successes.

Says David Kramer, “The longevity of the festival is truly phenomenal in the industry. Eddy has been very consistent: he set a standard for himself, and he did something no other producer has done in this country, namely combine a variety of local and international acts, and he has done it every year, and people now understand what to expect. That is really the secret of his success.”

Comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout, who first appeared on the Jive stage in 2013, says he was impressed at “how amazing it was”. “There were other comedy festivals with international acts but the performers at Jive really just blew people’s minds and took the show to another level.”

Well-known actor and singer Emo Adams, who returned to the show in 2023 after first performing in 2019, says: “In no world would you ever get a line-up of that calibre together in one show, performing on one stage … so to be part of it all, is a ‘wow’ moment!”

Tumi Morake agrees, saying Cassar curates “a magical bag of comedy of all kinds … like a box of comedy Smarties”. “When I first performed at Jive, I was very curious about his quirky line-up as the acts were acrobats, magicians, musicians, stand-up comedians … I had never seen anything like it before … the experience was phenomenal, and I fell in love with Cape Town”.

Cassar, who has a special interest in the circus, regularly travels overseas in search of acts, ideas, and inspiration at iconic events such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Freiburg Kulturborse and, more recently, the Adelaide Fringe Festival. His network of performers, agents, and producers with whom he works is impressive, and international.

Cassar says it’s all about creating balance, and it’s not only the kind of acts but where they appear in the line-up. The most important thing is that an audience needs to breathe, and the speciality acts serve as “breathers”. “I follow them up with a little-known local act as the audience is more relaxed at that point and more forgiving. When organising the show, I can hear the laughter in my mind as I plan the running order. The way I experience it is the way the audience will as well.”

One of the festival’s most attractive aspects is its intent to give rookie and new comedians a chance to have their 15 minutes of fame. Says Marc Lottering: “Can you just imagine what it’s like for a brand-new comedian to walk onto such a stage in one of the most vibrant theatres in the country. This is a crucial aspect of Eddy’s festival: the absolute necessity to introduce the audience to the newest comics in the country – it’s an opportunity that can change a comedian’s life.”

One such comedian was Reagan Allen, now MEC for Community Safety and Police Oversight. In 2018, through a collaboration with Jive and the Cape Town Comedy Club, Allen took part in a competition, won the prize, and got to be part of the festival line-up. “It was incredible, and I really enjoyed the experience … and it contributed to my being nominated for the SA Comics Choice Newcomer Award.”

Comedian Kurt Schoonraad believes this search for new talent is the most important thing the festival contributes to the SA comedy landscape.

And it also shows the community that the festival is not only about making money, but about giving back, Kramer notes.

Part of the huge appeal is the fact that Cassar is a clean-comedy supporter. When he’s performing at Jive, as he has so many times in the past, Nik Rabinowitz prepares by writing a set list and “promising Eddy I won’t swear”.

Cassar says the pressure to maintain the standard of the festival is “huge”. “You are only as good as your last show.”

It’s clear that Cassar has huge respect, admiration and appreciation for the comedians and performers with whom he works. “They all have a strong signature and bring different comedic elements to the show. South Africans don’t realise the calibre of comedians in this country, they are world-class.”

He says he feels very proud when they talk about the project.

The respect is mutual. Schoonraad says Cassar is “hugely respected” in the comedy community, “and his huge contribution to our industry cannot be overstated”.

Many comedians use the word “gentleman” when they describe Cassar. Like Lottering. “Eddy is a thorough gentleman who treats everyone on the bill with a great deal of respect, whether you’ve been on the scene for one month or 20 years. And this is why many comedians and performers, locally and abroad, look forward to the phone call from Eddy, inviting them to be part of this premier South African comedy variety festival.”

Let’s give Tumi Morake the last word. “Eddy must get flowers while he is alive. He is the most humble, honest, sweet man who always includes a blessing in his greetings. He has created a platform that forces people to take our craft seriously. Long live, Eddy, long live! Long live Jive Cape Town Funny Festival, long live!”

• Tickets for the 25th Jive Cape Town Funny Festival are on sale via Webtickets and there are discounts for group and block bookings of more than 10 people.

• The Jive Funny Championship auditions started on April 13 with the remaining heats on April 24, and May 1 and 8 with the finals on May 22.

For more information, visit https://funnyfestival.co.za