Woodstock film-maker, Mzonke Maloney won the prestigious Jive Funny Championships at Canal Walk on Saturday and now moves onto the bill of the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival, on at the Baxter Theatre from Monday June 5 to Sunday July 2.
The Jive Funny Championships is South Africa’s largest competition which searches for Cape Town’s next great comic. Held over the month of May, twenty four comedians made it through the initial screening process. Four heats were run, on each Wednesday of May at the Canal Walk Auditorium, each producing a winner and on one or two occasions where judging was difficult, an extra wild card entrant was chosen.
Originally from Klerksdorp, Mzonke Maloney has lived in Cape Town since an early age. A film-maker by profession who was fortunate to study the trade in Los Angeles, Mzonke now directs commercials for a living.
He has been interested in comedy all his life and was challenged to go on stage by comic Lazalo Gola for whom he wrote material. That was a year ago. He entered the Jive Funny Championships with 86 other aspirant comics, and won the competition.
The heats were judged by a selection of A-grade comedians and performers and Jive Cape Town Funny Festival director, Eddy Cassar, all of whom know exactly what it takes to navigate the local industry.
The finalists performed their three-minute set at the Canal Walk Auditorium on Saturday in front of renowned judges David Kramer and Alan Committie, who will be the MC for the festival.
The championships is the social entrepreneurship project of the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival and has been part of the programme has been part of the festival for the past 10 years and has seen winners develop a career in the art form.
The winner of the Jive Funny Championships joins the prestigious line-up of top local and international acts for the duration of the festival, experiencing comedy on a big scale, playing to 600 people every night for an entire month.
Other prizes include a laptop and airtime from MTN, a gift card from Canal Walk and R5 000 from the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival and a three-minute nightly spot on the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival line-up.
The finalists were Simanga Chikavhu from Oakdale, Wesley Paulse from Strandfontein, Elton Zvinavashe from Parow, Celine Tshika from Vredehoek, Stuart Botha from Grassy Park and Zachary Esau from Vanguard Estate.
Evening performances for the Funny Festival at the Baxter, from June 5 to July 2, are at 8pm and Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 4pm; no under-16s. Tickets can be booked at Webtickets. The festival also offers generous discounts for group bookings. For more details on this, visit www.funnyfestival.co.za or call 082 450 3151.
