Represent Interview: Loyiso Gola
Miss P is back and she’s working it…Siyanamukela! Catch her tête-à-tête with supernovae Loyiso Gola – reach out for falling stardust as he shoots his way through the entertainment galaxy! Watch this space for ticket give-aways to his show next week. Represent!
Loyisa Gola is a funny man. But what else is he about? It’s just over a week before his show ‘Loyiso Gola for President (Part 2)’and Palesa Madumo caught up with him on the set of his television show ‘Dinner with the President’ which airs on Thursdays on SABC 2 at 21:30.
(FOR A LIVE ENCOUNTER: Catch Loyiso from 29 November to 1 December, Live from the Alexander Theatre (Siemens St, Braamfontein) from 29 November to 1 December 2007. Tickets are R100 at Computicket and R120 at the door. Doors open at 19h30 and the show will start at 20h00 sharp!)
Take it away Miss P: Loyiso Gola’s forthright talk could definitely land him in hot water, however, I suspect that he usually gets away with it, it’s in his nature- after all he is a comedian!
Watching Loyiso perform his role as Evita Bezuidenhoud’s, (Pieter Dirk Uys) grandson on the kitsch living room set of his comical talk show ‘Dinner with the President’ reveals his blasé yet spontaneous funny man nature. He’s just turned 24 and scooped the Best Breakthrough Comedy Act award at the inaugural South African Comedy Awards held in September- it seems; this rather lofty bona fide heavyweight from Gugulethu has the world in the palm of his hand.
I hung out with him on a break from the first half on the morning’s shoot and Loyiso almost immediately started speaking explicitly about himself, his work and his general opinion about certain matters, including interviews, which he finds to be repetitive and lacking substance at times.
I agree, once you’ve read one thing about Loyiso online, it seems you know it all, so in an attempt to uncover new insight, when he asked my opinion about his show last year- ‘Loyiso Gola for President’, I jump on the opportunity to address what I felt was a rather insensitive joke about child sexual abuse in South Africa.
“I’m a candid person. I don’t think that jokes about abuse are insensitive, I think what I do allows me to talk about what I want to talk about, the way I want to talk about it. I don’t think people come to a comedy show to learn, they come to laugh and hear about topical issues- in a funny way”
It is clear that even though Loyiso makes jokes about sensitive situations, he is actually concerned and active in curbing some of the social ills in South Africa. Charity work seems part and parcel of his job as he does a tremendous amount of work for Childline and other charities. In fact he and fellow comedian Trevor Noah are planning a comedy festival to raise funds for children in need this Christmas.
“We are planning a huge show at the Market Theatre between the 11th and 14th of December, it’s called ‘Just Because’. We are going to bring all the comedians together to perform to raise funds for a children’s charity just in time for Christmas”
Loyiso is quite serious about social matters; and his opinions on crime, HIV/Aids and racism are quite frank…
Crime?
“Criminals should get shot. For one year shoot anyone that breaks the law. Crime is a cultural thing, if you belong to culture where people don’t litter, you will never throw things on the floor. Read the Mayor Giuliani book which describes how he took a zero tolerance approach to every single crime, petty or not, he had people arrested for breaking windows, j- walking as well as murder and New York is a better place today because of that”.
“Our politicians spend a lot of time and billions of rands campaigning when it comes to elections; I think they should use that money to invest in reconditioning the state of mind of our people.”
Racism?
“Racism is only a problem when it’s an inconvenience, but I think it’s okay to hate and be hated by people as long as it doesn’t inconvenience you like not getting hired because of the colour of your skin”
HIV/ AIDS in South Africa?
“Tricky one, though I think it’s simple: Just use a condom. Get tested and be safe!”
Most comedians’ response to their pet peeves about their job is that people expect them to be funny all the time. What else is can be annoying about being a comedian?
“I hate it when the MC of the show is terrible, or when the act before you bombs outs but generally I hate stupid people that do stupid things like people who break the law and cut in front of you in the traffic!”
Speaking of pet peeves, comedy audiences generally like to hear new material, especially those that attend comedy shows frequently; repeated material is very irritating…
“It’s an act you see, it’s like a film… Chris Rock tours all over the country with the same act, it’s a set act. Sometimes people come up to me and complain because they say they told their friends about the jokes I do and when I don’t tell those specific jokes, they are disappointed. I mean, I generally don’t have a problem with new material, sixty percent of the show this year’s show will comprise of new material”
It seems nowadays, that one cannot have a conversation without popular social utility Facebook finding its way into it somehow, and with a whopping current total 1,759 of friends, Loyiso is expecting the number to increase to 2000 by the end of his stand up show Loyiso Gola for President (Part two) this month.
“Facebook is a great marketing tool because it’s like a chat line, I don’t even need a website because all I have to do is update my status and I will have a flood of responses or enquiries on whatever I put up and the best part is that it’s immediate”
Not only does Loyiso want to retire rich, but he wants to have achieved his goals…
“When I retire I don’t want to have regrets, I want to have done every thing I set out to do and travel to all the places I want to go to, just as importantly… I want to have gained the necessary respect both personally and professionally- it goes hand in hand”
In conclusion, and risking a ‘common question’, yet intrigued by the potential response; ‘Loyiso Gola for President’ seems like a serious statement for a young man, even when he is actually quite socially and politically astute. Question is would he run for president if he was presented with the opportunity…
“No… no ways! I’m not interested in that kind of thing. I just wanted a catchy name for the show, besides presidents do far too much work, I don’t want to be called up to attend to an emergency situation at whatever time, I like to work at my own pace and I love to chill”
Having already traveled to London, Dubai and Zambia to do shows, starred on and currently co- hosting a television show and headlined some major comedy festivals effortlessly funny and intelligent Loyiso Gola is hardly chilling, he’s doing his bit to maintain the high quality level of comedy in South Africa.
Don’t forget to catch Loyiso next week at the Alexander Theatre 29 November – 1 December. The opening act will be the exciting young comic Eugene Khoza, who has featured on Blacks Only, Comedy Knockout bills and is the resident headliner at monthly Dis-Funk-Tional Revolution comedy showcase at ninety six/96.
Keep and eye out for our ticket giveaway next week!
