For the past four years comedians from all over the world have entertained over 80,000 fans at the annual Nando’s Jozi Comedy Festival.
That is big. Peri-peri big. In fact, it is part of the biggest international comedy festival on the African continent.
This year, the 5th Annual Nando’s Jozi Comedy Festival will once again bring the biggest laughs to Jozi when the hottest comedians get together on one stage at the Teatro, Montecasino this coming August.
Comedy fans can catch seven of the best straight-up stand-up acts on offer every night from the 20th to the 26th of August including Mitch Fatel, Brian Haner, Christina Paszitsky, Finess Mitchell (Host), Ian Bagg and Tom Segura alongside local funny man David Kau.
Is that a sparkle in his eye or is he just confused? With his innocence and friendly demeanor Mitch Fatel quickly engages the audience and then catches them off guard with his mixture of mischievous dialog and off color comments. The number one requested comedian on Satellite Radio, Mitch has appeared numerous times on both the “Late Show with David Letterman” and the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. In 2006 he took home honors as “Best Comedian” at the prestigious HBO Aspen Comedy Festival and in April of 2007 his half hour stand up special debuted on Comedy Central and was ranked #6 all time by viewers. Mitch recently appeared on Showtime’s “Live From Amsterdam,” and Mitch’s One Hour Comedy Central Special, “Mitch Fatel is Magical” is now available on DVD.
Best known as Guitar Guy from The Jeff Dunham Show, Brian Haner is that perfect combination of skilled guitar player and stand-up comedian. While many guitar comics simply play chords while they do their comedy act, Brian is a whole different kind of musician. Brian spent twenty-five years as a guitarist, recording and touring with musicians ranging from Avenged Sevenfold to Frank Zappa. For the last four years he has opened for The Jeff Dunham Tour on more than 500 shows, in just about every city in America, as well as South Africa, Australia, and a tour across Europe. Brian is now headlining clubs across the country in his own rock ‘n’ roll comedy show. With over 4.2 million views on his YouTube page, Brian has created a rabid fanbase for his live shows.
Stand-Up Comedian, Writer and LA native Christina Pazsitzky is a series regular on Tru TV’s World’s Dumbest, you saw her as a roundtable regular on E!’s Chelsea Lately and will be seeing her in Showtime’s new Live From Amsterdam Series! Headlining comedy clubs around the country, Christina has also entertained our troops in the Middle East, Africa and South Korea. Christina has been called “pure comedy: honesty and a lot of outspokenness.” Fearless, empowering, and observational, Christina is a modern day Rosanne Barr – with a dash of truck stop waitress. Christina has lent her voice and written on various animated television series, like Trolls and Dr. Doolittle and in the feature film TV: The Movie with the boys from Jackass.
Comedian, actor, author and ESSENCE Magazine columnist Finesse Mitchell got his first big break when he was asked to be a featured player on the hit NBC sketch comedy Saturday Night Live, joining the cast in 2005. Since leaving the cast of SNL, Finesse has been making audiences laugh out loud with his witty sense of humor, showmanship and smooth Southern charm. He’s been seen on the big screen in films such as Who’s Your Caddy?, The Comebacks, and Mad Money. Apart from being a regular on E!’s Chelsea Lately, Finesse is a recurring guest on television on shows including The Today Show, TYRA, The Early Show, The Tom Joyner Morning Show and The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet as an expert on love and relationships.
Back by popular demand after killing it as host of the Nando’s Cape Town Festival in 2010, Ian Bagg is no stranger to comedy stages around the world. Within three short years of starting doing stand up, he had made three appearances on NBC’s “The Conan O’Brien Show”, rocked HBO’s “Aspen Comedy Festival”, and destroyed “Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival”. He has made several appearances in independent movies and sitcoms; has worked as a correspondent for MySpace, hosted Ripe TV’s “The Hollywood Burn” and even had his own live talk show “The Ian Bagg Show”. He’s added credits like NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” and CBS’s “The Craig Ferguson Show”. Al Gore described his comedy as “controlled chaos”, President Reagan on his death bed described it as an “interactive delight”. Nancy agreed.
Tom Segura is a comedian originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, though he was raised in too many places to list. His television credits include “Conan,” “Comedy Central Presents” (half-hour special), Showtimes’ “Russell Peters Presents,” and “Live at Gotham!” When he’s not on tour Tom continues to perform at the top comedy festivals in the world, including Montreal’s “Just For Laughs Comedy Festival,” “The Melbourne International Comedy Festival,” “The Comedy Festival – Las Vegas,” “The South Beach Comedy Festival,” and “The Global Comedy Festival in Vancouver.”
One of the most sought-after comedians in South Africa, David Kau’s name is synonymous with many firsts. He stormed onto the scene with a performance at the first Nando’s Comedy Festival in 1998 (then called the Smirnoff Comedy Festival), becoming the first black stand-up comedian on this coveted comedy stage. He wrote and performed “The Rainbow Nation Tour”, his first one-man show in 1998, and never looked back. He continued with politically-savvy comedy with his next play, “Introducing The Peoples Comic”– he left Cape Town for Johannesburg where he performed in “Heavyweight Comedy Jams” from 2000 and “Comedy Black Out” in 2002 until 2004.
Comedy Central is proud to present another favourite part of the festival: the very popular local stand-up competition “Graça Comedy Showdown”. See contestants fight it out on-stage during the “heats” with nothing more than their quick wit, a mic, and a burning desire to become the newest comedy hero of the festival. The winners of the annual-search-for-SA’s-new stand-up-star will get the chance to perform alongside the international comedy heavy weights for the duration of the festival.
Graça Comedy Showdown Dates for Jozi:
Heats: 18 July, 1 Aug, 8 Aug @ 8pm
Final: 15 Aug @ 8pm
Venue: Parker’s Comedy & Jive, Montecasino, Fourways
The show starts at 20h00 (Doors open at 18h30).
Tickets: R70
Tickets: available at Computicket or at the door.
BOOKINGS: Open today at www.computicket.com or any Computicket outlet
WEBSITE: www.comedyfestival.co.za for full line-up, show schedules and information
NANDO’S JOZI COMEDY FESTIVAL:
20 – 26 August 2012 at the Teatro at Montecasino
Cast: Finess Mitchell (Host)
Mitch Fatel
Brian Haner
Christina Paszitsky
Ian Bagg
Tom Segura
David Kau
Tickets: From R160 – R250
