Actor and comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout shares his experience with failure and how he overcame some of the challenging times.
Actor and comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout had been building his career on the comedy club circuit since he received his big break as a supporting act on Trevor Noah‘s Nation Wild Tour, he went on to be featured on Comedy Central as a support act for Barry Hilton and a South African Comics Choice winner.
He has become one of South Africa’s most sought-after comedians.
On The Azania Mosaka Show Bezuidenhout shared moments in his life when he felt like a failure and when he failed to book acting gigs.
He described being bullied as a child because he took on tap dancing lessons and how he overcame the feeling of believing that he has failed in being what society thinks a young man should act or be.
The nature of stand-up comedy is that you talk about the most intimate details of your life, your failures and success but obviously you disguise it all with comedy. I have always struggled to talk about my failures and intimate moments seriously, I have always hide it in a joke.Schalk Bezuidenhout, Actor and Comedian
No one wants to stand out when they are a child, you just want to fit in with the other boys and girls.Schalk Bezuidenhout, Actor and Comedian
It’s almost like you have failed in what society sees as being a ‘boy’ which most of the time consists of being sporty, rough, and tough and I struggled with that but as I grew up it got better.Schalk Bezuidenhout, Actor and Comedian
The thing about bullying is that one can say it made them stronger but we often forget there are people out there who didn’t become stronger out of it.Schalk Bezuidenhout, Actor and Comedian
Bezuidenhout went on to talk about the time he had failed auditions and events.
If you grew up in a small town and did drama most of the time when you are great at it your ego gets inflated and when you are in matric your family, friends, and teachers say things like don’t forget me when you are famous. Then you get to the UCT auditions thinking there is no way I am not going to get in, forgetting that the person next to you is also Mr. or Mrs. drama where they come from.Schalk Bezuidenhout, Actor and Comedian
Bezuidenhout went on to explain his relationship with Dogtown SA an organisation that rescues dogs.
Listen to the full interview below…
by Siyamthanda Matiso – Talk Radio 702
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