South Africa comedy legend Eugene Khoza took to twitter to pen an Open Letter to address a range of issues that concern mzanzi local stand up comedy. Who knows maybe this is part of his preparation for his coming ‘One Man Show’ (OCD) in December 14 Pretoria Tshwane at Atterbury and 15 at the Lyric Theatre at Goldreef City, Johannesburg.
Check his series of tweets below about his thoughts on South African Stand Up Comedy and tell us what you make of his open letter, you can leave a comment in the comment section.
23.Recording costs about R40.000 a set 15-20k average tickets price R120 on a 1200 seater venue less 200 tickets for comps math please #comedyopenletter
22. Solve for X how many gigs would a comic need to do to be able to afford their own show? #comedyopenlertter
21.Here is the math Clubs pay R1500 average & ensembles pay R3000-5000 some even 10k rarely a theatre costs R40.000 to book #comedyopenletter
20.two things are involved here first collusion and bullying of comics if you don’t you are screwed to put it mildly #comedyopenletter
19.The disadvantage to that is its a smart way on their part to own the material & you’ll never afford to buy back your material or freedom #comedyopenletter
18. Leverage to negotiate them producing your show stand-up doesn’t need a producer you are the producer but you have no dates and media #comedyopenletter
17. All prime dates are booked in advance by the same promoters & they use the dates as leverage #comedyopenletter
16.Ok now back to 1man shows while some might lack the talent some lack opportunity to do their shows because they can’t book the venues
15. Black, white, Indian promoters 1 of each I might add and the odd opportunistic ones in between of course #comedyopenlerter
14.there is literally segmentation of the “comedy pie” they are clubs,ensembles,and corporate gigs & no I didn’t forget 1man shows sequence.#comedyopenletter
13.the division are mainly because of “the comedy cartels” groups that decided to divide comedic into groups that they can control More #comedyopenletter
12.I’ve made an obsession the fancier the artwork looks that’s w guarantee that the show is going to be mediocre 8/10 #comedyopenletter
11.Racist comedy show titles are deeply offensive 2 many & we know them and just coz you added “Comedy” it doesn’t make it less offensive #comedyopenletter
11.i don’t there’s any other industry that’s littered with fear & segregation like S.A Stand up comedy factions and race #comedyopenletter
10.ensembles are sort of like the comedy stokvel it keeps going around until it’s your turn but even that was difficult #comedyopenletter
9. I have warned against being dependent on ensemble shows and the handing over of comedians power to promoters and others #comedyopenletterReply
Now I’m getting DM’s lol please stop coz I’ll screen grad and then it won’t be funny WARNING..!,even in war there’s rules #comedyopenletter
8. Titles that are given or mostly self acclaimed really example “up coming” or “legend” and the new one “international” #comedyopenletter
7.General codependency Safety in numbers is just insecurity and fear disguised as industry friendships & keeping tabs #comedyopenletter
6. Ability to generate material is still the undoing of many it’s Like pilots that play flight simulator and then allowed to fly a plane. #comedyopenletter
5.Some TV spill over fame as I’d like to call it actors taking chances in comedy lol that’s always fascinated me epic fail. #comedyopenletter
4. Some by gender and religious beliefs believe it or not managed 2 bypass the system thus only a handful of female comics #comedyopenletter
3.some bypassed the system because of race for example I wouldn’t be here doing comedy in 1993 there was no room for that #comedyopenletter
2.Being funny and looking funny are two different things and later on I’ll tell you what I mean but it’s simple really #comedyopenletter
1.If there’s one thing I know for sure is that funny is funny and funny translates so let’s get that excuse out of the way #Comedyopenletter
Check Eugene’s interview early this year at Bantu Hour with his fellow Pretorian and SA comedy pioneer Kagiso Lediga.
NoJokesComedy Reporter
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