Come and watch me live, you never know what I might say in any one show, says veteran comedian, Alan Committie.
The Tokai resident is set to return as MC at this year’s Jive Cape Town Funny Festival, at the Baxter, from Monday June 10 to Sunday July 7.
In an age of live performances recorded for Netflix specials, Committie, hedges his bets that nothing beats the electricity between a live performer and an audience.
“The engagement with the audience is a big part of my persona as a comedian. My stuff is fairly family-friendly. Part of that is I would love for you to bring your grandchildren and grandparents to a show, but where I do like to be edgy and interesting is by engaging with my audience.
“Different comics will have different takes on this. I, however, want to use at least seven or eight people in the show to form part of the tapestry of my show. Yes, I tease them, but if you have seen my show, I’m self-deprecating, so I always tease myself first.”
In England it’s a game, you go to shows to just heckle in certain comedy clubs. It is part of the joy to see how good the comedian is at responding to your interjections, Committie says.
“When I perform there, I quite like it; there’s a sport to it, and you’ve gotta be quick-witted and you’ve gotta be on top of your game. Sometimes you have to give a point to the audience if they are very funny.”
However, comedians have to be ready to engage until a joke presents itself, he says
“I love it, and I have gotten better at it. When I started out, like anybody else, there were limits, I used to have back-up lines that would apply to any situation. Now I stay with the conversation. That’s where I find my danger because that engagement will only present itself for that night between me and the audience. It is one of the exciting things about comedy for me.”
South Africa’s ability to laugh in the face of chaos and retain its humour is what makes it so resilient, says Committie, referring to the ANC losing its 30-year parliamentary majority.
“It was fascinating to watch the election-results coverage this weekend. Even in Cyril’s speech, he was quite jovial and I think quite statesman-like in the way that he received what is a terrible situation for his party.
“There is all this power-struggle mongering and shifting and chess strategising that is happening between the parties. We continue to laugh even in the face of these few people who are fighting for chess pieces that appear on a board even when the board goes out on Saturday for two hours and nobody knows what’s going on.”
From Committie, festival guests can expect a double-play on words, a comedic monologue on how parties have spun their lack of results in these elections and more of what they have come to love from the Jive Funny Festival.
“Audiences now book literally 10 to 12 months ahead because they know a certain standard has been set,” he says. “Comedians have the pleasure of standing in front of 600 people every night, who are there for a good time, and the audience, in turn, know they are going to get a night that is filled with at least five-to-eight different acts. Some of them are speciality acts; they are not even comedy acts, but they will either make them gasp, delight or smile deeply. The comics that are on board are going to give them varying perspectives and levels of laughter throughout the evening, and that guarantee’s not nothing.”
