South African comedian Tol A$$ Mo rescued what would have been a disappointing Friday night for the audience who had descended at GICC for a night of laughter. The Major Moves All Star Comedy event had almost failed to live up to expectations. Most of the acts on the night
failed to impress the audience. The fi rst performance of the night by Legusty was, however relatively not bad although most of his stuff lacked originality. The comedian took a few shots at President Ian Khama talking about how the President conveniently never loses a race even for charity events. “If he was to compete with us on this stage he would win,” Legusty quipped. He had the audience in stitches when he referred to the state’s ‘Daily News’ paper as Khama’s photo album. Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi was not off the hook either. Legusty said should Khama set up a twitter account Masisi would be his fi rst follower. Although sounding childishly silly and immature at times, Legusty’s one-liners kept the audience entertained. The host of the night, Charles, gave the audience something to laugh about in between performances with his jokes about mostly Zimbabweans.
Following Lesgusty’s performance was the tall and middle aged Zozo who is however still a novice in the local industry. Arts & Society first came across Zozo at Sports Bar (President Hotel) earlier this year, where up and coming comedians sharpen their skills every Tuesday
night. Not much was expected from the lanky gentleman and he lived up to that expectation. Maun’s popular funny lady was not so funny on the night. All she could manage was recycling a couple of her now monotonously boring jokes that expose her lack of innovation and creativity.
One of the most anticipated moments of the night was defi nitely popular facebook funny man, Sibs McD. Embarrassingly for him …and the audience his debut performance was not to be. The poor lad got on stage and immediately seemed lost for words. All he could say was “why are you guys so serious.” Well, Sibs, please excuse the poor audience; it is kind of hard to laugh when there is nothing funny coming your way. Possibly stage fright…or maybe Sibs is better off keeping his jokes to facebook. Stand-up comedy is not for the fainthearted. It was either South Africa’s Karou Charou is not a very funny chap or he had the wrong audience. Only a fraction of the audience seemed to get tickled by his mostly vulgar jokes. The rest could just not relate. More people walked out during his performance than at any point during the night.
It was therefore all up to his compatriot, Tol A$$ Mo, to save the night and give the audience their money’s worth. The previous performances had not been anywhere close to justifying the P600 VIP ticket price tag. Tol A$$ Mo’s jokes seemed to resonate more with the audience. He had the entire hall in stitches throughout his performance. He seemed to follow a strict script with his jokes revolving around what happened in his family household while he was growing up. He focused on what he said was his own upbringing and how he related with his family; from the grandmother, to the rich cousin, and the lazy alcoholic uncle. From the onset the SA funny man got the audience’s attention describing the contents of a fridge in a typical black household. Who wouldn’t relate to that half onion, or wedge of green pepper left in the fridge? “Why we never use the whole thing I just don’t know,” the comedian said, much to the amusement of the audience.
People were now starting to feel at home. “And right next to that green pepper is the white tea cup that has used cooking oil. The oil tastes like everything ÔÇômargarine, chicken, sausage, and beef; all in one.” He put to rest the anxiety that had by now begun to engulf the GICC
hall as the audience were beginning to count their losses. Tol A$$ Mo (Mongezi Ngcobondwane) is also a television personality known for his appearances on numerous television series’, including docu-reality show ‘Mo Love’ on Vuzu (DStv), in which he stars with his wife Mome Nale. It documented his relationship with the fashionista Nale. He also appeared on the comedy show Laugh Out Loud on Mzansi Magic in a regular segment called Mo News. Michael K and Phenyo the Master were also scheduled to perform on the night but did not turn up. No reasons were advanced by the organisers.
