Loyiso ready to tickle your funny bone

MOUNT Fletcher-born comedian Loyiso Madinga is bringing his debut one-man show Born Free-ish show to East London this Thursday.

Madinga, who left a career in advertising, is one of the fast-growing comedians in the country. He has performed in David Kau’s Blacks Only comedy show, 99% Xhosa Comedy, Trevor Noah’s NationWILD and was one of two South African comedians selected to attend the Montreux Comedy Festival in 2014.

The Montreux Comedy festival is the biggest event on mainland Europe and for the first time in 2014 they opened it to contestants from the UK and South Africa.

Entrants had to submit a video example of their work online. This saw Madinga and Mdantsane-born comedian Tats Nkonzo take on Europe.

Since then, Madinga has featured on the Emmynominated show Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola and written and performed for the Bantu Hour.

Speaking with the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Madinga said he could not wait to bring his debut comedy show to his home province.

“I’ve performed the show only in Johannesburg and I decided to bring it back home and give it to the people that have been supporting me over the years. I hope to take it to some of the places that I’ve performed in around the country. I’ve enjoyed the shows that I’ve done in East London and I can not [wait] for Thursday,” he said.

Madinga said the idea for his Born Free-ish show was sparked by a conversation with Kagiso Lediga. “I was in a writing session with Kagiso and he asked me when I was going to do my own show and he was so casual about it.

“I didn’t think I was ready for my own show but that’s how Born Free-ish was born,” he said.

After the conversation with Lediga, Madinga went on to have his first hour-long show at The Orbit in Johannesburg. “I was on stage for an hour and it felt so easy. I felt that I was ready for my own show. The idea to do my own show also came at a time where I was frustrated and I wanted to do something big.”

The show made its debut on The Goliath Comedy Club on September 29 to October 3.

“All the shows were sold out and people came out to support,” he said.

Tickets for Madinga’s one-man show cost R100 and are available at Computicket and at the Guild Theatre. The show starts at 8pm. —