MIYAMBO FINDS FUNNY SIDE OF LIFE
HE NEVER thought he was a funny man but today Tony Miyambo finds himself in a much anticipated comedy show.
I’m sitting down with him in the middle of the dressing room of the new Mzansi Magic sitcom
Next door, veteran actor Lucky Legodi and his two wives in the sitcom, played by Bianca Le Grange and Vicky Kente, are shooting some hilarious scenes.
The show, about Joburg ’ s newly elected mayor, played by Legodi, debuts later this month.
The storyline uses the country’s current affairs and has a satirical outlook. This is especially so given how identical the life of the polygamist mayor is to President Jacob Zuma’s.
The 28-year-old Miyambo plays the character of Soviet, a friend of the mayor’s son Boy-Boy.
Boy-Boy is a 38-year-old spoilt brat who still lives off his father.
has a few puns and innuendos, but Miyambo thinks the SA audience will get the jokes. “Audiences are really smart, I think they will get them.”
Being on might be Miyambo ’ s biggest break, but he’s been putting in work for the past couple of years on various projects. He worked on
with Loyiso Gola as one of the actors who did sketches, has done a few TV ads and was also in the debut of television show last Saturday.
Doing all this work makes him seem like a comedic actor who keeps getting typecast.
But Miyambo defends himself: “It’s really about which opportunity you get first. Hopefully all of these opportunities I’m getting will open more doors. But it’s true, there’s always that fear that you ’ ll just be seen as that [com- edy actor],” Miyambo tells me. He’s built a relationship with Diprente, the production company behind the
and “These guys embrace what I come with and they also give you creative freedom to do what you want to do. They have really embraced me since the first project I did with them, a movie that comes out next year called
he says.
The Tembisa-bred actor is a BA dramatic arts graduate from Wits University. Miyambo directed, wrote and produced two awardwinning documentaries,
and
He works as a freelancer and has been involved in numerous award-winning theatre productions, some of which have toured the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
While Miyambo answers my questions, actress Thuli Thabethe chips in: “Wow, I didn’t know you were so smart, I like smart people.”
“I went to Wits, jokes Miyambo.
There ’ s a lot of banter going on around here. After all, Thabethe did say that they laugh 80% of the time in their 12-hour shooting days.
And although he thought he was no funny man, Miyambo says he’s considering trying out some stand-up comedy, especially because he’s mostly around people who like to tell jokes.