 Mario Joyner
Main Arena Host
 USA
South Africans will remember Mario Joyner for his brilliant opening performance
for Chris Rock’s No Apologies world tour, for his portrayal of the pimped-out lawyer in several
episodes of Seinfeld, as well as guest appearances in Everybody Hates Chris.
He returns to South Africa as host of the Main Arena fresh from Chris Rock’s
world tour and from opening for Jerry Seinfeld during his recent nationwide tour of the United
States.
A versatile and energetic performer Mario has a comic pedigree that includes
stints as presenter of MTV’s Half-hour Comedy Hour, numerous appearances on The Late Show with
David Letterman and Showtime's Aspen Comedy Festival. HBO also produced Joyner’s first comedy
special called One Night Stand.
Internationally renowned for his uncanny ability to create verbal chaos out of
everyday situations, Mario’s easy delivery and laidback style disguise a razor-sharp wit that
never fails to get audiences rolling in the aisles.
Mario made his film-acting debut as the wisecracking cab driver alongside
leads Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg and Tom Selleck in the smash hit film Three Men and A Baby.
He has also starred in Hangin' with the Homeboys, Down to Earth and the cult
classic Pootie Tang.
A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Joyner's father was a preacher and according to his
son: "The only man who could make a Jehovah's Witness say: 'I think we have to go'." Mario now makes
his home in Santa Monica, California, which he describes as "…a quaint little enclave where homeless
people and interracial couples go to live in peace!"
 Kitty Flanagan
 AUS
Already a successful stand-up up comedian and TV writer/performer in her
native Australia, Kitty Flanagan moved to the UK in 2001 to further her comedy career and
rapidly became a regular on the top UK comedy circuit.
The British media have acknowledged Flanagan’s unique comic gift saying she
is able to captivate audiences with her “…keen sense of the ridiculous and her offbeat anecdotes
are seasoned with smart asides and acute observations…" (Chortle.co.uk).
Flanagan has travelled the world, performing in festivals and comedy clubs
everywhere from Paris to Berlin, Dubai to Tokyo and Canada to Cannes, also fitting in appearances
at the prestigious London Comedy Store.
She is as well-known for sketch comedy as she is for stand-up and has
appeared in several popular TV shows both in Australia and the UK, most notably Full Frontal
and The Micallef Show in Australia and The Sketch Show in the UK. Her numerous TV stand-up
appearances have included one of the top US comedy TV shows, The World Stands Up which is
screened on Comedy Central (US).
After years of having her writing directed by others, Kitty recently decided
she needed to be the boss of everyone and set out to direct her own work. The result is the
short film Dating Ray Fenwick. The film was selected for screening at numerous film festivals
in the UK, Canada and America, and went on to win awards for both Best Comedy and Audience
Choice at the 2005 New York City Short Film Festival.
Trevor Noah
 SA
Although a comparative newcomer to the entertainment industry Trevor Noah is
a household name in South Africa. Having only started performing as a professional comedian three
years ago, he is already regarded as one of the country’s most talented comedians and has had to
shelve his position as a DJ for YFM.
His popularity, combined with his nimbleness on the dance floor, saw Trevor
voted into the finals of SABC’s Strictly Come Dancing and introduced Trevor’s trademark self-effacing
humour to legions of new fans. He also had a stint on TV as the face of the South African Revenue
Service in the tongue-in-cheek commercial: “Hi, my name’s Trevor…”
He has performed in numerous shows all over the country, such as the Vodacom
Campus Tour, the 94.7 Heavyweight Comedy Jam, Arts Alive and the Blacks Only Comedy Show. He has
now performed at all the biggest shows on the local calendar and is looking forward to performing
at the biggest and most prestigious comedy event on the continent – the Cape Town International
Comedy Festival!
As the opening act for comedy star, Russell Peter and crooner Julio Iglesias’
SA tours, he confirmed his killer comedy instinct. He has quickly amassed a large following,
entertaining corporate and public audiences across the country with his unique fresh brand of
comedy and plans are underway to produce his much anticipated one man show later this year.
Trevor is one of the hosts of SABC 1’s celebrity gossip talk show The Real Goboza,
and he has made guest appearances on two of the country's top soap operas. With a co-starring lead
in a sketch comedy show in the pipeline, Trevor Noah is definitely on his way to the top. It is no
wonder that the Sunday Times recently named him as one of the personalities destined for greatness
this year!
Nik Rabinowitz
SA
Boundless energy and earthy charm, coupled with an animated and fluent
use of English, Xhosa and Afrikaans, initially endeared this farm boy from Plumstead-West to
millions of South African television viewers as the multi-lingual presenter of SABC 1's Coca-Cola
Megamillions Gameshow. He later demonstrated his versatility by becoming M-Web's new big black
box guy – surfing trains in lycra bodysuits and persuading large female traffic cops to pop
into the post-office for his Gran.
However it was his skill as a stand-up comedian that took South African
audiences and critics by storm and a loyal and appreciative fan base quickly grew. His fourth
and most recent one-man show "IN THE NIK" enjoyed a sell-out season, as well as great critical
success.
Nik's stand-up has featured in numerous local and international comedy
festivals over the past few years. His popularity sees his return to the Cape Town International
Comedy Festival's Main Arena with brand new material. Having recently semi-grated to Sea Point,
Nik is currently working on plans for his own radio and television talk shows, and will be back
at the Baxter from November to January, starring alongside Marc Lottering and Riaad Moosa in
David Kramer's "Three Wise Men".
The Star newspaper summed up Nik's appeal: "What Johnny Clegg has done for
popularising Zulu indlamu and maskandi with a broader audience - Nik Rabinowitz achieves for
language… He paints a crazy, seductively irreverent, broad canvas of who we are, voetstoots.
And that's totally ngca!" |
 Rob Rouse
 UK
Rob Rouse’s super-charged brand of humour and trademark cheeky banter helped him
to become one of the fastest rising stars of stage and television and he is now recognised as one
of the UK’s top comedians.
Currently developing his own sketch show 'Daft Punch' for ITV, Rob continues
performing his acclaimed stand-up shows at venues and festivals around the world and makes his
South African debut at the Cape Town International Comedy Festival.
He first made his name on the live circuit, winning Channel 4's prestigious
So You Think You're Funny? competition at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998. As part of the successful
trio Big and Daft, Rob took three shows to the Edinburgh Festival culminating in 2001 with the
sell-out Big and Daft Christmas show. Rob's 2002 and 2003 solo Edinburgh shows received great
critical acclaim and were also box office winners. After performing at London's Soho Theatre
at the end of 2003 he continued touring his live show during 2004 and performed at the Melbourne
Comedy Festival.
He has appeared in numerous TV shows, including the first series of BBC 3’s
sitcoms, Grown Ups and The Bunk Bed Boys in which he had a starring role. He is a
sought-after TV presenter and has hosted both the Talent Showcase, Comedy Shuffle
with Rob Rouse and the chat show, Guilty Pleasures. Rob starred in Spoons, a
Channel 4 Sketch show, and was one of the presenters of The Friday Night Project, Channel
4’s entertainment show. A popular celebrity TV panelist, he has made appearances on 8 out of 10
Cats, Bognor or Bust and other shows.
Rob can be seen in the feature film Penelope which premiered at the Toronto Film
Festival and he recently wrote and starred in a series of ten short films for Paramount Comedy
Channel, called The Thorntons.
Sugar Sammy
 CANADA / INDIA
Dubbed the superstar of comedy in his native Canada, the suave good looks and easy
charm of Sugar Sammy belie the lethally funny interior life of this exceptional comic artist.
Scorching a trajectory on the international comedy circuit, Sammy has enjoyed
considerable success around the world – setting attendance records and receiving rave reviews in comedy
clubs, theatres and university campuses across North America, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. Critics
are unanimous in their praise of his hilarious material and his laconic delivery.
In the past 18 months he has toured in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Holland,
Hong Kong, Thailand, Dubai, The Philippines and South Africa where his show in Durban sold an incredible
10,000 tickets! A personal highlight for Sugar Sammy was opening for Dave Chappelle in Toronto last autumn.
In his hometown of Montreal, Sugar Sammy has been voted the number one stand-up for
the last three years by the readers of The Montreal Mirror, Montreal's Premier Arts,
and Entertainment Weekly. His TV credits include Comedy Now on Canadian television,
The Comedy Network, and he has also appeared on Dutch TV. A regular headliner at the world’s
biggest comedy festival – Just For Laughs, the Montreal International Comedy Festival –
this is his second appearance at the Cape Town Comedy Festival.
A relentless provocateur, Sugar Sammy stirs up and samples the multi-cultural
melting pot that mirrors life in most urban centres today. In doing so, he presents hilarious scenarios
and comments on our global society's inherent contradictions in a brilliantly entertaining way,
ranging from arranged marriages in his Indian ancestry, to his views on sex, drugs and, modern
day relationships. Sugar Sammy will have you laughing, thinking, and seeing life in a whole new
way!
Daliso Chaponda
 MALAWI
Malawian-born Daliso Chaponda's earliest aspiration was to become a minister,
but as he enjoys sinning so much, he decided stand-up comedy would be the closest he'll come to
preaching.
Daliso began his comedy career in Canada with his critically acclaimed one-man
show Feed This Black Man. Subsequent appearances across Canada followed, with highlights that
included the 2005 Just For Laughs Festival and CBC Television's Crossing The Main.
In 2004 Daliso Chaponda headlined the Don't Let Them Deport Me comedy show as a
plea to officials to have his Canadian visa extended. The show was sold-out and critically well-reviewed,
but despite his fans pleas to officialdom he was forced to leave after one final show, 2005's
They're Deporting Him Anyway.
After a spell in South Africa, Daliso moved to the UK where his comic star is
fast on the ascendancy. A versatile comedian, he is equally comfortable talking politics, smut,
romance, or religion, and in only a few months he quickly established himself on the British circuit
and has performed at venues across the country.
In addition to performing Daliso is a talented writer. He has been published in
numerous magazines and two of his plays have been produced. In 2002 he was a finalist in the L. Ron
Hubbard Writer's of the Future Contest and in 2005 he was short-listed for the P&E Award and
the Carl Brandon Society Award. |
