Now in its 26th year, the JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival will be celebrating local and international champions of the industry at the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch, from Monday June 2 to Sunday June 29.
A unique selling point of the Funny Festival is that it showcases top local talent alongside some of the world’s foremost variety acts in its 28 performances. Two such acts on this year’s bill are Sweden’s Got Talent winner, magician Charlie Caper, and multi-award winning, Cirque du Soleil clown sensation, Campagnia Baccala from Italy.
Cirque du Soleil clown sensation, Campagnia Baccala from Italy, is on the line-up at this year's JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival at the Baxter.
Image: Supplied
The international performers are joined by South African comics Robby Collins, Kagiso Mokgadi, Alan Committie, Tumi Morake, Dalin Oliver, Emo and Loukmaan Adams, The Big Boys and the winner of the Funny Festival’s talent search to showcase upcoming talent, the Jive Funny Championships, which runs at Canal Walk shopping centre from April through to May.
The winner of the championships is granted a nightly slot at the main Funny Festival.
This year MC duties are shared by Dalin Oliver for the first two weeks and Alan Committie for the remainder.
Formed by publicist Eddy Cassar in 1997, as a celebration of freedom of speech after the formation of a democratic South Africa in 1994, the festival has played to capacity houses since inception.
Cassar scouts for variety acts at all the major festivals and regularly travels to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adelaide Fringe, the Linz Street Performers Festival, the Freiburg Culture Trade Exhibition and more recently to the Cirque de Demain in Paris.
“In the early days, we used to import stand-up comics from the top clubs in the UK and US, says Cassar. “We phased that out a few years ago as the local stand-up industry is thriving and producing some world-class acts and it’s our duty to showcase our own performers.
“We intersperse them with great variety acts we source abroad. I think it makes for a great show. Our audience view the Funny Festival as a great night out,” says Cassar.
Magician Charlie Caper, winner of Sweden's Got Talent, can be seen at this year's JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival.
Image: Supplied
The Funny Festival has JiVE Cooldrinks as its principal sponsor, which has been involved with the project since 2010.
Held in the middle of winter, the Funny Festival has become a “Celebration of Winter in Cape Town” along with its hospitality partners, the New Kings Boutique Hotel, Aquila Private Game Reserve, Table Mountain Aerial Cable Car, City Sightseeing Red Bus, KLM, Lift Airlines and Wild Horizon Waterfront Cruises and Abseiling. Cape Community Media, publishers of this title, is the festival’s print media partner.
As the Funny Festival gets Cape Town laughing nightly, there are many children who are denied the pleasure of laughter because of a palate defect which can be rectified through a simple operation – this is where Operation Smile comes in. Operation Smile, the JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival’s beneficiary, raises funds through its association with the project and organises field trips where they perform one operation after another, giving children the treasured opportunity to smile again.
Describing the festival as Cape Town’s biggest and best comedy event, mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis, said this year’s programme “looks to be one of the best yet”.
‘’I am grateful for the festival organisers – and to Eddy Cassar in particular – for putting on such a wonderful, uplifting event, and for having done so for over a quarter of a century. I urge all Capetonians who love comedy and the lighter side of life to book their tickets early, and to come and enjoy a wonderful night out in the company of our country’s funniest performers, along with some truly special international acts.”
Award winning comedian, actress, writer and producer, Tumi Morake will have you in stitches at this year's JiVe Cape Town Funny Festival at the Baxter.
Image: Supplied
For more information, visit www.funnyfestival.co.za
Tickets are available through Webtickets. Generous discounts are offered for groups from 10 to a full house (650). Contact Carmen at 021 685 7880 or Eddy Cassar on 082 450 3151 or eddy@eddycassarpr.co.za