Alan Committie Alan Committie
After a successful year in theatre and comedy, one of South Africa's most respected comics, Alan Committie, has one more trick to pull out of his sleeve.
Planet Mirth, his final stand-up show for the year, promises to keep Cape Town and Joburg audiences filled with mirth.
Speaking to the Cape Times, Committie said the show, unlike Laughing Matters, would take a more global look on all things wacky in the world at the moment.
“This will give audiences a chance to see a bigger production around stand-up. So this will have lighting and sound and sketches that will bring something extra,” he said.
He added that the show is in the style of the Richard Edinburgh documentaries, like Blue Planet.
“The subtitle for Planet Mirth is a funny look at everything in high-definition. So on stage you’ll have a solar system and a map of the world.
“We’re looking at the bigger picture that is the world. In fact, I have come to realise that even as we live in this big world, it’s the small everyday things that freak us out the most.
“For instance, I believe that if there would be an apocalypse, most of us would ask if we need a jersey,” he said, with a chuckle.
Committie said the show would leave no corner of the earth unexplored. From the small everyday things that tickle audiences right down to Donald Trump.
“My comedy is going to look at the incongruity of the micro versus the macro if you will. There'll be some character sketches.
“I’m thinking of doing a skit of a certain well-known gingerhead president - I won’t say which one, but it’s the one that trumps all
the others - I’m thinking of portraying his therapist.
“I try to learn a new skill every show; this time it’ll be sign language, so the show will be a usual blend of madcap physical and some verbal antics,” he said.
The former English teacher explained that part of his affinity for staged stand-up comedy productions was because his beginnings in comedy were not in comedy clubs, but on theatre stages.
When quizzed about which city he prefers to perform in, Committie said both audiences had appeal, and generally South Africans have a great sense of humour.
“That’s the only way we can cope with our everyday madness. This means we all laugh at the same things, mostly. There are, however, fine subtleties.
"For instance, in Cape Town people are defined by what high school they went to, and which suburb they live in.
"Whereas in Joburg, nobody knows what the suburbs are. So no one knows where Northriding extension 7 is, even the people who live there.
“So Joburgers for the most part have a broader sense of humour, and they’ll laugh at a wider range of stuff.
"Where Cape Town audiences can sometimes get a little finicky at what they laugh at.
"They don't want to be seen to laugh at silly things. So they'll laugh if you insist.
"You’ll need to slap them gently around the head in a comic fashion. Then they’ll come around,” he said.
And for audiences who’ve never really experienced Committie's comedy, he had this to say:
“The first thing people can expect is that it’ll be good, clean family fun. I don’t swear and the material is stuff that you can bring your grandparents and grandchildren to.
“And the topics jump quite quickly, so in the one hour, 30 minutes of showtime, there will be something that will grab you.
“There’ll be something you can have a good belly laugh at,” he said.
* Planet Mirth will be showing from December 5 to January 13 at the Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay.