Dave Levinsohn and Kurt Schoonrad
Observatory comedians Dave Levinsohn and Kurt Schoonrad will kick off The Coastal Comedy tour next week.
The tour will start with a “farewell to Cape Town” show on Tuesday March 23, at Villager FC, Claremont, and they will then head to Napier, Hermanus, Sedgefield, Knysna, Plett, Hangklip and Gqeberha.
Dave, 51, who has 23 years experience as a stand-up comedian, says doing this tour is a good opportunity to be back on stage and do something he loves.
“There just aren't enough venues in the city to make a decent living, so Kurt and I have spoken about a tour like this even before the coronavirus pandemic,” said Dave.
"It just makes sense to get your comedy out to new markets and different audiences.“
Kurt, 47, with 20 years experience in the industry, says he is all set for the tour.
“To be honest Dave just told me we are going on tour, I just need to pack a bag and a toothbrush and be funny,” he said.
Both Dave and Kurt’s careers have taken a knock during pandemic.
Kurt says it felt like something he did every day was taken away from him.
“It was gone and it felt like a death in the family,” he said.
Dave shares the same feelings.
“It’s been a crazy time for all of us. Personally I don’t like dwelling on the negatives stuff, but let’s just say I had to sell my home and my car and some personal belongings to survive. I’ve had an opportunity to do some inner soul-searching. And it's time to bounce back and show the fans I never left them,” said Dave.
“If you consider that this virus stole our ability to make a living and took away our sense of smell, but we made sure it didn’t take our sense of humour,” he said.
Dave and Kurt have collaborated before, on the SABC show, Going Nowhere Slowly; at the Grahamstown festival in Comedy 101 in 2006 and more recently, before the pandemic in 2019 , they worked on a show called Finding Funnyland, which they sold to Netflix.
“In the show we drove a classic VW Beetle circa WW2, from Johannesburg to Cape Town and stopped along the way to perform four comedy nights at very similar venues to the ones we will be visiting on this tour,” said Dave.
Kurt says the past year has given him enough time to write new material but he may also throw in some of his old material.
“The old classics are what people love to hear and I'm also a fan of my old material, I listen to myself all the time and I laugh out loud a lot,” he said.
Dave says he has been thinking about new ways to bring his comedy to an audience.
“I will have totally new material and I also love to improvise and get on a comedy roll,” he said.
Covid-19 precautions will be taken at all shows.
“All the venues we chose were hand-picked by us for their professional manner in which they operate. They all have regular live shows and understand the dynamic required during Covid to be successful.”
The Coastal Comedy tour will start next Tuesday March 23, at Villager FC, Claremont. The cost is R100 a person and the show starts at 7pm. Book online at www.scottydoofoods.co.za
Click here for more information.