From IT to Laughter: Kagiso KG Mokgadi's comedy journey

Claremont comedian, Kagiso KG Mokgadi, 42, will be entertaining the audience at the Cape Town Funny Festival at the Baxter Theatre which will run throughout the month of June.

Mokgadi,  first graced stand-up comedy nearly 15 years ago when debuting at the Jokers Comedy Club in Belgravia.

“It was a surreal experience, I was with the best audience, they knew stand-up comedy and knew how to take care of a new act,” he said.

Though before he stood up in front of people and made them laugh, he was working with computers as an Information Technology (IT) specialist for an American-based company.

“In IT we would have close contact with many people though the end user part of the job, though I was put into an office with my colleagues because our boss thought we were too ‘rowdy.’”

While Mokgadi had an established career, he was drawn to comedy.

“I saw people do it, I thought it would be something cool to try out, people around me thought it was something I was able to do, and what inspires me to continue with it is the love I have for it,” he says.

Mokgadi first appeared at the Funny Festival at the Baxter in 2014, and since then he has made regular returns and was also one of the major acts in last year’s festival.

“The Funny Festival is a lot of fun, a theatre audience is not like a club gig, it is a sacred space, we as an act prepare for the stage and we even look at what we can wear and many of the audience paid a lot of  money and they are going to laugh their money off,” he said.

The Funny Festival is committed to showcasing upcoming talent through its social entrepreneurial project, The Jive Funny Championships which runs at Canal Walk Shopping Centre from April through to May. The winner is granted a nightly slot at the Funny Festival. 

Mokgadi said he even had the privilege of sitting on the judging panel in previous years looking at the latest up and coming talent in stand-up comedy.

“When I was a young act, performing on that stage gave me a lot of confidence and helped turbo charge my career,” he said.

Mokgadi says that when he was on the panel judging new talent, each comedian came out of that Funny Festival, “a different comedian that became better and more confident.”

Mokgadi draws his comedic material from life experiences. His career has been busy non-stop, where recently he took part in the Laugh Africa Comedy Festival in Johannesburg, and after the Funny Festival he will take part in the National Arts Festival in Makhanda towards the end of June. He is also working on a 30 minute comedy feature that will be released on Showmax.

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!

Tickets are available through webtickets. Generous discounts are offered for groups from ten to a full house (650). Contact Carmen Kearns on 021 685 7880 for more details. More information visit www.funnyfestival.co.za