I love watching comedy.  There’s nothing better than an evening of chuckling away (or even snorting out loudly if you wish) – it’s really good for the soul.

A spot that I really love and try to check out as often as I can is Jou ma se comedy club at the River Club in Observatory.   It’s the brainchild of top local comedian, Kurt Schoonraad, and it’s a great showcase of our local comedic talents.

There are shows every Thursday evening at 8:30pm – it only costs R80 and there’s always a good mix of established acts and more up-and-coming guys.   As an extra bonus, you’re also seated in the Players Cafe & Bar, which means you can enjoy some tasty food & drinks while enjoying the lineup.

Last Thu eve I popped in with a group of friends for a much needed laughter therapy session after a particularly stressful few weeks at work.  Our host for the evening was lovely funny lady, Mel Jones.  She did such a great job of firstly warming up the crowd before the first act and then continuing to keep things going in between acts.

Act nr 1 was Durban boy, Gareth Woods.  He’s actually originally from Welkom (shame) and he shares some great stories of what went down in that small town when he was growing up.  He also incorporates singing into his act – which I normally don’t really like – but his songs were absolutely brilliantly funny.

Then we had the the first open mic act of the night.  I always think it must be helluva scary to get up in front of a crowd, hoping that they will find you funny.  That’s way too much stress for me, so I really take my hat off to these guys.

Dalin Oliver did a great job though.   You would never have guessed that he’s new to the scene as he had us in stitches from the word go.

After a short interval we moved onto the 2nd open mic act, Kurt Langeveld.  I’ve actually seen him perform once before at Synergy last year.  He was part of the “up-and-comers” lineup and one of the better guys there.  This evening he rocked the crowd with ease as well.

The headlining act for the evening was Paul Snodgrass.  He’s loved by many Capetonians, but I just don’t really enjoy his comedy style.   I’ve seen him a few times now and it’s just not for me.  I will say however that at least this time round he did get one or two giggles out of me, so maybe that’s some progress.

If you’re into comedy, Jou ma se comedy club will definitely be right up your alley.   The lineup changes every week, so there’s always lots of fresh acts and at the low price of R80, it’s truly such a bargain.

Come on, everyone can do with more laughter in their lives!  And you’ll also be doing a great thing by supporting our local comedy industry…

xxx