HICOFEST back with a bang
Amanda Dichabe | Friday March 13, 2015 18:00
This year’s event themed “Razor Sharp comedy” is wholly sponsored by the Department of Arts and Culture, under the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.
The department is bankrolling the event to the tune of P50, 000 which also to be used for a workshop for local comedians to be conducted by Conrad Koch, a South African legendary rib-cracker.
The laugh-fest will feature Koch and Chester Missing. Mapuru ‘Cura’ Makara from Lesotho and Peter Royston from Zimbabwe.
Local comedians expected to perform at the event include Bafana ‘Ribcracker’ Letsatsi, Kelekwang ‘Rekunde’ Mophaleng, Odirile Brooks, Phenyo ‘Master’ Phaladi and Oefile ‘Mawee’ Mokgware.
The tickets are available at Web Tickets and Spar outlets priced from P200 for single and P300 for double tickets. The show will commence at 8pm.
The event coordinator, Gaolatlhe Kediemetse, said having produced the past two international annual shows, they wanted to showcase a different and top-notch ventriloquist who is hot and in demand.
“This event will benefit local comedians as Conrad will hold a workshop with the local comedians and engage in intensive discussions and activity about this type of comedy which is not yet practised in Botswana,” he said.
Kediemetse said they expected an exciting night of comedy and urged the public to come in large numbers to experience a night of laughter. “Our main aim is to see standup comedy thriving in Botswana, so as to also positively contribute to lives of comedians to be able to make a living off their craft like their counterparts in other parts of the world,” he said.
Koch, who is a constant feature at most South Africa’s biggest comedy shows, has over 15 years experience in combining hilarious comedy with world class puppetry.
Koch has broken new ground in the world of ventriloquism globally with his recent puppet Chester Missing’s role as the political analyst on etv and eNCA’s Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola.