Nando's Comedy Fest CT, clucking funny

Trombonist/dancer Jonathan Arons warmed the crowd up with some giggles as he leapt up from his seat with the orchestra and got down and dirty on stage to various funky tunes. This multi-skilled performer has made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Steve Harvey's Big Time.

Cocky and manly

Making his first appearance in South Africa as host of the Cape Town Comedy Festival was Ian Baggs who really got the crowd going. Baggs cocky manly-man sense of humour meant he scored plenty of laughs from the men, but I imagine the ladies were a little less inclined to convulse in their seats from laughter. He was great in the first half, though his performance in the second-half lacked lustre.

He wasn't afraid to rip off the sponsors and poke naughty fun at the front row - the real danger zone at any comedy show.

Bobby-lee did well in ripping off his Korean father but his performance wasn't that memorable for me. Mo Mandel also didn't really hit my funny spot, but his act was entertaining as he took the piss out of himself.

Mr Cell C himself

Homegrown and most commonly associated with his gimmick with Cell C, Trevor Noah put on an absolutely superb performance. I was so glad he has some new material that's actually on par with his previous jokes and perhaps even better. But then, when you live in SA, you'll find no one's ever short of a joke that mocks the current state of the rainbow nation and it's ever charming politicians. Imagine Jacob Zuma on Facebook - Noah does this skit excellently; everyone was in stitches. I suppose he was the best act of the night because we could relate far more easily to his material.

My other favourite act of the night was the cardigan and skinny-jeans wearing, Dave Thornton who hails from Australia. He poked fun at American spelling, silent letters in words and various other things commonplace. His delivery as well as his material was great.

The fat kid epidemic

Orny Adams performance, I do remember enjoying, but he also wasn't that memorable for me. I don't think he was quite in touch with the general South African's sense of humour, but he pulled off his act well enough. Among other things, he made fun of the "fat kid epidemic" in the US, going grey and dialling internationally for customer service queries. I laughed, but not uncontrollably for his part of the show.

The 2010 Nando's Comedy Festival was great exercise and great medicine for the wintry cold weather. It could have had an extra SA comedian, but it's so awesome that we get such good international talent to come down and entertain us.

The show runs till 19 September 2010 at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.

Tickets are available from Computicket.com. For more info on the comedians, go to ComedyFestival.co.za.