Taking a stand with Nik Rabinowitz

5 Dec 2013

It's been almost two years since likeable Cape Town comedian Nik Rabinowitz has performed at the Baxter Theatre and, as he mentioned, two years away from the stage equals a helluva lot of material - especially if you just so happen to live in this colourfully crazy country of ours.

Luckily he, with the help of opening act Kagiso "KG" Mokgadi, will be unleashing some of that material at the Baxter Theatre till early next year, in his new act Stand Up. We caught last night's show, which included a wide range of topics from politics to erm ... other "P" words that may or may not have something to do with a cat. So yes there is an understandably PG 16 age restriction, as there quite a few eye widening moments when you're like "OMG did he just say that!"

That said, those more risqué moments are few and far between and most of his routine focusses on his spot-on impersonations, from Ashraaf his Jive-loving builder to Patricia de Lille, he nails those accent and inflections kak duidelik. In fact, the Mayor of Cape Town, or Pattie, as Nik affectionately calls her, was supposed to be at last night's show; unfortunately she didn't show face, but there was a sorta stand-in in the form of another Patricia, an elderly lady hailing from the UK who unfortunately (for her) was sitting in the front row. Poor dear seemed a little bamboozled by Nik's questions and explanations about SA politics and coloured slang.

Frontline flea hoppin'

In fact, I was also a little bamboozled myself, being somewhat linguistically challenged I often had to ask my better equipped partner for a translation. Nik, however, mixes it up culturally and topically, jumping from topic to topic like a crazed flea that has just been Frontlined. The energy is fast paced and jokes fly as frequently as bullets from Oscar Pistorius' gun; "So a moose walks into a Shoprite .... " Bam! "Zuma soek a vrou .... " Bam Bam! "This painting has been defaced and de-vliesed ... " Bam Bam Bam!

To see all these jokes, plus many more, live and in person catch Stand Up starring Nik Rabinowitz at the Baxter Concert Hall from 26 November to 11 January, from Mondays to Fridays at 8.30pm, and on Saturdays at 9pm, including on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day at 8.30pm and on New Year's Eve at 10pm. Tickets cost from R110 to R150 - the New Year's Eve performance is R210 per person. All booking is via Computicket or 0861 915 8000.