Parker's Comedy & Jive

The mix of local and international acts which has spawned a stand-up comedy revolution continues from Thursday-Saturday evenings each week. August sees the introduction of open-mic nights on Wednesdays, starting with the Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival Comedy Showdown, on 29 July.

The Comedy Showdown will give aspiring comedians - and those already honing their trade on stage - the chance to step up to the mic in front of a panel of established local and international comedians and Festival representatives to test their skills in a series of heats. The winner will share the stage with international heavyweights like Canadian “Hitman of Hilarity” Angelo Tsarouchas, Saturday Night Live's Dean Edwards, Egypt's Ahmed Ahmed and rising SA star Trevor Noah on the closing night of the UN Comedy Show on 23 August.

Comics will be able to enter a series of weekly heats at Parker's from 29 July. The top 2 from each heat will go through to a final on 19 August. Those 6 comics will battle it out in front of a panel and live audience for the right to join the Big 7 for the UN Comedy Show Finale on 23 August.

The open-mic nights will live on beyond the Comedy Festival from 2 September, with an experienced MC marshalling up to 3 open-mic slots, with the regular top international act closing the first half of the show. In the second half, the MC will throw open the stage to the madness of the “Starship Improvise” team, who will have audiences raving with improvised comedy in the mould of TV's “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”. Tickets for the Comedy Showdown heats and final - and the open-mic nights which run from 2 September - are available from Computicket for R60. Shows start at 20:30 each Wednesday.

Sundays now see the popular duo Abbott & Crabb taking to the stage from 18:00. The ‘Pom and the Oke from Springs' have been entertaining audiences from Cape Town to Lusaka for over 30 years with their unique blend of comedy and music. A chance meeting at a caravan park gig in Springs in 1977 saw Dave Abbott and Henry Crabb team up to play their first gig at the Rebel Inn in Benoni - and Abbott & Crabb was born!

Most people get a bit of a shock to find that they can actually play their instruments - and rather well at that. Both also sing and their music ranges from Bluegrass (Dave's an adept fiddle player and Henry's handy on the banjo) to rock (they both play guitar), Dave is a fine guitar player who has featured on many other artists' albums while Henry's an expert at… well… being silly. Tickets for Abbott & Crabb Sundays are available from Computicket, priced at R60. Shows start at 18:00.

The regular Thursday-Saturday mix of local and international stand-up plays host to no fewer than 20 local acts performing alongside 3 of the best from the UK and USA. Local lads Joe Parker, Joey Rasdien, Darren “Whackhead” Simpson, Darren Maule, Alyn Adams - and exciting young talent Stella - share the stage with Brits John Fothergill (1 & 6-8 August), Simon Clayton (13-15 and 20-22 August) and America's Pat Brown (27-29 August and 3-5 September).

Comedian and actor John Fothergill (1 & 6-8 August), hails from Crawcrook, a small village in the North East of England. After spending the majority of his childhood trying to convince the rest of the community that he was a very special child, they finally agreed and after the traditional tar and feathering banished him to the nearest city - the vast cosmopolitan metropolis that is Newcastle upon Tyne.

Employment varied from cleaning the deck and galley of a gas rig in the middle of the North Sea, to sound man at a quakers meeting (which consists mainly of silent contemplation), to the obvious move to professional bongo player.

John became a regular at Newcastle's Comedy Café and in 1993, his first year as a comedian, he had been lucky enough to appear with the likes of Jack Dee, Lee Evans and Jo Brand.

John has slotted into the comedy circuit like a three-pinned plug, combining a unique style of embarrassing sexual revelations with a rural innocence.

North Londoner Simon Clayton's (13-15 and 20-22 August) subject matter is simple - it involves being fat, mixed race, married, balding because that is what he is, and anything else that currently makes him laugh. Although not necessarily in that order.

A popular performer up and down the country, lads bible Loaded once famously described him as "like a bottle of HP sauce - fat, brown and fruity!"
Simon's former head of sixth form at Southgate School, Mr Massey wrote of him: "Simon's natural brightness often leads to disruptive high jinks during registration".

America's Pat Brown's (27-29 August and 3-5 September) motto is to put the fun back in funny. Pat's style is smart silliness, wrapped in good-natured fun. And it's this style, in conjunction with her bouncy energy and engaging smile which has helped establish her universal appeal with black, white, corporate and even religious based crowds.

Her comedic success can also be contributed to her clean content, unique delivery, quick wit and perfect pace which draw audiences in like sweet gossip. It's no wonder that Pat's talents are sought after as both comic and writer. In fact, she's written for Black Entertainment Television, Comedian Rickey Smiley, Sommore, one of the Queens of Comedy and countless others.

She's worked with a diverse mix of top comedians including Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, Ron White and Jeff Dunham. Pat's also a veteran improvisational actor with Laughing Matters Improv Troupe, as well as the Blacktop Circus — one of only two African-American improv troupes in America. Pat is by far one of the most original and refreshing comics in the business today.

It's guaranteed that you'll want to see her perform her brand of silliness over and over again.

The August 2009 Lineup at Parker's is:

1 August

Joe Parker
Joey Rasdien
Roni Modimola
John Fothergill (UK)

2 August

Abbott & Crabb

5 August

Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival - Comedy Showdown (Heat 2)

6 August

Joe Parker
Alyn Adams
Dale Amler
Trevor Gumbi
John Fothergill (UK)

7 & 8 August

Darren Maule
Alyn Adams
Trevor Gumbi
John Fothergill (UK)

9 August

Abbott & Crabb

12 August

Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival - Comedy Showdown (Heat 3)

13 August

Joe Parker
Mel Miller
Stella
Simon Clayton (UK)

14 & 15 August

Tony King
Mel Miller
Hannes Brummer
Simon Clayton (UK)

16 August

Abbott & Crabb

19 August

Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival - Comedy Showdown FINAL

20 August

Joe Parker
Martin Jonas
Denton Douglas
Simon Clayton (UK)

21 & 22 August

Darren Maule
Martin Jonas
Tshepo Mogale
Simon Clayton (UK)

23 August

Abbott & Crabb

27 August

Joe Parker
Darren Simpson
Sean Wewege
Pat Brown (USA)

28 & 29 August

Joe Parker
Darren Simpson
Melt Sieberhagen
Pat Brown (USA)

30 August

Abbott & Crabb

Parker's Comedy & Jive is situated near the cinemas at Montecasino at Shop 24, next to the Boogaloos Skate Park. Bookings are now open via Computicket (www.computicket.com) and admission fees vary between R60 (Comedy Showdown and Abbott & Crabb) and R80 - R100 (Thursday - Saturday at 20:45). For more information, visit www.parkerscomedy.com or call (011) 511 0081 or 0861 GIGGLE. Lineups subject to change at short notice.