Montecasino stages Jozi Int'l Comedy Fest 2009

“We are very excited to be part of the comedy festival this year and look forward to sharing loads of laughter with our consumers. It's quite natural for us to partner with Hunta Live with this funny venture because at Nando's we know that laughter is the best medicine”, says Sylvester Chauke - Nando's national marketing manager.

Says Steve Howell, general manager of Montecasino, “Montecasino are thrilled to be the venue of choice for the Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival for the second year running. We pride ourselves on being Gauteng's premier entertainment destination and the continuing relationship with the comedy festival only adds to the variety of exciting entertainment options Montecasino has on offer.“

The festival, which will run over seven days, will consist of an international stand up theatre show - the “UN Comedy Show”, a late-night stand up show “UNhinged” and a local stand-up competition “Comedy Showdown”.

The UN Comedy Show will be hosted by international comedy icon, Angelo Tsarouchas (Canada), the larger than life, actor/comedian, who is without question, Canada's next “big thing”. Dubbed “The Hitman of Hilarity”, Angelo definitely exudes star power. His trademark mobster resemblance, burly size and no hold back attitude have put him in high demand on the global comedy stage as well as in television and film projects on both sides of the border.

Comedy heavy-weight Ahmed Ahmed (Egypt) who regularly performs at The Comedy Store in Hollywood and has toured all across the US and Europe will make his debut appearance in South Africa. He was the winner of the first annual Richard Pryor Award for ethnic comedy at the Edinburgh Festival. He has appeared in several films and television shows such as Executive Decision, Swingers, Roseanne, JAG, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central, and MTV's Punk'd with Ashton Kutcher.

Comedy legend Steve Best (UK) will wow Jozi fans with his one-liners and props in an extremely visual comedy act. Likened to Steve Martin and Tommy Cooper, Steve has toured with Frank Skinner, Harry Hill, Craig Charles and Omid Djalili. He has performed all around the world including Hong Kong, Norway, The Falkland Islands, Kosovo, Bosnia, Bali, Jakarta and Denmark.

After opening for Australia's top comedian Carl Barron during his SA tour, David Kibuuka (Uganda) will return to the Jozi stage. “Dave” has a unique brand of humour that combines wit and intellect without losing touch with his audiences. He has also opened for the likes of Barry Hilton and John Vlismas on their national tours.

Dean Edwards (USA) the stand-up comedian and actor from the cast of Saturday Night Live will bring his hilarious impressions to stage. Get ready for the likes of Michael Jackson, Wayne Brady, Chris Tucker, Don Cheadle, Colin Powell, Serena Williams, Grace Jones, Randy Jackson, Denzel Washington, and Billy Ocean.

Kitty Flanagan (Australia) one of the funniest traditional stand-ups of our time will be returning to South Africa with her keen sense of the ridiculous and her perky, offbeat anecdotes to captivate the audience. A well-known face at festivals like Edinburgh, Kitty performed at Cape Town Comedy Festival in 2008 to glowing reviews.

South Africa's rising star Trevor Noah (SA) will complete the seven-star line-up. Trevor Noah is a South African actor, presenter, comedian and radio DJ that is fluent and funny in eight of the eleven official languages. Although he has only been performing as a professional comedian for a few years, he is already recognised as one of the most talented comedians in South African comedy. He most recently hosted the reality competition series The AXE Sweet life and award ceremonies including the 3rd annual SAFTA Awards at the State Theatre in Pretoria in February, 2009 and the 15th annual South African Music Awards (SAMAs) at the Sun City Superbowl in May, 2009.

The UN Comedy Show carries an age restriction of 16.

If you like your coffee a little darker, the “UNhinged Show” is for you. See the UN Comedy Cast Unhinged and Uncensored at this late-night comedy gig with a twist. Not for the fainthearted and not for those under 18 years, slightly filthy but always funny.

The ultimate comedy platform for vibrant and aspiring talent, the Comedy Showdown will give the winner of the competition the chance to perform on stage with the international heavyweights on the closing night of the UN Comedy Show. Well-known South African comedian, Joe Parker and his team, will be running the Comedy Showdowns at Parkers Comedy and Jive.

National strategic activation and support manager, Carla Davis commented, “Nando's has something to say about everything and often say what SA would love to say! We have over the years created 'brand love' by relating to the reality of people's lives and making light of dark situations. We owe it to SA and ourselves to fill bellies, warm hearts, tantalise taste-buds and very importantly make people laugh.”

The Nando's Jozi Comedy Festival will run from 17 August to 23 August 2009 and tickets can be purchased at Computicket - www.computicket.com. Tickets are priced from R150 to R220.

show schedules and times:

UN Comedy Show: 17 - 21 August (Monday - Friday) at 20h00 and 23 August (Sunday) at 18h00
UNhinged: 21 and 22 August (Friday and Saturday) at 22h30

For more information, go to www.comedyfestival.co.za.