Kurt Schoonrad is Home Groan
11 Feb 2010
It has been my experience that the most common reason for any comedian to do a one-man show is that he's feeling a bit out-of-pocket and needs to make the rent for the end of next month. This leads to a rather average rehash of said comedian's most popular jokes, the vast majority of which are only mildly funny at best. Even worse is the fact that most Capetonian comics have a tendency to make jokes that go far over this ex-Joburger's head. I only recently discovered where Lavender Hill was, you know! With much trepidation, therefore, I dragged myself to see Kurt Schoonrad.
It turns out my fears were completely unfounded. Kurt has the ability to reach across the culture lines, and bring the more affluent members of the audience in to the world of his youth, a world they would not be familiar with. With the exception of one or two comments, I wasn't even lost from a geographical perspective. Even if you don't know exactly where the area is that he's talking about, you get the gist of the joke. Kurt is a naturally funny guy, and this shines through in his show.
The show is presented by means of an introduction, consisting of a number of interviews with the man on the street, and it is closed in the same manner. One of the most enjoyable parts of Kurt's show is his clever and occasional use of on-stage props, but perhaps on a par with that is his ability to change the tone of the show. He lets you build expectations, but then something amazing happens - he takes those expectations and turns them on their head. One of the other enjoyable aspects of Home Groan is that there is a constant thread that is followed, so you're not watching a comedian simply rattling off a collection of jokes.
As with some of the shows I get to see, I only caught Home Groan on its way out, so I can't tell you to get out and see it. But I can most definitely recommend keeping an eye open for the next of Kurt's shows or any stand-up gigs he's at. He is most definitely worth watching.
About Riccardo Spagni
After serving his time in Namibia, Riccardo got bored of Johannesburg and moved to Cape Town to become one with the mountain. He spends his days trawling biscuit factories hoping to discover the Next Big Cookie Flavour and writing reviews for the BizLounge that he traditionally delivers four or five days after deadline.
