John Vlismas in Revelations II - The Good Racist
"As I get older, I'm getting tired of doing the dick and race jokes that seem to be the staple of the mass-appeal comedy scene - I want to talk about what I see as real issues - like how an erection for a glorified air hostess can take down a chunk of the stock market, how an idiot's Tweet can polarize the nation - these are true comedy topics," says Vlismas.
2016 has started with a bang. The President's Voyager member racks up miles as his seed implodes the stock market. A brain-dead white woman confounds science by managing to send a tweet. Water leaks out of every hole in our democracy.
We all glare across the imagined razor wire of racial divides as our worst fears revive themselves and we threaten to topple backwards, when will the Penny drop?
Every generation, since the beginning of humanity, has harboured a group of loons, extreme nut-jobs who insist that God, or Nature or "these blacks" will trigger the Apocalypse.
Whichever way you look at it, we have come a long way as a country - whether we're heading in the right direction is up for debate.
Outspoken reader, pepper-sprayer of the stupid and award-winning comic, John Vlismas takes us back to the recorded start of our nation's turbulent history in his new show. As the curtain rises, he traces an intelligent, brilliantly funny and brutally honest line from the cradle of mankind to the present stupidity of sparrows.
"Our real history is much more complicated and ridiculous than most people realise - the Voortrekkers were not saints, Mahatma Ghandi drank urine and slept with virgins, Shaka was a kind of Hitler and Mugabe may have some valid points about Britain, we tend to rely on 'Chappie paper' facts whenever we attack each other, maybe our common enemy is ignorance?" says Vlismas, the only white person to ever receive death threats from Steve Hofmeyr.
"I think it's high time we declared war on stupidity - it's the only way to win this thing."
When in Montreal in 2014, Vlismas was praised by Warner Bros executives for his "Bill Maher-like" approach to social truth, and Revelations two promises to confirm their summary of him.
Staged in the beautiful Teatro theatre, the Johannesburg shows promise to be a special moment for SA comedy.
The Good Racist: 26 August 2016 to 27 August 2016
Time: 20:00 - 23:00
Venue: Monte Casino Teatro, Johannesburg
Cost: From R125.00
More info:
Monte Casino Teatro Theatre