Stand-up comedy on the wild side

MASOOD Boomgaard brings his solo stand-up comedy venture ‘Choons and Tunes’, to the Wild Coast Sun Hotel and Casino Resort on December 28, at 8pm.

The production is a hilarious account of living in South Africa – with a musical twist.

Masood is well known for his satirical and often controversial work in the Sunday Tribune and developed a following through his ‘For Men Only’ and ‘Risky Business’ columns, in which he offered weekly humorous yet hard hitting views on everything from politics to sport to parenting. He currently writes under the Poison Pen banner.

Since 2005, he has broadened his scope by performing as a standup comedian. Much of his material is adapted from his columns.

“When you’re forced to churn out columns weekly you suddenly have a heap of stuff you can get into and adapt for the stage. It’s a painful exercise sifting through the stuff but the process has given me some great performance bits,” he said.

His comedy was pitched at the ‘everyday man’, he added.

“I talk about personal experience but also about what people are interested in. I don’t mind talking about politics, like some comedians, because it’s something that people are very much concerned about. I just try and do it in a different way.”

Raised in Durban by Muslim Indian-Malay parents in a predominantly coloured neighbourhood, Masood’s exposure to different cultures has made him a ‘cultural chameleon’.

His experiences interacting with different sides of his family, as well as neighbours, forms the basis of some of his on stage material.

“People are fascinated by race in South Africa and they want to be able to define you. When it comes to me they can never figure out what I am and I sort of like that because I can be anything I want and fit in everywhere.”

On the title Choons and Tunes, Boomgaard says: “To choon is generally understood to mean to say something. But when I was growing up it also could mean to say something opinionated. So that’s what the show is about, me chooning about things I’ve experienced in my life. As for tunes, well I’ve decided to work a bit of a musical theme into the show, which I think audiences will like.”

Tickets are R120 and are available from Computicket.