Getting to know the man behind the mic

DARREN Maule likes big words (even if he can’t understand them), his exes,drinking coffee, going to the movies, asking erudite questions (eg can bald people get hairline fractures?), his mate Dave, tennis star Maria Sharapova and singer Katy Perry and he simply adores his five-year-old daughter.

He made these startling revelations at a lovely soirée in Southbroom.

Claire Clark Communications invited South Coasters to an evening all about Darren Maule, who is best known for presenting East Coast Radio’s breakfast show since 2011 and he is also the brand ambassador for Illy Coffee and Twisp.

The youngest of five sons, Darren went to Potchefstroom Boys High in the North West Province and said being a `rooinek’ in the predominately Afrikaans-speaking town primed him for life as a comedian.

Although it was not his first career choice – he went to university to study theatre and literally fell into comedy when he and a friend did a gig at a club when a prior act flopped. According to Darren being bullied at school equipped him to withstand heckling by audiences as he embarked on his stand-up comedian career.

Twenty years on and he still loves standing in front of strangers and making them laugh. As he says, being a comedian in South Africa has its advantages, as politicians write the scripts for the comics, helped along by newspaper headlines. He is also an outstanding mimic and his take on President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address brought tears of mirth to his audience’s eyes.

His easy-going story-telling manner (tales about his Scots dad had the comedy crowd in hysterics) has earned him a loyal following and in September this year Darren will represent the country at the International Comedy Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the only South African who has been invited. Footnote: If anyone knows any good Danish jokes, share them with him.

And more good news – his contract with East Coast Radio has also been renewed – for a further three years. He admitted that his first day on air was terrifying.

Understandable – East Coasters were not going to welcome a Blue Bulls, Vaalie, novice broadcaster on their airwaves without a bit of hostility. He set about becoming a local – he took out the old geography school books to figure out exactly where the East Coast is located, he went scuba diving with sharks off Aliwal Shoal, abseiled down Oribi Gorge, took part in each and every funzunzi event that is proudly Durban and the East Coast. He also came to his senses and realised there is only one rugby team to support – the Sharks. Listeners love hearing stories about his mate Dave and his devotion to pop diva Katy Perry, he claims to be her number one fan in the world. He has a framed, signed prism from her to prove his status. His prized possession was on show to be oohed and aahed over.

Darren is a naturally funny man but he has received much praise for his dignified presentation of Nelson Mandela’s funeral broadcast.

Apart from a dose of the world’s best medicine – laughter – guests were also entertained by Darren’s other mate, Canadian magician, Andrew Eland (aka Magic Man) and given titbits of inside information about new developments at ECR by manager Zane Derbyshire via a video link.

Mariette and Denis Venter from the local advertising agency O&A Creative Marketing presented the man behind the mic with his own web page which they developed.

A few of Darren’s Twitter followers were rewarded with Twisps – the revolutionary (his words) new smoking device and everyone went home with goodie boxes from Illy.