The Lyric Theatre to host Comics’ Choice Awards
The nominees were announced at a press lunch at The Goliath Comedy Club on July 11.
IT remained to be seen who will leave with the Waldo at the main Annual South African Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards event on September 8 at The Lyric Theatre.
It has been a record year for The Annual South African Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards with a massive spike in entries. As many as 272 South African comedians are vying for one of the 10 awards, while 53 entered from the continent to be crowned the Savanna Pan-African Comic of the Year. There were 17 comedians honoured in the Lifetime Achievement category.
There is also great excitement about the new category that’s been announced, The Comedy G Award. Launched to celebrate the stalwarts of the industry, it recognises the comedians who produce great comedy night after night; the ones who simply grab the mic and work the room. There is an element of luck in getting exposure as a top comic, talent doesn’t always get you to the table – the Comedy “G” is a reminder of the giants whose shoulders the lucky few get to stand on.
The nominees were announced at a press lunch at The Goliath Comedy Club on July 11 to media, industry and comedy supporters.
And the nominees are:
Comedy G Award
David Kau
Marc Lottering
Loyiso Gola
Alan Committie
Celeste Ntuli
Savanna newcomer of the year
Bongani Dube
Lindy Johnson
Tsitsi Chiumya
Gilli Apter
Nonto Rubushe
Next level award
Eric Jansen
Phil de Lange
Thabiso Mhlongo
Chik Aljoy
Ebenhaezer Dibakwane
The native tongue award
Skhumba Hlophe
Thapelo King Flat
Celeste Ntuli
Mashabela Galane
Siya Seya
The flying solo award
Carvin Goldstone
Celeste Ntuli
Loyiso Gola
Alfred Adriaan
Skhumba Hlophe
The comics’ pen award
Kagiso Lediga
Christopher Steenkamp
Thenjiwe Moseley
Lazola Gola
“Happy Hour” by Dalin Oliver and Carl Weber
Best friend of comedy award
On Fire Comedy
Goliath Comedy Club
Gino Fernandez
#ER Comedy What What
#BlacksOnly – David Kau
The game changer award
Carvin Goldstone
Skhumba Hlophe
Loyiso Gola
Celeste Ntuli
Kagiso Lediga
The Savanna Comic of the year award
Carvin Goldstone
Mpho Modikoane
Alfred Adriaan
Skhumba Hlophe
Robby Collins
The Savanna Pan-African Comic of the year
It has always been the awards’ vision to go beyond South Africa and open the borders of the local industry to the comedy family on the continent. There may be many languages spoken in Africa, but it is the language of humour that connects us all.
With the support of Savanna, the vision became a reality last year with the introduction of the first ever Savanna Pan-African Comic of the Year Award. Now celebrating its second year, there was a great increase in the number of registrations, up from 29 in 2017 to 54 comedians this year: from Ghana to Kenya, Nigeria to Zambia, Angola to Lesotho and a host of other nations, all connected through comedy.
This year’s nominees are:
Basketmouth (Nigeria)
Carl Joshua Ncube (Zimbabwe)
Kansiime Anne Entertainer (Uganda)
Salvado (Uganda)
Charles Manase (Botswana)
The Chatz Connect audience choice award
This is the only award that’s open for public voting and is the only award that’s still open for voting before the main awards in September. The five nominees in this category will go head-to-head to rally for votes until August 31.
Abuti Lolo, unique code 83990
Summary, unique code 92210
Teboho Theoha, unique code 07402
Pele-Pele Mchunu, unique code 94231
Kwanda Radebe, unique code 24635
To assist these nominees in striving for victory, Chatz Connect has decided to gift them each with a superb Huawei P20 handset. What does this mean? They can shoot footage good enough to put on TV, and voice notes good enough for radio. So if they create a plea for votes and 1Magic and Kaya FM like them, they will help them get the country voting for them by flighting their content.
Vote by texting the nominee’s unique code to 45757. You can vote up to 50 times. Each SMS is charged at R1.50 and errors will be billed. Free minutes do not apply.
The lifetime achievement recipient
This year’s prestigious Lifetime Achiever Recipient Award goes to Pieter-Dirk Uys for his invaluable contribution to the industry over the last 40 years. You’d be forgiven for not recognising him in the street, even though he is the person behind the most famous white woman in South Africa, Evita Bezuidenhout. A man whose work as a political satirist cannot be ignored, he is one of the few people that risked, through comedy, speaking the truth to those in power.
Pieter’s Grilling of a Lifetime will take place in September, during which he will be affectionately poked in the ribs by his peers. A comedic approach to celebrating the life and work of the artist, it is the ultimate acknowledgement a comedian can get. Keep an eye on social media for the details.
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