Lots of laughs at Hilton festival

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COMEDY will be among the main areas of focus at the 25th Hilton Arts Festival that takes place from September 15 to 17 in the grounds of Hilton College.

Making a welcome return to the festival, top comedian John Vlismas will bring along some fresh voices in three shows.

Vlismas is one of South Africa’s most creative and prolific comics, who has performed internationally. Often outspoken, extreme and controversial, and always very funny, he is a firm favourite on the local comedy scene.

The first Hilton Arts Festival show, Crazy Funny – Show #1, scheduled for 10am on the Saturday of the festival weekend, will feature Vlismas alongside Durban’s Jem Atkins, the mover-and-shaker behind On Fire Comedy. Atkins has been hosting and headlining shows all over the city for several years, and comes to Hilton off the recent success of his one-man comedy show, Single Dad II.

Joining the two is Glen Biderman-Pam, who has been nominated for Savannah Comics Choice awards and has performed at the Perth Fringe Festival. He opened for Barry Hilton for his run of The Way I See It at Gauteng’s Lyric Theatre.

The second show, Crazy Funny – Show #2, at 12.30pm on the Sunday, will see Vlismas take to the stage with Annalakshmi and Neil Green.

Annalakshmi loves to tell stories, giving her candid commentary. and her parodies are witty, funny and hit home. Since one of her videos went viral earlier this year, she has fast become one of the most recognised entertainers in the industry.

Green is easily one of Durban’s funniest and most respected comedians. A rising star in the South African comedy industry, he is noted for a sharp wit, commanding stage presence and an hilariously honest take on life.

Vlismas will be joined by a trio of funny guys in Whose Line?, scheduled for 3.30pm on the Saturday.

Similar to the popular TV show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, this comedy improv sees Vlismas, Atkins, Biderman-Pam and Durban’s Masood Boomgaard make everything up on stage. It is described as 80 minutes of complete off-the-cuff hilarity.

Sticking with laughs… after a successful tour around South Africa, the comedy duo of John van de Ruit and Ben Voss return to the Hilton Arts Festival stage with their latest sketch-comedy collage, Mamba Republic, scheduled for 5.45pm on the Friday, 6pm on the Saturday and 5.45pm on the Sunday.

The third production in the Mamba comedy trilogy, Mamba Republic is a rapid-paced, satirical sketch-comedy that has Van de Ruit (author of the Spud books) and Voss (who also performs in drag as Beauty Ramapelepele) under the direction of Durban’s Mervyn McMurtry. The show is reviewed under ‘Theatre’ on this site, and also there is an interview with Voss.

The festival would not be possible without the generous support of Hilton College, Tiso Blackstar Group, Grindrod Bank, Black Coffee, DWR, PWC,  Bidvest Car Rental, Indwe Risk Services, Assitej South Africa, Loud Crowd, Sappi, Redlands Hotel,  Zultrans, KZN Dept of Arts & Culture, BASA,  Castle Lite, Maritzburg Sun and Caxton

For more information visit www.hiltonfestival.co.za

All enquiries on 033 383 0126 / 7 or [email protected].

Booking enquiries: [email protected]

Programme now available on line as pdf on website.

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