Morapedi warms up a cold comedy night
Chippa Legodimo | Monday September 1, 2014 13:32
Dignash was the shining light of the cold night, ripping the guests’ lungs up with laughter. The popular comedian was the host of the event, which attracted a big crowd, and although he only chipped in between other comedian acts, Dignash stood out with each joke he made. The former radio personality’s first piece was about the Ebola outbreak.
“The news papers have tried to preach, they have written but Batswana are still just like this. They say thou shall not touch, hug, kiss or shake hands but here we are in this hall sitting close to each other and some, I assume, are couples locked in hands,” he said to rapturous laughter from the audience.
He proceeded: “You know I have deliberately chosen to dream in English because I do not want the trauma that comes with dreaming in Setswana. In English there is no such thing as Sebeteledi, huh.”
With general elections just around the corner it is open season for comedians. Imaginations are free to be roam and pictue the ‘new’ Parliament. Dignash said that he pictures the ‘funniest’ Parliament ever.
“Imagine Chilly Boy (MacDonald Rakgare) saying, ‘Madam speaker ga ke dumalane le braa el’ Mma Nasha would reply; ‘Ngwanaka, golo gase matshamekwane ke palamente’. DK (Daniel Kwelagobe interjects ‘Oa bo a reng jaanong. Braa ele mo palamenteng, ija.”
The spirit of the late Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) leader, Gomolemo Motswaledi, was also resurrected when Dignash created a scenario in which the charismatic politician would contribute to the debates.
In Motswaledi’s tone he said, “I imagine Sir G saying ‘Ke one mathata a go tlhoka go itewa seata. Batho ba teng le ha o bua le bone go thata gore ba thaloganye.“ South Africa’s Pule Skhothate once again failed to leave the crowd with much to talk about. Perhaps the only funny thing about him on the night was his fluency in various languages like Sesotho, Sepedi, Zulu, Xhosa and a little bit of Kalanga.
Those who were seeing him for the first time were amazed by diverse language skill. Otherwise he lacked the real creativity of stand up comedy. The Mlungu failed again early this year at the Rail Park comedy night. After his performance, Dignash could not help but create jokes about the South African’s showing. Mod clearly could not generate the humour created by Dignash, but stood his ground.
One of his jokes about police laxity reflected on how often people are thrown from pillar to post when reporting matters to the police. “Imagine you have an accident by the BHC traffic lights and you reach Borakanelo Police Station and the person on the other end of the line tells you to report to Urban Police Station then an officer arrives from there and after accessing the situation tells you that that section of the road is covered by Central Police Station,” Mod said.
Another South African, Mashabela Galane, started well by poking fun at his own looks and advised, “ugly couples to try to find the right balance” to avoid bearing uglier children.