Cape Town’s biggest stand-up comedy search, the prestigious Jive Funny Championship, took place at Canal Walk this past weekend, where Woodstock filmmaker Mzonke Maloney was crowned the winner.
Mzonke, 31, said he was fortunate to study the trade in Los Angeles and now directs commercials for a living.
He entered the competition with 86 other hopefuls and came out tops on Saturday, earning himself a three-minute nightly spot during the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival taking place from June 5 until July 2 at the Baxter Theatre, where he will join a star-studded lineup of local and international acts.
His other prizes include a laptop, airtime from MTN, a gift card from Canal Walk and R5 000 cash from the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival.
The comic search has been part of the annual festival for the last 10 years and has seen winners such as Yaseen Barnes and Nkosinathi Maki develop successful careers from this platform.
This year’s finalists performed their set at the Canal Walk Auditorium on Saturday aand in front of judges David Kramer and Alan Committie.
Mzonke is originally from Klerksdorp but has lived in Woodstock since 2015. He said that although he has always had an interest in comedy, he only started taking it seriously as a potential career last year.
“I met comic Lazola Gola [Loyiso Gola’s younger brother] on a commercial set I was directing and I asked him if I could write for him because I have been writing comedy since I was young. He told me it don’t work like that, in fact I need to be on stage to know how to write for stage, and so I did, a few weeks later.”
Mzonke said he had been performing shows and gigs to sharpen his wit before attempting the Jive Funny Championship.
“Joining comedy has been as serious as all of the other things I have tried to do; winning the Jive Funny Championship is a step in the right direction.
“My jokes are influenced by my experience travelling and conversations I’ve had between people and my friends,” he concluded.