STAGE: Chester’s Got Talent – Rhumbelow Theatre at Northlands Bowling Club, Durban North
– Final performances at 7.30pm Friday and Saturday, July 31 and August 1, and 2pm on Sunday, August 2.
REVIEW BY BILLY SUTER
IF YOU have seen award-winning ventriloquist and comedian Conrad Koch on stage you know you will be in for a memorable night out. If you haven’t, do yourself a massive favour, stop what you are doing and book now for this South African entertainer’s last Durban performances of his touring Chester’s Got Talent, which took the coveted Gold Ovation Award at South Africa’s National Arts Festival earlier this month.
Running 95-minutes or so without an interval, the production is a slick, colourful collage of comedy, satire, quick wit and nudge-winking. It’s a show that turns spotlights on a parade of some of the most sassy, comic and ingeniously created puppet characters you can imagine, each and every one voiced by Conrad.
The show takes the form of an informal talent competition where members of the audience are approached to judge the best performer among the assortment of quirky characters Conrad creates.
And these guys – made from just about everything from Crocs shoe parts, ostrich feathers, flippers, a giant hoodie and even a car windscreen sun visor, among other things – are, of course, competitive and confrontational. The result is a riot of merry entertainment, with one surprise after another.
Koch – who, by the way, has a master’s degree in social anthropology – also offers a lot of fun banter between him and the puppets he manipulates, not to mention much elbowing of local politicians and amusing nods to the South African scene in general. Malema, Zille, Zuma…all, and then some, get a ribbing.
First up is Conrad’s kingpin, bald-headed and no-holds-barred Chester Missing, and he delivers in spades. But I had a particularly soft spot for a wide-eyed diva of an ostrich with a laugh that alone gets the audience chuckling. Other puppet competitors in this talent competition include a bloody-eyed German mosquito, a crocodile that fancies itself as a duck, a chunky DJ whose feet replace his hands (you have to see it!), and a retired school teacher who is a constant hoot.
To say too much more would spoil the fun. So I will leave it there and simply highly recommend that you to do yourself an enormous favour and see this wonderful show. Round up a group of friends, pop along to Durban North’s Northlands Bowling Club with a picnic basket (drinks must be bought at the venue’s pub) and have a ball with an entertainer who is not only a hit here but also in countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia.
Tickets cost R220 each (R200 for pensioners and R180 for under-13s). Book at Webtickets or by mailing roland@standsell.co.za
.....SoSuterBill..... 