Affirming itself as the largest and most loved comedy project in South Africa, The JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival opens at the Baxter Theatre on 2 June and runs through to the 29 June 2025. Tickets are available through webtickets.
“Cape Town’s biggest and best comedy event, the JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival, never fails to bring laughter and smiles to many, many Capetonians,” says The Mayor of Cape Town Geordon Hill-Lewis. “And this year’s programme looks to be one of the best yet. I am grateful for the festival organisers – and to Mr Eddy Cassar in particular – for putting on such a wonderful, uplifting event, and for having done so for over a quarter of a century. I urge all Capetonians who love comedy and the lighter side of life to book their tickets early, and to come and enjoy a wonderful night out in the company of our country’s funniest performers, along with some truly special international acts.”
Now in its 26th year, the Funny Festival celebrates local and international champions of the industry. Diversity is the perfect environment for creative work and South Africa has bred a wealth of creative minds and top class comedians who deserve to perform on the country’s biggest stage. The unique selling point of The Funny Festival is that it showcases top local talent alongside some of the world’s foremost variety acts.
Two such acts on this year’s bill are Sweden’s Got Talent winner, magician Charlie Caper, and multi-award winning, Cirque du Soleil clown sensation, Campagnia Baccala from Italy.
“It’s our favourite time of the year” says Niyaaz Hendricks of JiVE. “It’s a time we come together to share a lag, to create special memorable moments and share our favourite JiVE flavours, with friends and family – ‘COS who wants to do these things alone Mos!?”
JiVE has partnered with the Cape Town Funny Festival for the last 15 years, and not only is it close to our hearts, but it has become an iconic highlight on our annual calendar.
The international performers are joined by South African comics Robby Collins, Kagiso Mokgadi, Alan Committie, Tumi Morake, Dalin Oliver, Emo and Loukmaan Adams, The Big Boys and the winner of the Funny Festival’s talent search, The JiVE Funny Championship.
MC duties are shared by Dalin Oliver for the first two weeks and Alan Committie for the remainder.
The Funny Festival is committed to showcasing upcoming talent through its social entrepreneurial project, The JiVE Funny Championships which runs at Canal Walk Shopping Centre from April through to May. The winner is granted a nightly slot on the Funny Festival.
Formed by publicist Eddy Cassar in 1997, as a celebration of freedom of speech after the formation of a democratic South Africa in 1994, the Festival has played to capacity houses since inception.
Cassar scouts for variety acts at all the major Festivals and regularly travels to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adelaide Fringe, The Linz Street Performers Festival, The Freiburg Culture Trade Exhibition and more recently to the Cirque de Demain in Paris.
“In the early days, we used to import stand-up comics from the top clubs in the UK and US, says Cassar. We phased that out a few years ago as the local stand-up industry is thriving and producing some world class acts and it’s our duty to showcase our own performers. We intersperse them with great variety acts we source abroad. I think it makes for a great show. Our audience view the Funny Festival as a great night out,” says Cassar.
The Funny Festival has JiVE cool drinks as its principal sponsor, who has been involved with the project since 2010.
Held in the middle of Winter, the Funny Festival has become a “Celebration of Winter in Cape Town” along with its hospitality partners, The New Kings Boutique Hotel, Aquila Private Game Reserve, Table Mountain Aerial Cable Car, City Sightseeing Red Bus, KLM, Lift Airlines and Wild Horizon Waterfront Cruises and Abseiling, the Festival creatively celebrates its partners in each of its 28 performances.
As the Funny Festival gets Cape Town laughing nightly, there are many children who are denied the pleasure of laughter because of a palate defect which can be rectified through a simple operation.
Operation Smile, The JiVE Cape Town Funny Festival’s beneficiary, raises funds through its association with the project and organises field trips where they perform one operation after another giving children the treasured opportunity to smile again!
The Funny Festival is Cape Town’s comedic tonic and a celebration of freedom of speech, disallowed for decades in South Africa. The art form has become a major force in South Africa, creating megastars, globally, nationally and locally. Come celebrate them!
Tickets are available through webtickets. Generous discounts are offered for groups from ten to a full house (650). Contact Carmen on 021-6857880 for more details. More information on www.funnyfestival.co.za
ENDS.
Contact
Show information and group sales:
Eddy Cassar 082 4503151 eddy@eddycassarpr.co.za