Five Eastern Cape based Comedians will join forces to present a live stand-up Comedy show at the Vodacom Amphitheatre on Wednesday the 4th of December, as The East Cape Comedy Collective. The show will be hosted by Actor and Comedian Roland Gaspar, best known as the TV face of brands like Makro and MiWay. Gaspar is also a familiar voice in the Eastern Cape, having been a presenter on both KingfisherFM and later AlgoaFM.
Also entertaining at the event will be Michael “The Fly” Arthur, who is an established PE Comedian who was discovered and mentored by Comedy legend – and recent Comic’s Choice Lifetime Achievement Award winner – Barry Hilton. Headliner Joehl Ross is an established theatre performer and is also the TV face of First Choice custard. He has performed Comedy in South Africa and the UK, making reference to his Scottish heritage to great effect.
The remaining two Comedians are relatively new to stand-up. Rory Petzer, who is the producer of the award winning Daron Mann Breakfast Show on AlgoaFM, admits to having harboured dreams of trying his hand at live comedy for some time, “I didn’t realize it could be possible for me right here in PE. At this point it feels like I’m living the dream!” The group is completed by the other newcomer, Chloe Harper, who is originally from Northamptonshire and has great fun examining the differences between locals and their British counterparts. The talents of Petzer and Harper were identified and mentored within the last 6 months through the process of local open mic shows and monthly Comedy excursions to neighbouring towns by the other 3 members of the collective. “We are in the process of creating a comedic circuit where we identify venues who wish to host Comedy evenings and partner with them to provide entertainment for their customers, while at the same time developing local talent” said Gaspar.
The main focus of the show on the 4th of December is on stand-up Comedy, but there is also audience interaction, plus one or two musical moments thrown in for good measure. The Comics involved have committed to reducing the “edge”, in the form of gratuitous swearing and explicit sexual content, seen in so much South African comedy. This show is a lot safer for a general audience, having an age restriction of no persons under 10. This clean fun approach has seen the group attract naming sponsorship from Coca Cola. Cheryl Price, Coke Trade Marketing Manager said “With Coca Cola’s brand message being ‘Open happiness’ Comedy was a natural fit, especially this kind of comedy which is suitable to a wide audience.”
They will also be seeking out new Comedic talent by means of a “One Joke Challenge” competition. Members of the audience will be able to sign up to tell a joke at the event with the winner taking home a prize hamper sponsored by Coca Cola and having the opportunity to potentially work with the Collective at future events. According to Ross, “We want PE comedy to shine! That’s not just about the 5 of us – it’s about identifying and growing new talent all the time. Where we can, we like to provide a forum for people to try out.”
The group aims to disprove the perception that professional comedy shows can only be brought from Johannesburg or Cape Town. The East Cape Comedy Collective is set to show that the Eastern Cape has great comedic talent. The ticket price is R80 per person and the show starts at 8pm, doors open at 7pm. Tickets are available at Computicket.
What is set to become the first of many Stand-up Comedy events at Barmuda in Port Alfred was well received as evidenced by press reviews after the event, like this one:
If you’re going to be anywhere near Jeffreys Bay on Friday the 4th October, get to Potter’s Place by 8pm for this month’s Live Stand-up Comedy show!
- Daron Mann Breakfast team
Press [PLAY] to listen now: Roland Gaspar AlgoaFM DMB Interview 12August
“A sense of humour is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Tasteful humour is a key to success at work, but there’s a good chance your co-workers aren’t cracking jokes or packaging information with wit on a regular basis–and your office could probably stand to have a little more fun.
Here are 10 reasons why humour is a key to success at work:
People will enjoy working with you. “People want to work with people they like,” Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do at Work (Portfolio, 2013). “Why wouldn’t you? You spend huge chunks of your waking hours at work, so you don’t want it to be a death march. humour–deftly employed–is a great way to win friends and influence people. You need to be funny, but not snarky (that’s not good for team building) and you can’t offend anyone.”
humour is a potent stress buster. “In fact, it’s a triple whammy,” says Michael Kerr, author of The Humour Advantage: Why Some Businesses are Laughing all the Way to the Bank (Dec. 2013), “Humour offers a cognitive shift in how you view your stressors; an emotional response; and a physical response that relaxes you when you laugh.”
It is humanizing. Humour allows both employees and managers to come together, realizing that we all seek common ground, according to Lynn Taylor, workplace expert and author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant.
It puts others at ease. Humour is a way to break through the tension barrier, she says. “Research shows that humour is a fabulous tension breaker in the workplace,” Kerr adds. “People who laugh in response to a conflict tend to shift from convergent thinking where they can see only one solution, to divergent thinking where multiple ideas are considered.”
Ha + ha = aha! “Humour is a key ingredient in creative thinking,” Kerr says. “It helps people play with ideas, lower their internal critic, and see things in new ways.” Humor and creativity are both about looking at your challenges in novel ways and about making new connections you’ve never thought about before, he adds.
Taylor agrees. She says humour “establishes a fertile environment for innovation because people are more inspired when they are relaxed.”
It helps build trust. “You can build trust with the effective use of humor because humor often reveals the authentic person lurking under the professional mask,” Kerr says.
He explains that numerous studies suggest that people who share a healthy, positive sense of humour tend be more likable and are viewed as being more trustworthy. “Humour is also viewed as sign of intelligence,” he adds. “All of these characteristics, as well as the fact that humour is a fabulous icebreaker and can tear down walls, can help people build relationships in the workplace, and especially these days, relationships are critical to success.”
It boosts morale. Humour boosts morale and retention while reducing turnover because employees look forward to coming to work, Taylor says. “Employees like to work for and with others who have a sense of humour. We all prefer to have fun at work. It should not feel like an indentured servitude environment.”
People who use humour tend to be more approachable. The more approachable you are, especially as a leader, the more honest and open people around you will be, Kerr says. “And the more honest and open people tend to be, the more successful and innovative teams tend to be.”
Humour can allow your company to stand out. “It can help companies stand out and go beyond with their customer service, garnering them a huge loyal following,” he says. If you want to stand out from the pack, using humour with your service is an effective way to do that.
It can increase productivity. “Humour creates an upbeat atmosphere that encourages interaction, brainstorming of new ideas, and a feeling that there are few risks in thinking outside the box. All that leads to greater productivity,” Taylor explains. “It also stands to reason that if you’re in a more jovial atmosphere, you’ll have more passion for what you do. Your work ethic will increase, and your enthusiasm will likely be contagious. It’s a win-win for you and your employer.”
Source:
Jacquelyn Smith, Forbes
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Robert C. Gallagher is credited with saying “Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine.” Those of us who are parents might add “except from a teenager!” too. As much as we share the human resistance to it, change (and at a fairly rapid pace) is something we have to deal with.
I was recently asked by the Managing Director of an international company to speak to their executives on the subject of uncertainty. He explained how the company entered a conservative phase whereby restructuring would be implemented and measures taken to manage costs in the light of the recent economic downturn in their industry. I’m sure you’ll agree that when jobs are at stake and future methods of operation are changing, the experience of uncertainty is heightened!
As I went through the preparation for the series of presentations I was struck by how much uncertainty, and our experience of this concept, affects us all. In truth, life is one long series of uncertain events and our only certainty is a feeling we have within ourselves.
Life is ALWAYS uncertain but we tend to experience less stress when we FEEL as if it isn’t. Bertolt Brecht said it nicely, “Because things are the way they are, they will not stay the way they are.” Best we develop the skills to deal with the uncertainty of change then, isn’t it?
One of the widely accepted theories regarding the coping skills needed for dealing with uncertainty is the Subjective Uncertainty Reduction Theory. (SURT) I found it to be a good metaphor for practical ways of facing the uncertainty ahead.
This theory is based on masses of research and academic treatise on the subject of how we experience uncertainty relating to how much stress it causes. In a study published by Professor Jack Nitschke from the University of Wisconsin Madison, people were shown a series of images preceded by a symbol which warned them about the nature of pictures which they were shown. One symbol (a circle) indicated that the next image would be emotionally neutral, like a desk or a chair. Another (an “x”) warned that the next image would be emotionally negative, like a person with a head wound. A third symbol (a question mark) indicated that the image could be of either sort. Prof Nitschke and his team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to chart the reactions in subject’s brains to the various images. The brain scans showed much stronger reactions to the negative images when they were preceded by uncertainty. People seemed to feel worse about negative stimuli when they weren’t sure it was coming, or conversely people handled negative stimuli better when they had some warning it was coming. He summed up the findings, “If we can reduce people’s feelings of uncertainty, we can reduce their anxiety and their response to bad experiences.” This seems to suggest that the feeling we have toward uncertainty is more powerful than the actual uncertainty itself!
For me, this is an indicator that we can handle tough times better when we have prepared ourselves emotionally ahead of time. This doesn’t mean we need to live in perpetual pessimism. We just need to answer the question within ourselves ahead of time. If we leave the question “What will I do if things don’t go the way I expect them to?” hanging in the air, we will experience negative events with much more stress than if we simply answer the question “I know things can change, but I know I can adapt” or “I can’t know what’s going to happen, but I know some of it will be hard… and I’ve handled tough times before.” If you know future challenges are possible and you remind yourself that you are equal to them, you will reduce your stress if they do arrive. (remember, enjoyable, positive change is just as likely as difficult, challenging change!)
I’d like to encourage you to apply the SURT principles by leaving you with my translation of it:
“When you recognise that you don’t need to worry so much, you will find that you end up not worrying so much!”
BY ROLAND GASPAR
This article was featured in Talk of the Town, purveyors of Port Alfred’s local news. The show was well attended and it was a great way to kick of the Comedic start to 2013.
