‘I’ll kick a hole in Joburg comedy scene’
FUNNYMAN Dusty Rich is spreading his wings and venturing to Joburg. Having rocked the local comedy circuit for years, the hilarious entertainer will have his hands full over the next few months as he takes on the City of Gold.
I chatted to the comedian about what prompted him to leave his home town.
“As far as stand-up comedy goes, the impact Joburg has is far greater than Durbs. Joburg has the largest scene. It’s also the place with the biggest impact of mass media in terms of radio, TV and movies. As far as leaving a little town and going to Joburg, it’s massive there in terms of entertainment and it makes sense to go for your art. I’d never consider myself a Durban or a Joburg comedian. I’m a South African comedian. So going to Joburg was mostly about moving into different art forms.”
Based in Durban since 2009, Dusty (pictured) says he plans “to kick a hole in the Joburg comedy scene. No one else has what I have in terms of style and material. I come up with something fresh and new.”
He will be back to perform and has a farewell show planned in Durban this weekend.
Dusty got the opportunity to perform at Joe Parker’s Comedy Club. “I did about five minutes there. It was four weeks ago and it’s an open spot reserved for junior comedians and it’s unpaid. So Joe Parker watched me and told me he’d like to book me for eight shows, for headline shows. So I wanted to come to Joburg to see how I could push my career to the highest point. It was definitely for growth and I know it’s a good decision.”
Would his appearance at Parker’s Comedy Club be aired on Comedy Central or any other network? “If everything goes according to plan, you can certainly expect to see me on Comedy Central at the end of the year, if not sooner. But yeah, I’m 110 percent going to be a Durban act on that channel. Because my next obvious step in my career will be pushing out on mass media and making that breakthrough.”
Dusty has no strict management, but has linked with Pickledginger. It belongs to comedian Chris Forrest’s wife who will handle corporate matters for Dusty.
On the Joburg comedy scene, a growing trend seems to be that comedians branch out on to TV comedy sketch shows, like Loyiso Gola’s LLN and Laugh Out Loud. I asked Dusty if that was on the cards: “As far as getting there, stand-up has always been number one. But there’s a definite plan to move there in terms of acting. This business has no textbook, no playbook on how to invent yourself in showbiz. I will be popping over to Comedy Central soon and would like to pitch my old YouTube show and see what happens there. But there’s a definite plan to move in that area.”
Dusty shares his insight on Durban’s comedy scene: “This was a tough decision to move from Durban and I sacrificed a lot personally, because I love Durban and grew up here and it will always be my home.
“But Durban just didn’t do it in terms of entertainment, it didn’t have a massive appeal, so I want to say: ‘Stop letting us move away, we need the support. We want to stay, but we need it.’
“If we had the support, I wouldn’t have moved. Some-times we just have to get out, explore new things and persevere in our careers.
“Saying that, I will always be back because Durban has the best people in the world. And it’s the perfect city, the water is warm, the sun is hot. So, goodbye for now. I’ll go and make you proud and take my city, Amanzimtoti, to LA and New York one day. And they will know about Toti and our country.
“What gets to me is South Africa’s mentality of how we can never touch Hollywood. We have the same dreams as them and we’re all the same. We just need to pursue them. I plan to do that and take South Africa to new heights and make that change.”
• Catch Dusty at the Corner Café on Friday with Carvin H Goldstone, Jem Atkins and Glen Bo. His farewell show is on June 26 at New York Bar, Morningside.