Laughter In The Dark

Laughter In The Dark

Sunday, September 17th, 2017

Dear Mr President

I cannot thank you enough for the sterling work that you have done in transforming our country. We were on the road to the same old boring routine of service delivery, redressing of historical wrongs, economic growth and all the other yawn - inducing stuff. Suddenly you sprang into the spotlight like Jim Carey in The Mask - on steroids. We may not be the most efficient or effective country but, boy, we have to be one of the most fascinating, and often funniest, countries in the world.

What a brilliant strategy to turn the state of the nation addresses into a spectacle for all South Africans to enjoy. Those of us who cannot catch Comedy Central and mixed martial arts shows on pay TV can now get the whole experience on parliamentary news. This may not be government by the people but in terms of entertainment value, it certainly is for the people. Mmusi called you a broken president presiding over a broken country (something to that effect). In his play, A Caucasian Chalk Circle, Bertolt Brecht has a roguish official ” who broke the law like bread to give it to the people”. Alas, I doubt that that was Mmusi’s meaning. Still, we have the laughs.

Your groundbreaking ‘Giggle Along With Government’ initiative has gone global. The Americans were not to be outdone and have elected some strong competition. Still, they cannot trump your dizzying comedy routine. Weekend ministers, revolving courtrooms and cabinets, memorable one - liners like ‘I know nothing, nothing, nothing..: The show goes on at a frenetic pace. Even our neighbour. Princess Grace was moved to improvise a piece, widely seen on cable news. I wish that you would repeat the schtick with the numbers. Hilarious punchline: ‘Listen carefully now…’ The fire pool gag was almost as good. You joked that the DA in the Western Cape is probably kept in power by witches and ghosts. Some uptight voters were (like the queen) not amused but then again, those DA voters do sometimes lack in the humour department. To those who were indignant about your laughter in the house, you once responded: ‘How can I stop my laugh?’ The short answer is: by not laughing. We do know what you mean, though. Our junk status, questionable deals, corruption and capture allegations etc are all the stuff of thigh- slapping, belly - hugging hilarity. I have often woken up in mid- guffaw.

Brecht would occasionally interrupt the action (with a narration, for example) to remind his audience that they were watching a play, not real life. We are often jarringly reminded that this is real life, not a play.

In a Solomon - like custody judgement, in Brecht’s play, a child is given to the faithful peasant girl who cared for her when her aristocratic mother deserted her, then tried to claim her back. 

Love to see you work something like that into your next schtick.

Yours in the quest for homegrown humour.

Richard