Sikisa is a comedian, writer and producer from South London who has seen much success in the British comedy scene in the past 5 years. You may have seen Sikisa on the BBC or Live at The Apollo, or even received legal advice from her day job as an immigration lawyer. Thenjiwe is an entrepreneurial comedian and actress from KwaMashu who worked as a lawyer between 2010 and 2015. Her triumphant work in comedy has taken her all over the world and has even landed her own TV show in South Africa, ‘Judge Thenjiwe Khambule’. Hear Me Out and The Mandela Effect both convey the subtleties of language, communication, and how they intrinsically affect the way one is perceived.
Africa has a sense of humour
Isabella Thompson is delighted to speak to Sikisa and Thenjiwe about their upcoming performances at Fringe this year.
Hi Sikisa, how are you doing?
You ask this question–when at the time of writing it’s three weeks before I go to the festival. So life is quite stressful (haha). However; professionally I cannot argue that I have had one hell of a 12 months in comedy and I would say that is going well. Personally, is another story but it’s hard to not let personal things effect me, which I hope will be explained in my new show.
Blending both the personal and professional, Hear Me Out asks the question, “why is it so hard to say the right things?” Is this something you have encountered as a lawyer and a comedian?
Yes, it definitely is–I do my own advocacy for my clients and I have to make sure I am properly prepared in terms of what I am going to say in the hearing because sometimes if something is thrown at me or there is lack of information about a situation, I won’t be able to communicate correctly. Luckily I have not had anything situations yet where I have embarrassed myself at a
hearing–but there’s always time.
On stage it can also be difficult to predict what will be thrown at you! In an industry full of critics, how do you navigate the relatable fear of saying the wrong thing?
It’s so hard with comedy at this time because of cancel culture. Due to individual differences, people will have their own perspectives on things so I really have to think about what I say in order not to offend. But also I worry so much about how people feel and think about me that I have a fear of judgement which is why I always hate being reviewed even though I know ultimately that is one person’s opinion.
Thank you for sharing that, a fear of judgement must be difficult to navigate in a business where everyone has an opinion. In light of that, what should we be looking forward to the most in your show?
Hear Me Out is a more personal show for me this year and I hope audiences leave hopefully learning more about me and potentially about themselves. However, people should be looking forward to the ending–I have a surprise for this show and I am hoping the hard work will have paid off.
That sounds very exciting. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!
Sikisa’s new stand-up show Hear Me Out will be at the Monkey Barrel 4
at 7.50pm from 2nd – 27th August (except 16th/21st) for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Hi Thenjiwe! How is life treating you?
Life is good, I can’t complain. I am blessed to be doing what I love, making the world a better place one laugh at a time. In my comedy career I can see a clear path ahead, with room for growth.
That’s so good to hear! When you say “the world” you really mean it—you perform to multilingual crowds all over the world in both English and Zulu. Being funny in one language is hard enough, how do you prevent the jokes getting lost in translation?
What works for me is to not translate the joke but translate the story and the punchlines are usually different in different languages. In South Africa we have eleven official languages (and a few unofficial) and in school it’s compulsory to do a minimum of two languages and I did three so my brain is trained to switch. One of the things I love about performing outside South Africa is that I know in advance that I will be performing in English, that’s a privilege I don’t have in Southern African where I often decide on the language on stage based on the audience demographic at the show and some jokes just don’t translate. Zulu is a very poetic language where humour usually comes in a form of play-on words and it can’t be translated so I don’t even try because a lot of jokes are just not funny when translated as the punchlines won’t land the same way. Even if I tell the same story in different languages the jokes and punchlines might not be in the same places. I don’t translate the jokes but translate the story.
That’s fascinating, I can’t imagine how I would get my head around that. At least you know that your upcoming show is in English which you will be performing this August for your Fringe debut! What has spurred you to perform at Edinburgh Fringe this year?
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world and it’s always been on my bucket list. But being from a third world country, my currency disappears when exchanged into Pound sterling and that’s why it has taken me so long to be able to do the Fringe. When the world shut down for two years I was reminded how short life can be. During the pandemic I lost my younger brother Freedom (yes that was his name) who was about to turn 30 and it prompted me to have a look at the things that I really wanted to do before I kick the bucket and the Fringe was right on top.
Thank you for sharing, it’s amazing that you’ve achieved your goal. Speaking of goals, your show is called ‘The Mandela Effect’, but what do you really want the audience to remember the most?
First of all I want the audience to laugh. I want the audience to know that Africa has a sense of humour and we laugh even in the midst of difficult situations. I want to expose the audience to the Africa they don’t show on television and in the media. Yes there are problems in Africa and a lot of them are being well advertised all over the world but, there are also many nice things to enjoy in Africa and I want to remind the audience about certain historical facts that they misremember about the African continent.
That’s a beautiful message Thenjiwe. Thank you so much for speaking with me and I can’t wait to see your show in August.
Thenjiwe’s debut stand up show The Mandela Effect is at Just The Tonic – Cask Room at 2.25pm from 3rd – 28th August (not 14th) for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
