Tag: Rob van Vuuren

Biffy Clyro at Ramfest 2014

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I think I have been to pretty much every festival in South Africa over the past few years.
Stand up comedy has fast cemented itself into the framework of the bigger music festivals.

Quite often we are doing the festivals for ulterior motives.  As in we the comics enjoy them too.  So why not at least get to go to the festival with a performers backstage pass and get paid for it too.

This weekend saw me performing at RAMFEST for the first time.  I will be honest. Of all the festivals I have been involved in, this was probably the first or maybe second one I would have done just to have seen the bands involved.

The stage provided for comedy was not exactly what we needed as comedians. But we made do with what we had (which was nothing) and stood in the burning sun and did some jokes.  It went rather well if truth be told.

I wasn’t too familiar with the Foals before Ramfest. But I did a bit of homework and I was more than surprised to see just how good they are as a live band.  I was almost worried that the Scottish band Biffy Clyro that was still to follow had quite a bit to live up to after the quality of the Foals performance.  But this wasn’t to be the case in the slightest.

To put it in perspective. We all have a band or two that we have listened to just that little bit more than others.  Over the past year or two in my travels. I found that they particularly suited my mood for walking around the many strange cities and what-not that I visited.

It is almost like they find just a few extra notes and melody in their music. It also has such a strange hypnotic drum pattern that I just adore it.

Anyway.  The hit the stage and I was more than excited.  The setting was pretty small and the size of the crowd more than suitable for the area. The sound was excellent and there were no big screens to divert your attention.  This show was just about the guys.

They rocked the shit out of RAMFEST. I felt like I had just watched one of the finest shows of my life.  Certainly the best thing I have ever had the chance to witness here in South Africa and more than any other festival to date.  The crowd knew the tunes. We sang along.

Biffy Clyro. You guys were beautiful.

Graca Presents Pants on Fire at Mercury Dec 12th

This December 12th, Rob van Vuuren and Martin Evans will set your Pants on Fire with a highly flammable combination of comedy, music and chaos in a show unlike any other featuring sh*t-hot guests Francois van Coke, Arno Carstens, Conrad Koch and PaigeMac.

Mercury Live will host the biggest Pants on Fire event since the comedy/variety show walked away with the coveted Standard Bank Ovation Award for Comedy at the National Arts Festival this year.Pants on Fire, hosted by multi-award winning comedians van Vuuren and Evans, is an incendiary phenomenon on the entertainment scene and brings the country’s best musicians and comedians into one blazing inferno of inspired insanity for a night of hilarity and kick ass tunes.

After a series of wildly popular intimate sessions at the Alexander Bar featuring guests Zolani Mahola, Kurt Schoonraad, Paul Snodgrass, Andy Lund, Alan Committie, Andrew James and Deep Fried Man, Pants on Fire is ready to take the show to the next level.

Join the hosts of Pants on Fire on Dec 12th as they introduce you to a whole new side of two men who became icons of successive generations of South African Rock Music audiences. Arno Carstens and Francois van Coke will perform a song or three before joining Rob and Martin on their couch for an irreverent, honest and hilarious live interview.

Pants on Fire will then allow the genius that is Conrad Koch and his demented puppet friends to give the people of Cape Town a comedy master-class before South Africa’s latest music sensation PaigeMac takes to the stage and delivers a full set of their inspired new sound.With a line-up of such unprecedented majesty and awesomeness plus the fact that the Pants team may even throw in some surprise guests to fan the flames its easy to see why its going to be the hottest ticket in town.

Brought to you by Graca.
Book now on http://www.webtickets.co.za
Ticket prices: R50 online – R60 at the door – limited seats 
Thanks to RayBan and Adidas for making us look awesome.

See you at the show

via Graca Presents Pants on Fire at Mercury Dec 12th.

Catch “Pants On Fire” at the Klein Libertas Theatre 25 August

Come catch Rob Van Vuuren and me as we do our first performance of “Pants on Fire” since our Standard Bank Ovation Award Winning run at the National Arts Festival. We havent confirmed our line up yet. But it will be stellar. The Rugby will be shown on the big screen after the show. 25 August is the date. Get hold of the good people at the to reserve your tables now.

Im trying to move to Joburg, but what really is home?

I have been on the road now for a couple of weeks. I can honestly say that I am having the time of my life.
I am not trying to romanticise the concept of essentially being homeless whilst persuing a career of gigs around the country.
But in terms of how much fun and enjoyment I am getting out of doing stand up right now. Well. It must be working.

I just made an offer on a tiny studio flat in Cape Town. My plan was to move to Johannesburg for a bit. As much as I am loving it up in Jozi and finding lots of work, I have a few projects that are pulling me back to Cape Town for the next few months.

The National Arts Festival was a tremendous success in some ways. Financially the costs of producing shows in South Africa are as high as anywhere else these days. Making money is essential. Not just a little bit. But lots. Life is bloody costly.
The opportunity has come through for me to look at taking my shows overseas. Considering what it costs to be here and the potential reward. I think it has come time for me to start looking overseas again.

This year, I won the “Standard Bank Ovation Award for Comedy” for the second year running. It has given me a chance to get involved with the World Fringe Alliance and look at taking the show to Perth and Adelaide Fringe Festivals in 2013. I think this is the route for me to go. Right now as I type this, Dave Levinsohn is out doing his thing at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of a proper sponsored event. We can only go forward from here. Fingers crossed. All that kind of stuff. For now though, it is about finding sponsorships to fund “Pants on Fire” to take it to a bigger audience without Rob and I going broke doing it.

After a month or so of gigs and a super secret project that I cannot talk about yet. I will be doing a three week run of “Martin Evans and the FBPK” at the Kalk Bay Theatre. Maybe after that I can move up north again. But then it is the shooting season for Commercials in Cape Town and I do quite a bit of work there. Either way. The world is opening up to me. Im just going to see where it takes me for now. Hopefully as far and wide as possible. I’m a lucky man.

A good pot of Ginger Tea(bagging) possibly not safe for work. @davidnewtonhaha #pantsonfire @robvanvuuren

Here are a few images taken from the “Pants on Fire” run at the National Arts Festival.
Here is just a random shot of David Newton showing us his abdominals.

He then called out for me. I was just behind him backstage. So I leapt out like a Mexican wrestler,
and managed to give David a good old fashioned tea bagging out of it.

From the look of the next photo, he quite enjoyed it. I know I did.
thanks David Newton.

The Comedia Comedy Line Up for @synergylive 2011


Here is the line up for the Comedy at this years Synergy Live Festival at Boschendal Wine Estate

I have included a link to their blog’s or websites if they have one as well as their twitter links.

Comedia New Acts Friday night 8pm – 10pm
Hosted By: Warren Robertson @warrenRcomedian http://indiecomedy.blogspot.com
Acts
8:10-8:25 Peter Sserwanga @solidgame http://www.iamcomic.co.za
8:30-8:45 Kurt Langeveld @peterparkerspa
8:50-9:05 Lazola Gola @lazgola http://moundsofcheese.blogspot.com
9:10-9:20 Kellyn Coetzee @oh_her http://www.kellyncoetzee.tumblr.com
9:25-9:40 Rustum August @rustum420august
9:45-10:00 Chris Steenkamp @JohnnyCranko

Saturday
Afrikaans Comedy Show
Hosted By Louw Venter @louw_venter
11:20-11:40 Piet Potgieter @dutchman75 http://www.pietpotgieter.co.za
11:40-12:00 Melt Sieberhagen @meltsieb

Improv 1:00-2:30
Melt Sieberhagen @meltsieb
Rob Van Vuuren @robvanvuuren
Louw Venter @louw_venter
Paul Snodgrass @snoddie
Warren Robertson @WarrenRcomedian http://indiecomedy.blogspot.com

Best of the Fest
Hosted By Martin Davis @martindavis
4:10-4:30 Siv Ngesi @iamSivN http://www.iamsiv.com
4:40-5:00 Melt Sieberhagen @meltsieb
5:10-5:30 Martin Evans @hellpants http://www.martinevans.wordpress.com
5:40-6:00 Warren Robertson @warrenRcomedian http://indiecomedy.blogspot.com
6:10-6-30 Paul Snodgrass @snoddie

Musical Comedy
7:00-7:45 The Brothers Streep @brothersstreep http://www.brothersstreep.com

Comedia New Acts Saturday
Hosted By Simmi Areff @simmiareff
8:10-8:25 KG @KGcomic
8:30-8:45 Oliver Booth @olibooth
8:50-9:05 Piet Potgieter @dutchman75 http://www.pietpotgieter.co.za
9:10-9:20 Angel Blythe Campey @yesReallyAngel http://randomhighfives.wordpress.com
9:25-9:40 Carl Weber @CarlCweber
9:45-10:00 Dylan Skews

The Drivetime Robbery Podcast 10/11/11

Hello folks.
We pre-recorded the show this week.

The file is fairly large. 250 plus meg…but I think it is worthy every byte. We spoke with Sam Wilson and got some superb links from him which are included below. We also spoke with Rob Murray and played a bloody awesome mix of tunes.

Download the podcast HERE.

Here are the links to Sam’s Weird Shit..
Big Bad Wolf Music Video –

Mega Mash Game –
http://www.nitrome.com/games/megamash/index.html

Yo Is This Racist –
http://yoisthisracist.com/

Women Struggling To Drink Water –
http://thehairpin.com/2011/11/women-struggling-to-drink-water

Women Laughing Alone With Salad –
http://thehairpin.com/2011/01/women-laughing-alone-with-salad

Look At This Fucking Hipster –
http://www.latfh.com/

It’s Alive – A Tribute To Frankenstein –
http://www.designtaxi.com/news/350954/It-s-Alive-A-Tribute-to-Frankenstein-s-Monster/

Most Miserable Horses In The World –
http://www.buzzfeed.com/fjelstud/the-most-miserable-horses-in-the-world

Take This Lollipop –
http://www.takethislollipop.com/