1. itizenSaturday Profile 3Saturday
9 July 2016
After leaving one-man shows, the comedian is back in full force
Finally out of the box
Casper de Vries: comedy hero bags lifetime achievement award
Adriaan Roets
H
e’s one of those charac-
ters South Africa grew up
with. Teens would smug-
gle videotapes of his one-
man shows into their con-
servative homes to hear swearwords,
and giggle into their hands. But what
rubbed off were real narratives, about
real South African issues.
Casper de Vries, 52, with his brazen
swearing and perspective into the psy-
che of Afrikaners, has played a signif-
icant role in the SA comedy scene. His
brand of comedy is so ingrained, that
when you hear De Vries on his weekly
show on CliffCentral, you can immedi-
ately visualise his facial expressions.
The rubber face of De Vries took a
hiatus from one-man shows in 2013,
when he opted to find his own Shangri-
La where he paints and just breathes a
bit. But now De Vries is back.
On Thursday he was named as this
year’s recipient of the Savanna Comics
Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
Not only is he the first Afrikaans come-
dian to walk away with the accolade, but
he’s also the most controversial. South
Africans will always be at loggerheads
over his blush-a-minute routines.
“I’m honoured, especially because
it’s not an ATKV or a f**king FAK or
kykNET award or something – which
always just categorises you into one
box. This is the Comics Choice Award.
Whether you’re English or Afrikaans
or Esperanto or Helen Keller – if you’re
funny you’re funny – and that’s what
I’m very proud of. People thought it
was necessary to acknowledge some-
one like me,” De Vries says.
His career spans 30 years, and his
comedy stems from him trying to
nurture Afrikaans. “I began with a
quest to make Afrikaans grow up. Af-
rikaans is very childish, very naive,
easily shocked, and because my one leg
is rooted in Holland, I quickly learned
the Dutch satire style, which is very
sophisticated and adult. I infused that
into Afrikaans cabaret,” he says about
the start of his career.
“Later on I sort of scaled it down and
changed my style into a one-man show.
Gradually it was scaled down to play-
ing characters – and gradually English
people came to these shows because the
content was international. You can talk
about the meaning of life, or does God
exist in any language.
“I decided to speak more English in
my shows. Could I have done that ear-
lier? Yes – but then there was enough
talent to cater for English people. I was
trying to get the Afrikaans people edu-
cated,” he quips.
His last stand-up show in 2013 was
also his first solely English show titled
Casper Goes Khaki.
The last two years he’s been focused
on his bilingual work on radio, where
his comedy repertoire comes in handy.
“I’ve never written anything down in
30 years, except for the songs I’ve com-
posed. I love improvising and like to
keep it honest and fresh – and it’s the
same for CliffCentral: I have a team
with me who can improvise.
“I never got to do ra-
dio, and then Gareth Cliff
called me one day, and
asked ‘do you want to do
radio?’ I’m thankful for
that. No one would
take a chance on
me and I’m good.
I love the radio
show and can feel
I’m doing well.”
Later this year
De Vries will star in
Snaaks Genoeg/Fun-
ny Enough, a comedy where he plays
a fictional version of himself. “David
Moore (the director) approached me
about a doing a film with a fictional
Casper de Vries who tours the Karoo,”
says De Vries.
The story evolves around De Vries,
who lost his appeal and needs to win
back his star power.
He’s now shaping his life around
continuing with a career in film. “I’m
feverishly planning a couple of movies.
I’ve got a lot of ideas that couldn’t find
their way on stage, radio or canvas.
“It would be nice to do a Monty Py-
thon-esque movie but I don’t know if
I’ll have the time. I’ll have to ask heav-
en.com.”
De Vries will be back on stage. “I’m
building up for that, I’m drink-
ing a lot of
Lucozade ...”
– adriaanr@
citizen.co.za
Casper de Vries at the State
Theatre in Pretoria.
Pictures: Gallo images
PEACE. Casper de
Vries promises to be
back on stage soon.
info
ɳɳ As the 2016 Lifetime Achievement
winner, De Vries will be roasted on July
27.
ɳɳ His grilling takes place at Parker’s
Comedy Club at Montecasino.
ɳɳ Tickets cost R120 and are available
from Computicket.
ɳɳ The Savanna Comics Choice Awards
take place on September 3.