GLUED

(Kaseran Pillay)

Boisterous comedy skit programme offers plenty of laughs. (Review by Keith Millar)

There are plenty of laughs to be had at the iZulu Theatre at the Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom as three of Durban’s most popular comedians poke fun at television programmes.

The talented trio of comics - Leeanda Reddy, Kaseran Pillay and Krijay Govender - have joined forces to create a boisterous comedy skit programme, which they call Glued. The result is a show which is cheeky, good fun and enjoyably funny and will certainly keep audiences glued to the action.

To kick off the show we were treated to a programme entitled No Place like Home during which Pillay, dressed in drag as presenter Cookie, offers hilarious solutions for the over-abundance of plastic containers we all seem to accumulate in our kitchens.

Leeanda Reddy stars in a sketch about the battle between teenagers and parents. She just wants to party and dance. They want her to stay at home, work hard at her studies, and eventually marry a doctor. The eventual winner of this battle is a wicked surprise.

The News report concentrates on Waterkloof Airforce Base and the Gupta family. Kaseran Pillay is very funny as the sign language interpreter in this skit.

The second half starts off with a Bollywood version of A Game of Thrones. Jon Snow, the dwarf Tyrion and Daenerys Targanyen are all there. Only her dragons have become a pair of chickens.

The Sports programme is particularly enjoyable as the two presenters snipe constantly at each other while discussing the Commonwealth Games in Durban and introducing a variety of slapstick characters all played by Kaseran Pillay. We met the Springbok rugby player, Freaky Van Der Merwe, Olga the Russian gymnast, and, a sight to behold, a growling wrestler by the name of Boulder.

The movie of the day is The Sound of Music set in Reservoir Hills, while the Wildlife programme features Steve Grunter the Crocodile Hunter with master of accents Kaseran Pillay as the Australian presenter.

The final sketch was a Reality Show, My Perfect Party. The idea was to involve several audience members in the action. The risk of this is that those selected must be able to enter into the fun and participate. This, unfortunately, was not the case on opening night and the result was a sketch that was rather drawn out and rudderless.

There were a few technical glitches during the show but these were expertly dealt with by the cast and in the end appeared to be the ubiquitous television happening for which the explanation is “we have a technical problem”.

They can in any event be put down to opening night nerves and I am sure they have been sorted out by now.

The IZulu Theatre at Sibaya is a well-appointed and comfortable venue. However, its size is a little overwhelming for a tight three-hander such as Glued. One could not help but wonder if the format may not have worked even better in a more intimate venue. Having said that, Glued remains good entertainment. It crackles with wit and has plenty of belly laughs along the way.

Glued can be seen until October 8 with tickets at R170 booked through Computicket and the Sibaya Box Office (group bookings of 10 people or more qualify for a 10% discount). Shows are on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 20h00; Saturday at 15h00 and 20h00, and Sunday at 15h00 and 18h00. The show is Parental Guidance rated. – Keith Millar

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