Mamosa
kekana
When I bumped into this bubbly man outside the
Rhodes Music Radio building this week, he was busy promoting his comedy show ‘Heavy’.
Captivated by his confidence and broad presence, I couldn’t allow myself to let
this interview slide.
KG might be the nickname for stand-up comedian,
Kagiso Mokgadi, but it’s also an abbreviation for something that is a huge part
of his life: kilograms. He is an overweight lover of laughter who jokes openly
about his weight, politics, and racism.
He grew up pining for a job as a doctor, and then an
actor. The acting gig was derisively dismissed by his parents, (the mother is a
nurse; the dad, a sangoma) because he had a cousin who was an actor and wasn’t
successful.
He eventually studied computer programming and
worked as a software specialist at an advertising company although he hated
every minute of it. KG always felt he
was stuck in the wrong career. One day he took his then-girlfriend, now his
wife, out on a date to ‘Blacks Only’ comedy show. Inspired by the show, he
decided to attend an open mic event. He flunked out of it, because he was too
nervous; but three years later he returned to the scene— bigger, better and
more determined. His first night was a success and he has not looked back since.
KG jokes openly about his dad being a sangoma. “As a
child my dad being a sangoma somehow saved me from a lot of bullying, because
I’d mention [it] and that freaked people out!”
Follow KG on twitter @kgcomic.
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