Mumz The Word – My Comedy Playground

A trip down memory lane

Posted on the August 17th, 2010 under Nyeff Nyeff by Mum-z

25 is one of those ages where you feel as if your life is really on track OR you feel as if you have absolutely no idea what is going on the world. I am stuck between both. Over the years my dreams have changed because I had to adapt to the circumstances in my life, that sometimes I have gotten side tracked from what it is that I really want. So I am going to take you on a return trip to Memory Lane. This is a smoking flight, so get comfy…

When I was five, our grade 0 teacher asked us to draw a picture of what we wanted to become when we grew older. I drew a picture of Michael jackson. I actually thought that Michael Jackson was an occupation. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I answered in my very Sotho and very amateur English accent, “I want to be a Michael Jackson”. Music was, at that time, my passion. I loved to sing and loved the sound of instruments. I loved imitating Michael’s moves and dancing to Stevie Wonder and Lionel Ritchie. The first chance I could get to try out for the school choir, I did -- though it wasn’t a very manly thing to be involved in so I had to curb my enthusiasm, for the sake of my street cred (or school cred)

When I was in standard one (Grade three -- for the Mxit generation), my mother had enrolled me for Violin lessons. I must admit, I was very excited to play the Violin, and went head first into my lessons. (Especially because the Violin teacher was an attractive French MILF) The only problem with Violin lessons is that they clashed with soccer practice. I had to make a decision, but to be very honest, I loved soccer too much, so at the time it was a no-brainer.

So from Grade one to Standard four I was a choir boy, Violin drop out, soccer playing skinny black kid with hopes and dreams. My English had improved to such a point that my interest in cultural activities grew. I began public speaking and feel in love with drama. By Standard Five I was so involved in so many different facets of school life that my peers and the faculty recognised me as a real candidate for Head Boy, which I became in 1998 at Redhill School.

Then came high school. I am not Jewish so I had no bar mitzvah , but when I turned 13, I too felt as if I was a man, that the world was my oyster and that one day, I too would grow hair in weird places. High school introduced me to the world of competitive acting. There were awards in the school plays and I wanted to be a winner. Infact, I soon realised that I was a winner, raking in the Best Cameo Award 3 years in a row and then upgrading to Best Supporting Actor. I co-wrote a comedy script that ended up winning Best Original Script at Wits Raps Festival.

My academic marks had always been quite good and when I matriculated with 2 distinctions and a 71% aggregate, I thought that I could take on the world head on. But then came the post-school madness. I was enrolled at UCT and was studying Film and Media (because of a Typo). I had actually wanted to do Business Science, but I put Film and Media first and Business Science second. For some reason I thought that they would see if I could get into both and then we decide which one we would like to do. I WAS WRONG.

First year of Film and Media included everything that I had done in Film and Media at school in English, so my excitement levels were not too high. I then moved back to Joburg and thought I would try my hand at Accounting. I soon realised that you can’t just try your hand at Accounting, you actually need to ask for Accounting’s hand in marriage to do well at it. It’s a degree you have to be married to. So what did I do, I dropped out again.

By this time, I had worked as a waiter and barmen at various up-market restaurants and hotels, where I met some of my closest friends. The lifestyle was great. I had money all the time, I was not stuck behind a laptop all day, I got to meet new and interesting people everyday, the work was not too demanding but allowed for an opportunity to get into contact with some very influential people in all walks of industry. But all my friends kept reminding me that being a waiter was not a job for a private school graduate. (They make it seem as if I wanted to be a waiter my whole life… oh yea of little faith, tsk tsk)

I started applying for jobs in the corporate world and ended up being a sales executive for an online media company. I enjoyed the job and grew an immediate passion for online media, which is ultimately the reason why I am now, currently the online sales executive for Afrigator. I have been in online media for four years already, waiting for 4 years, market research for about 5 years and part-time comedy for 3 years. I have run regular comedy events in Joburg and in Cape Town and I have performed in some really cool comedy festivals, but now I am 25 years old and I need to start asking some serious questions and seriously answering them.

I am living in Cape Town, away from my hometown -- Joburg. I have to make new friends, I am far from family, I love to perform and I love online media. I still have much to learn but at the same time would like to run my own things. I am too old to have way too much fun all the time, but still young enough to live life like a Kardashan (childishly). So what do I do… well. All I can do at this point is be grateful for all the opportunities I have been given, I need to smile more, I need to be more open with people, I need to be more decisive and I need to remind myself of the inner me that people find so funny (Well, some people -  I don’t want to get ahead of myself) So today, on my birthday, I am going to remind myself of the good memories I have had of late. I would like you too to share in my happy memories, so check out this video below. All the footage had been recorded on my e71 and they are of parties / events that I actually attended. Celebrate my life with me for a mintue, watch this video and take a trip with me down memory lane:

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