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David Kau is a well-known comedian from South Africa whose name is linked to numerous firsts. This 32-year-old comedian from Kroonstad started out as the first African American stand-up performer at the 1998 Smirnoff Comedy Festival in Cape Town. the lone African American performer among 44 comics.
As David remembers, “I’d never done stand-up comedy; the first comedy show I ever saw was the first one I was in.” David was the featured performer at this worldwide comedy festival for the ensuing few years. David presented his first one-man show, The Rainbow Nation Tour, in 1998. He had started studying electrical engineering in 1995 but had abandoned it to focus on acting at the University of Cape Town in 1996. David was also pursuing a Performers Diploma in Speech and Drama at the time.
After graduating, David developed and performed The Rainbow Nation Tour, but in 2000, he resumed his political satire with Introducing The Peoples Comic. David claims that his writing is “always about what’s current, not all influenced by politics, and it wasn’t politically influenced back then.”
David Kau made cameos in comedy on The Phat Joe Show in 2001. After establishing himself as one of the nation’s top black comedians, if not the only one, David departed the Mothercity to participate in comedy blackouts in 2002 and heavyweight comedy jams from 2000 to 2004 in Johannesburg. Up-and-coming comedians Roni Modimola, Tshepo Mogale, and Kagiso Lediga were on the lineup.
After that, in 1997, David teamed up with Kagiso Lediga, a buddy from university who “wanted to make films while I wanted to do stand-up comedy,” to launch the Pure Monate Show (PMS), which didn’t debut until 2004. They then enlisted the participation of people “inspired by In Living Colour,” including Tshepo Mogale, Roni Modimola, Joey Rasdien, Chris Forrest, Riaad Moosa, David Kibuuka, Loyiso Gola, and Kim Engelbrecht. All we wanted to do was make a comedic sketch programme since South Africa didn’t have any. 2005 saw the premiere of PMS’s second season.
