South African comedian, writer, and actor Joey Rasdien is well recognised for his work as a writer and performer on the 2003–2004 SABC1 sketch comedy series Pure Monate Show.
In his first television sitcom, Rasdien, which debuted on SABC2 on Friday, November 5, 2010, he now plays Ben Rasdien. He developed the show, co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in it.
In 2011, he also starred in Colour TV, a variety comedy show on SABC2.
Rasdien was raised in Riverlee, Mayfair, Asbury, Coronationville, and Eldorado Park after being born in Johannesburg. He graduated from Johannesburg’s Coronationville High School and the Rand Afrikaans University—later known as the University of Johannesburg—with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Following graduation, he was hired by Alexander Forbes to work as a front manager and financial advisor, handling high-level fund management. In 2002, he resigned from his position to pursue a career in comedy at his wife’s insistence.
Among other comedy clubs, he began establishing his reputation at the Blues Room, 88, Funny Bones, Dachs, Horror Café, Cool Runnings, and Tanz Café. After that, he started scheduling comedy shows on a regular basis at Carnival City and Morula Sun, two casino resorts.
He received an early invitation to participate in 5FM’s Beach Tour and later had a two-week engagement at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban for the Ha-Ha Comedy Festival.
Since then, among other events, he has performed at the Oppikoppi Rock Festival, Let Durban Laugh Festival, Blacks Only, Heavyweight Comedy Jams, and University of Pretoria Festival.
He was also invited to participate in the Cape Town foreign Comedy Festival, which is the biggest and most esteemed comedy festival in South Africa. For three weeks, the best local comedians perform alongside leading foreign comedians.
He has had performances in Dubai and Toronto, Canada, at the Yuk Yuks comedy club.
He is a sought-after compere, entertainer, and comic at corporate occasions because of his background in the finance industry as a personal financial counsellor, which provides him an advantage when connecting with corporate audiences.
Among the several corporate clients he has worked with include SAB Miller, Spoornet, FNB, Sasol, Volkswagen, Standard Bank, Momentum Life, and Vodacom.
