Recently I reviewed the Entertaining Children contest for LitNet. It is a magic show hosted by the College of Magic in Cape Town for senior magicians to entertain a young audience and compete for a trip to a magic convention in London
In Cape Town, magicians are found making a living at private events and children’s birthday parties. You can also find magicians as part of a line up at comedy festivals.
While I sat in the audience watching this magic show, it made perfect sense to me that many South African comedians started their careers at this college, namely Riaad Moosa, Conrad Koch aka Chester Missing and Stuart Taylor.
Some years back, a fellow artist gifted me with The Comedy Bible by Julia Carter, which I like to refer to as The Artist’s Way for comedians. Here, the writer talks about “the funny zone”.
A quote by American comedy veteran Steve Martin aptly summarises the funny zone: “People ask me, ‘Steve, how do you get so funny?’ I say to them, ‘Before I go onstage I put a fish in each shoe. That way I feel funny’.”
In her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert differentiates between the trickster vs. the martyr:
Martyrs are characteristically known for being dark, solemn and cynical, whereas tricksters are characterized by their sense of playfulness and ability to shape-shift – the latter is where I believe magicians find their “funny zone”.
The craft of magic is not one for the overtly rational (martyrs), but for those who take joy in the bizarre and foolery (tricksters).
Being a successful magician involves allowing yourself to be less martyr and more trickster.
I was raised by martyrs, but I always wanted to stay close to the tricksters. For this reason I didn’t become a news and current affairs journalist like my mom did, and I chose playwriting instead – kind of like the writer version of being a magician.
This was apparent to me as a 9-year-old kid when 9/11 occurred. My mom and I were hogging the only working TV in the house. I was trying to watch my 7 pm comedy; she was trying to prepare for her radio programme by watching the news: a trickster that emerged from martyred surroundings! That night I didn’t feel triumphant, though. I went to bed crying because my weeknight comedy ritual was disrupted.
My triumph did arrive in 2020, the year of another life-changing global event, when my first produced play, Miela’s Box, made it big and the lead actress of the play said to me: “You’re a very funny writer, Tasneem!”
I can go on and on about the intersection between magic, comedy and trickster life, such as why Schitt’s Creek on Netflix is a big win for LGBTQIA+ viewers, but you get the point. Okay, okay … Let me add one more: It’s all in how writing character-based comedy can magically shift our perspectives.
Tasneem Daniels has a 10-year combined portfolio in media, education, arts and entertainment. Tasneem formed part of the first group of playwrights to take up residence at the Jakes Gerwel Foundation (JGF) Paulet House. Here she wrote Miela’s Box, a show collaboratively produced with the JGF in 2020 that debuted on stage and radio stations nationally. Tasneem’s play lead to a career in TV and radio programming with Suidooster (kykNET), An Nur – The Light (SABC 3), Radio 786 (100.4 FM) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in collaboration with Bush Radio (89.5 FM). Miela’s Box made a comeback on internet radio in 2024 with Cape Flats Radio and Radio Eersteriver. Tasneem also writes for LitNet, and she is writing her first musical after completing the How to Make a Musical Masterclass in 2019 with David Kramer at the Baxter Theatre. Her interests include tracing her Cape Malay / Indonesian roots and using her travel pursuits to develop her creative businesses.
