With the rise of social media and online pop culture, stand-up comedy has seen a boom over the past few years.
Comedian Lazola Skwatsha is one of those rising stars who are making the right noise in comedy. Born in Sterkspruit near Herschel, Eastern Cape, the funnyman broke into the industry just six months before Covid-19 started in 2019.
Like most young people, the 26-year-old was forced to use social media to promote himself. He started a show called What’s On The Table With Laz, a platform he used to test his own material and also interview people.
As much as the country was on lockdown, Skwatsha says comedians were spoiled for choice when it comes to material. He says the PPE scandal, state capture, Jacob Zuma’s case and retrenchments provided comedians with something to get people laughing.
“When the Covid-19 hit I had just started and immediately I switched online. I used Facebook to grow my followers and testing new material. I knew that I could not do live shows, so I had to find other ways to keep myself relevant and interact with people,” he says.
“As for comedy material, there were just a lot of things to talk about. Staying at home allowed me to discover new things even that my son is left-handed. I would have not noticed this on time because I was always at work and doing comedy. That is why I believe Covid-19 was also a blessing.”
Having started his professional career as a comedian in October 2019, Skwatsha wants to focus on building his profile and explore ways to produce his online show. In terms of shows, he started the year well, landing a couple of gigs around Johannesburg and Pretoria.
His next show is on February 5 in Katlehong on the East Rand. When it comes to the subjects he tackles in his comedy, Skwatsha says it depends on the audience.
“If I go to Eastern Cape since it is a Xhosa area that is very traditional, I talk about how Xhosa men conduct themselves. If I am in Witbank where the church is big I do jokes around churches. I try to know and understand my audience because you can end up offending people.”
Before he became a stand-up comedian, Skwatsha worked for Sasol in Secunda as a safety officer. When he got retrenched in 2020 during lockdown, he began taking comedy seriously. He says on his first night doing comedy he delivered because he was well-prepared.
“After being retrenched I had to start my own delivery services to make money. Since there is no Uber Eats in Secunda, I started Thumamina where I delivered food in Embalenhle township and made money. I even bought a motorbike because there was a demand for these deliveries,” he says.
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