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Ntobeko Ximba
Are you ready for a pharadigm shift? Let’s pharambulate on the pharameters of pharaffin together!
What is iPhara? And why are South Africans so Pharanoid?
Cape Town comedian, Ntobeko Ximba answers these questions in his debut one man show, aptly named PHARANOID.
Ntobeko won a Standard Bank Ovation Award atthe National Arts Festival 2024, as part of the creative team behind 32 Lavender Close. In 2023 and 2024, he also performed as part of the triostand up show Proudly Problematic. He has performed at the Cape Town Comedy Club (RIP), Cape Town Funny Festival, and as far afield as the famous Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, California.
Directed by the visionary theatre-maker Andi Colombo, PHARANOID is a culmination of Ntobeko’s six years of stand-up comedy, and a hilarious and tightly-orchestrated reflection on being South African, from a silly yet thoughtful comedian. Frankly, his work, as Cue Online put it, is “sure to make you fall in love with dark humour”.
What sets this show apart? You’ll find two common stand-up tropes conspicuously missing in Ximba’s comedy. The first is any swear words. “I don’t swear at home in my spare time, it wouldn’t feel right to start swearing on stage,” he says. The second missing trope is any mention of race in his comedy. Although he doesn’t shy away from the realities of South Africa’s race and class dynamics, he just never mentions the words, “black”, “white”, or “coloured” in reference to people in any of his jokes. “There’s no need…” he says, “…a Karen by any other name would still ask for the manager.” Whatever that means.
PHARANOID opens at the Baxter’s Masambe theatre on the 27th of Feb and runs until the 1st of March. Tickets are available through Webtickets.
PHARANOID
A Stand Up Comedy Show
By Ntobeko Ximba
Directed by Andi Colombo
27 Feb – 1 March 2024
Baxter Theatre (Masambe)
R80 – R100
Age restriction - None