Veteran comedian Casper de Vries invited Zalebs to watch his performance at the recent Mass Hysteria Comedy festival and afterwards we were invited to his dressing room for a few more laughs.

“Humor is like therapy to a lot of people and the comedy industry in SA is definitely growing. A few years ago there was nothing much happening, but now there’s a great array of comedians who I personally love.

“Comedy is universal and I love that as South Africans now, we are all able to be comedians. Black, White, Indian… we can all laugh together and at our different cultures,” he says.

In his set at the recent Mass Hysteria Comedy festival, Casper played the Minister of Twitter. He had the crowds roaring with laughter as he poked fun at social networks.

“John Vlismas, who put the show together, gave each of us a portfolio in the show. I am very savvy and I have a lot of followers on Twitter so when I was given the social networks portfolio I knew I could execute it well,” he chuckles.

Casper says that as much as there is competition in the arts, 99.9 percent of comedians don’t compete with each other.

“We are very supportive of each other. We laugh at each other’s jokes and encourage each other. It’s rare to find jealousy and drama amongst comedians. What we do comes from our minds. The comedy fraternity in SA is fantastic and I’m glad to be a part of it,” he says.

The comedian , who is nearly 50-years-old, says he is planning to continue with his career and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

“I don’t want everyone to like me; I just want to speak my mind and share my opinions about life. If people can identify with it and want to come and see me perform, then that’s great. If not they can just f*** off. Or, they can just unfollow me on Twitter or better yet, block me or change the channel,” Casper says with a laugh.

Casper is the ultimate jokester, and his fans eat it up.  We asked Casper to share with us one of his favourite jokes at the moment.

“I heard this joke at the Comic Choice Awards not too long ago, so in a way I am stealing now”, he says with a naughty smile. “The joke goes like; ‘The teacher asked the class, ‘what comes after a sentence and the black students said, Freedom!’”

So, what’s Casper’s secret to being a successful comedian for all these years?  “When you joke as a comedian or even an ordinary person, be careful that you don’t lose your audience. Because when people don’t know ‘what the f*** you on about’ they will switch off.”

Share your favourite jokes with us below!

By Molife Kumona