Martin Evans has had an amazing 2012 – from a riotous Come Dine with Me episode in November, to a Comedy Central Special in December, onto an acclaimed run of his show Full Body P*** Klap (FBPK) at the Kalk Bay Theatre and a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival 2011/12 – the world is his oyster, if it doesn’t end of course.
“If the Mayans are anything to go by, I think they would be ironic, right?” said Evans. “It would make complete sense then that I would have come full circle to my home town to host a finale show at the Little Theatre – talk about going down in a blaze of glory.”
Once a legendary CBFM radio deejay in the city, Martin has gallivanted all over the world, working as a stand-up comedian. Martin made a name for himself in comic circles from London to letdown and though he lives in Cape Town now, Port Elizabeth is a stage he cannot ignore. “I went to high school and varsity here in PE, and my folks are still here. This is and will always be still my home,” said Evans.
This week he brings his Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning show to the Little Theatre in the Athenaeum. It is a tale of how in 2010 while the rest of the world was caught in a soccer frenzy, a “lonely bearded hipster” fell off is “sustainable scooter” and was left to incubate for most of the year. He left a changed man – carrying a packet of chips on his shoulder and a better understanding of what it means to be South African, not to mention bucket-loads of content for a new show. Evans, a Londoner by birth, even learnt to speak Afrikaans while watching soapies, languishing in hospital.
Achingly funny and a reflection of the idiosyncrasies of South African culture flush with some great impersonations of South Africa’s most typical stereotypes, FBPK is not to be missed, says Amy Shelver of Numb City Productions, which has brought Evans to the Little Theatre.
Joining him on stage is local rising star and funny-man Mbulelo ManyLaughs Msongelwa who recently opened for Loyiso Gola and some say, stole the limelight. Msongelwa said to expect: “An unapologetic token talking about his surroundings.”
Critics have called Full Body P*** Klap a “slick and uplifting show”, “a tale of recovery and self-discovery”, and Evans “a genuinely hilarious comic” who “has the audience in stitches with his tales”.
FBPK runs for one night only at the Little Theatre in the Athenaeum building on Belmont Terrace in Central on Friday, December 21. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets cost R 75 at Webtickets.co.za; R60 for students with a student card and R85 at the door. Ages 16+ only.
