While visitors flock into Port Elizabeth for the Isuzu Ironman 70.3 World Championship, Cape Town comedian Kurt Schoonraad flew in ahead of  Friday’s Big Five Comedy Show in Summerstrand.
He was quick to assure Bay fans he would not be embarrassing himself by competing.
In an interview, he jokingly said it was best for the city, event organisers and spectators that he rather stuck to comedy and cheered the athletes on from the sidelines.
“The last thing you want is a casualty on a party like this.
“To avoid tarnishing the reputation of a good event like Ironman, I would rather not compete,” he said.
Schoonraad was in the Bay on a promotion tour for the rehad turning show, to be held at Nelson Mandela University’s Vodacom Indoor Sports Centre. He features alongside comics Tumi Morake, Stuart Taylor, Jason Goliath and Nik Rabinowitz.
While Schoonraad looks forward to bringing new material to the show, he said losing president Jacob Zuma meant he no longer had easy material.
“I miss that guy, hey. I miss that someone else gave me material so easily. I didn’t even have to change anything, I just to quote him to make people laugh,” Schoonraad said.
However, he said he found comfort that there were still politicians such as EFF commander-in-chief Julius Malema to give comedians content to joke about, among the other day-to-day happenings in the world.
“Politicians in general will always make silly mistakes in public spaces and make our jobs easier and easier,” he said.

On the note of careless mishaps, Schoonraad highlighted the dangers of social media to one’s career.
Citing the Adam Catzavelos racist video which recently hogged the headlines and social media platforms, the comic said the dangers of social media were as high as its advantages.
“The advantage of being a comedian is that you have an artistic license to what you say but I’ve noticed that comedians are exceptionally aware of where to draw the line, so they will hardly make a [blunder] that could end their career.
“Stand-up comedy is a weird space where you can’t hide who you are. If you’re a bigot, racist or sexist, it will come out at the most inopportune moment,” he said.
While he has been in the industry for a long time, the pressure to make people laugh still made him nervous, he said.
“There is always a sense of apprehension and nerves and there should always be, otherwise just get another job.”
● The Big 5 Comedy Show is at 8pm on Friday. Tickets are R75 to R250 at Computicket.
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