There’s only so much you can find out about Tumi Morake from the stage, the screen and the internet, so her debut book, And Then Mama Said, which hit the shelves this month is the voice of Tumi in private.
The award-winning South African stand-up comedienne, television host and actress also wears the hats of TV producer and writer, wife and mother of three but this is her first foray into writing a book.
And Then Mama Said is a behind-the-scenes perspective of someone who has been deeply loved and viciously hated by her audiences.
Morake says she has modelled her public persona on her mother – a charming and contentious woman who used her big, bold voice to say what others were afraid to utter.
This is the personality Morake takes on stage in the mostly male space of stand-up comedy, and the one that gave her the courage to comment about apartheid on air.
“This isn’t my biography, but a collection of memories from my life. I have shared some of the things that have made me resilient and shaped the persona of Tumi Morake,” she said about the book.
“I have often been asked to share my story and I thought what better way than by honouring the woman who made me who I am, my mother.
“I miss her incredibly and the things she said to me have influenced my approach to life and its challenges.”
In her memoir, Tumi gets frank about the race row at Jacaranda FM; the Jaguar car accident which cyber bullies said she deserved; the body-shaming she endured on the set of Our Perfect Wedding, and her tumultuous relationship with her beloved husband.
“It took me a long time to figure out how to tell this story, whether I should be comedic as would be expected or just share my honest perspective,” Morake said.
“I looked back at how often me and my cousins would revert back to what my mother said growing up and I decided then to let that voice that is with me all the time to guide me in my book.”
The result is a look behind the scenes of the entertainment industry and its scandals as well as the story of her rise from humble beginnings to fame and fortune and a sneak peak into issues of racism and cyberbullying.
“As a woman surrounded by women growing up, I am glad I was not surrounded one kind of thinking. I developed a strong sense of who I am.
“My love for my mother burns strong. I wanted to be a living legend like she was when she was alive.”
And Then Mama Said by Tumi Morake is published by Penguin Random House.