By BRUCE DENNILL
Conrad Koch & Chester Missing: Despicable Hehe / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg
Comedian and ventriloquist Conrad Koch became so remarkably effective as a caustic and insightful political commentator that his most recognised puppet, Chester Missing, was not only a much-requested presence on every South African media platform worth its salt but even regarded by many politicians as an individual worth talking to directly, with hardly any recognition given to Koch, his Master’s degree in social anthropology and, you know, it being him who has all the knowledge and writes all the scripts.
Koch’s latest stage show – designed to develop an evolved act that can extend to audiences outside of the satire niche, both in in this country and abroad (where, unsurprisingly, South African politics is about as incongruous as Slipknot covering the soundtrack to The Sound Of Music) – is much less about politics and much more about observational witticisms, filtered through a number of characters including Missing (if he was, er, missing, there might be some audience grumpiness), cynical high school teacher Mr Dixon, party ostrich Hilton, Gunter the German tourist mosquito, Vladimir Putin (as a vampire) and DJ Hoodie. Who is a DJ. Made out of a hoodie. Not everything has to be profound, you know.
Because of the different themes, and the combination of scripted character scenes with more open, improvised sequences, the tone and the pacing of the show meanders somewhat, though it is always held together by Koch’s running commentary (with or without his hand up something’s butt). But the variety on offer also means that audience members can find their own preferred slant on either what’s going on in the world or a storytelling perspective that particularly appeals to their own sense of humour.
Vladimir Putin, blood dripping down his synthetic jowls, is perhaps the edgiest medium through which Koch delivers his analysis of major current affairs headlines and the state of world leadership (spoiler: it’s not good), while Mr Dixon is an amiably grumpy improviser who takes his cues from audience members who find themselves in Koch’s eyeline and answer questions that provide the basis for the puppet’s impromptu links and callbacks.
As ever, as a ventriloquist, Koch is doing plenty of work – two characters’ output at the same time, at least. And DJ Hoodie, who requires Koch to use both hands and both feet to make him move, gives the comedian a full Pilates workout, which should nicely offset the late nights spent on stage.
A closing bit in which an audience member gets dressed up and becomes the final ventriloquist’s dummy of the night is hilarious – better than hypnotism because the person is completely aware of what is happening and yet completely helpless to speak for themselves; putty in Koch’s hands (which is a very good reason to avoid antagonising him if you’re so inclined as an audience member). This improvised, fast-thinking segment might bear extending – with Koch’s expertise and intellect and the odd anecdotes his audience feeds him, every show would be quirkily different.