Age Matters, Comedy
Venue: Graham Hotel
Next Performance: Sunday 29 June 20:30
Preview
By Nomfundo Mbatha
From Gqeberha, Mbulelo Msongelwa is bringing the kind of laughter that hits close to home and hits hard in his one-man show, Age Matters. The stand-up comic dives deep into the beautifully chaotic world of turning 40 in a black household, where you get laughed at for not knowing how to slaughter a cow, your knees start talking back, and you realise you have become your parents without even trying.
It is raw, real, and hilariously familiar.
“I knew that I belonged on the stage,” Msongelwa said. With help from others, he was able to gain confidence on stage, developing techniques that have helped him through the 16 years of doing comedy. “I am a comedian because I am me,” he says. He turned his everyday life, flaws and truths into laughter without pretending to be anyone else.
Telling stories from his own life, family, and friends, Msongelwa tackles those ageing truths that creep up on you like needing two days to recover from a night out or suddenly caring about funeral policy ads. This is more than just a comedy show; it is a cultural mirror, packed with witty reflections on growing older, black, and bold.
The theme, Black Lives Matter, but with age
Reflecting on the creative process behind the show, he said the theme only became clear after the jokes had taken shape. For him, the title was not a starting point; it was a discovery. “The title never comes before the writing,” he said. “Over the past year, I have just been writing. And when I finally put all the material together, I realised this is a matter of age. You let the jokes tell themselves, and when you step back and look at them, you go.”
Msongelwa said he hopes the audience walks out refreshed and laughing. “There are going to be a lot of people who identify with certain things, and for those who don’t identify, there is enough explanation to sort of picture it in your head.”
