JEM Atkins leaves his stand-up comedy mic for the theatre stage in the PANSA Musho Festival.The one and two hander theatre festival opens with eLimboland, written by Gisele Turner and performed by Jem Atkins and Gabriel Miya looks at two men who find themselves alone… and dead… in the hereafter. Jem chats to Berea Mail about comedy, life and his new stage role.
The highlight of your year so far (and why)?
I have to say, it’s been a terrific start to the year! We had our biggest Amsterdam Comedy Club to date last week – a top-class line-up of comedy talent from Durban, Joburg and Cape Town…and a warm, toasty crowd of about 150 people!
eLimbomand is definitely a highlight too – it’s been hard work and rather nerve-wrecking preparing for the show in such a short period of time, but it’s been very rewarding and I’m looking forward to the show!
What’s your favourite Durban restaurant and local leisure activity?
Corner Café, in Glenwood. The food’s great, the service too. And Judd, the owner, is one of the funniest, most charismatic restaurateurs you’ll ever meet.
I’ve been spending a lot of time riding bikes with my son at the Moses Mabhida Stadium and People’s Park. It’s perfect: plenty of open space for riding, a terrific kids’ play area and a couple restaurants and coffee shops too. And the beach front is a short, fun little bike ride from there as well. It’s really a great way to tire out a 5 year-old!
What did you do before you started comedy?
Well, after obtaining my Psychology degree, I counselled for a couple years voluntarily.
Then I kind of ‘fell’ into a position in IT. I worked hard at that for five years and then realised it made me desperately unhappy – it just wasn’t my passion. So I quit. Now I’m a freelance copywriter and scriptwriter, comedian and comedy promoter.
Is iLimboland your first performance as an actor?
Actually not at all. According to my sweet mother, as a young child I used to throw such massive tantrums that she thought she might as well get me on stage so that I could perform for other people too!
Turns out I was rather good at it…I was very involved in Drama and acting as a child and did Speech and Drama lessons for several years, did several school plays…and then in High School started getting involved in productions at the Durban Playhouse (called NAPAC at that time).
Favourite kind of meal? And least favourite?
I love a good braai (who doesn’t??). Paw-paw. Seriously…what is that stuff anyway?
How do you keep fit?
Well, before most big comedy gigs, I’m usually the guy sweating in the corner and having a mini heart-attack whilst wondering why on earth I keep doing this to myself! That keeps me kind of fit.
Also, I stopped smoking a few years ago…and then I quit alcohol too (I’m a real sucker for punishment). And I watch what I eat (sort of!). My son keeps me pretty busy – we spend a lot of time together – swimming, riding bikes, chasing him around shopping centres when he refuses to stay by the trolley.
The three things that make South Africa great?
The fantastic, year-round weather we enjoy. The growing SA comedy scene that I feel so privileged to be a part of! The beach!
The word or phrase you most overuse?
“Because Daddy said so, that’s why!” and”Aweh!”
One thing about yourself that you’d love to change (and why)?
I spent a large portion of my adult life being afraid to follow my heart. My life was basically ruled by conformity and fear…most of it irrational and unwarranted.
Two years ago I decided that this is no way to live and set out to start doing the things I’ve always wanted to. It’s been an insane, scary, wonderful journey so far with ups and of course downs…but I’ve really never been happier. There are still so many things that scare the hell out of me…like co-starring in a two-man stage production after all these years out of the game…but I like where I’m heading. I think I will stay on this path and see where it leads…because life should never be boring!
Tell us more about your role in iLimboland, what attracted you to the play?
Basically, I play a typical 30-something white guy who has grown up in a semi-privileged, middle-class household, mostly untouched by the horrors of apartheid. A man who ends up having to question all he has taken for granted and is begrudgingly forced to see perhaps a different perspective on our shared history. To be honest, I saw a lot of myself in this character – and it’s just so well written! I really feel as if the scriptwriter – Gisele Turner – has created something real and powerful that touches on a number of issues that are so poignant in today’s multicultural South Africa.
Is there anything about your character Al that you can relate to, why?
I definitely feel like I grew up rather shielded from the reality of apartheid, like Al did. Only as a teenager and later as an adult was I really able to learn about and start to question so many things I took for granted…and the true repercussions of what decades of state-sanctioned separation and deprivation created. For this reason I have started speaking to my son about these things so that he has at least an awareness of apartheid and what it meant…even though he’s only 5.
If you could be an animal what would it be (and why)?
A pig. They’re cute, highly intelligent, and nobody gives them a hard time for being over-weight. I’d live in Israel though…for obvious reasons.
Three things you truly love? And three things you detest?
Truly love: my sweet son, the fact that I am able to work for myself, the feeling that I get when performing comedy on stage and I’m killing it!
Truly detest: people who nonchalantly throw rubbish out of their car windows whilst driving, any form of physical fighting and when you’re almost finished ironing a shirt, for example, and you mistakenly iron a big crease into it and then it wont iron out unless you add water and then iron some more and now your shirt’s almost burned and it’s moist as well but you wear it anyway because you’re late already and everyone just assumes you have a perspiration problem but I mean who doesn’t? We live in a swamp, man…a swamp!!
The funniest thing that ever happened to you on stage?
One of my best friends, Dusty Rich, took the mic from me and did a hilarious comedy set. Hate that guy (jokes!).
Favourite actor, actress, author, singer, band and TV show?
Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Actress: Mila Kunis (good actress, and drop-dead gorgeous!)
Singer: My son – he does a killer rendition of ‘The Hokey-Pokey’!
Band: Chevelle
TV Show: right now, I’m utterly addicted to Homeland. I have the first 3 seasons. It’s becoming a problem.
What is at the top of your bucket list?
Firstly, buy a bucket. Secondly, to one day write an award-winning comedy screenplay, that gets turned into a blockbuster Hollywood movie, starring Mila Kunis…and me! There might be a small part for Phillip Seymour Hoffman – I’m not sure yet.
What are you reading at the moment?
It’s rather boring, I’m afraid: ‘Key Financial Skills – for South African Managers and Entrepreneurs’.
Running a business is hard work, man! And there’s so much I’m still learning!
The one thing about yourself that most people don’t know?
I’m socially awkward and even shy at times! (Especially since I stopped drinking alcohol a year ago!)
