Mpho Popps wanted to be many things in his life, but he decided to settle on what makes him happy, namely comedy.
The stand-up comedian, who grew up in Vosloorus but now lives in Ruimsig, said his career started on 27 July 2009 at 7.45am, to be exact. “It wasn’t until one day that I really decided to be brutally honest with myself and asked myself what I’m really good at, what makes me happy and if I had to do this thing for free for the rest of my life what would it be? I came to the realisation that there’s nothing I love more than making people laugh,” he said.
In the almost eight years he has been in comedy, the highlights of his career have been his opportunities to travel to other countries. “I’ve had the pleasure of performing in Canada, the USA and several African countries and I always have that moment where I’m like, look how far your talent has brought you.
People are flying you into their country to come make them laugh, wow,” Mpho added.
His signature approach to an audience is his warped sense of humour. His way has always been to be as different as he possibly can, so people always remember him.
Mpho presented his birthday comedy special on 10 June at Gold Reef City, and has just returned from his 9 July performance at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. His next performance will be as part of the Kings and Queens of Comedy show, a showcase of some of the country’s best in comedy, on 21 July.
This is the first time Mpho will be part of this show and he is very excited. “Grandma always said your talents will bring you before kings and queens – now I see what she was talking about,” he said.
Mpho would still love to perform in New York, Nigeria and Australia. He said the growth in SA’s comedy industry is getting the rest of the world to understand and follow the country’s brand of humour. Once SA comics learn how to be globally funny, the industry will grow in leaps and bounds.
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