John Vlismas

Award-winning comedian, John Vlismas is one of South Africa’s most creative, prolific international comics.
2012 is set to be another year of firsts, with Vlismas publishing lots of written work, completing his first solo stand-up DVD, announcing new radio projects, and quite possibly contributing regularly to a respected news publication.
2011 has been no different to previous years with Vlismas being as busy as ever.  Starting off by co-directing and producing the Inaugural South African Comic’s Choice Awards, which was a prestigious event, held at Montecasino’s Teatro in January 2011.

 
He has also agreed to appear in the Arts Alive Festival with Robert Whitehead and others in "Shakespeare Dreaming" in September.

While outspoken and sometimes controversial, Vlismas still remains a firm favourite in the corporate market, and spends over 80% of his stage time entertaining executives and their staff with tailored material, proving that he has the ability to “keep it clean”, adapt rapidly and appropriately for diverse audiences.

John is also having great success, and positive impact on corporate entities with his increasingly popular The SharedWorld Business Talk, where he addresses key business executives and management within companies.

This 1 hour presentation see’s a different side to the funny-man, with his thought provoking keynote business address.
2010 - a busy year for Vlismas, starting with the release of his film, Outrageous.  This was followed by his inclusion in the 46664 - It’s No Joke concert tour to raise funds for the Mandela Foundation.  

Shortly thereafter, this professional troublemaker was invited to join Bafunny Bafunny, the comedy cast that began their tour at the Royal Albert Hall and continued on a national circuit of South Africa, where ticket sales reached 30 000 and prompted a second “victory lap” tour.

All of this while Vlismas launched his now-popular Thought Leader blog for the Mail & Guardian, and continues to build a listenership on his syndicated late night radio show, “I Don’t Like Mondays” on Jacaranda fm and East Coast Radio.

In 2009, we saw yet another side to this multi talented artist.  In April, he debuted his much-anticipated solo art exhibition, "Off The Reservation." Which featured 20 oil on canvas works at the Obert Contemporary Gallery In Melrose Arch. While the work was serious in nature, Vlismas opted to open the exhibition on April 1st, determined to reference his comic roots. 

His last one-man comedy show, POW, premiered in June 2009, which was performed to sold out shows in both Johannesburg and Durban.

In 2008 he represented his country in Toronto, finishing in the top eight at the Yuk Yuk’s Great Canadian Laugh Off, and performed at Freedom Day celebrations in Dubai, at the request of the South African Business Council. John also performed his long anticipated one-man show, entitled Lucky Plebian, in June 2008.

He produced the South African leg of Henry Rollin’s 2007/8-world tour and again in 2010 for Henry’s current world tour, Frequent Flyer, taking in the Pretoria State Theatre, The Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and the Bassline in Johannesburg. 

In 2007, he produced and headlined Shady Okes at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. He also won the inaugural SA Comedy Award for Stand Up of the Year, with his one-man show, Gay, Black & Immortal.

Of the stand up comedians working the circuit in South Africa today, John has the widest international profile.

From his 2002 performance in Berlin, at the Maulhelden Festival, to his shows in Dubai in 2006 and 2008; to 2007’s Shady Okes in London and at the Bulmer’s Comedy Festival in Dublin; to his appearance at The Comedy Store in London in 2005; and his four trips to Canada, where he has played at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival and remains the only South African comedian to be invited to return three times, having impressed in Club Soda, Globecom and Bubbling with Laughter, and performing by invitation in the prestigious showcase Talk of the Fest with Drew Carey; to his 2000 participation in the Melbourne Comedy Festival, where he enjoyed a sold out run of 28 shows in the highly regarded Best of the Edinburgh Festival showcase. 

In 2006 he produced and headlined Have a Heart (HAH) in aid of Child Welfare Johannesburg. In 2002, he hosted and co-produced the largest ever stand up comedy event seen in South Africa, Laugh Out Loud; which played to 7000 people. 

Not content with stand up and MC work, John also writes for publications and spent sixteen weeks in 2007 attempting to attract litigation for his weekly column attacking the local Idols judges, syndicated in Independent Newspapers. He also completed a year long column in the Star Newspaper’s Business Report, called Funny Money with Ronnie Apteker, and wrote a monthly column for In London magazine, for 3 years.

John has joined up with academic friend and mentor, Jonathan Foster-Pedley to lecture on MBA “Creategy” Electives at the Graduate School Of Business, delivering his talk “The Shared World” on applied intuition.

He has scripted and performed for the FNB Life Start, and SAB Brand Power national road shows, Arts Alive festival each year and regularly performs at his comedy club, The Comedy Underground, now SA’s longest running regular comedy event. 

John has enjoyed much local success with his previous one-man shows, all of which he wrote, directed and produced: Whacked in 2001, Aggravated Assault in 1999, Man in Black in 1998, and Mr Ballistic in 1997. In 2001, his two-hander with Bevan Cullinan, Grinder confirmed his ability to sell tickets.  

The esteem in which John is held by the comedy industry is evidenced by such events as his role in Steven Wright’s South African tour as support act, and his performance for SA Tourism at the Sydney Art Museum in 2004. 


Regarded as the “Comedians Choice of Comic.

Here are some of the comments from his peers in the industry:
“As apartheid shriveled up and died the death it deserved, the night sky of South African comedy looked empty and drab. Suddenly out of nowhere came a blazing meteor called Vlismas and our world has never been the same again.” - Pieter-Dirk Uys




“He has a wild wacky energy.  He looks like he’s the rep for red bull. It’s nice to see somebody that breaks the boundaries and is not scared to go forward.  We all have our own genres and hopefully our genres make us different and that is one of the reasons that John is so special.

He is so fast and so up to date. It is nice to see a young man who still has the same energy he started with 10 or so years ago and this makes him always a pleasure to watch. He is proud that he is South African and that shows that we have world class acts in this country.  YOU GO JOHN!”  Your friend Barry Hilton

“John Vlismas, a legend, a role model and most important the best comedy brain I think I will ever come across. No one should ever under estimate what he has done for South African Comedy including the huge influence he had and still has in my career.” - Joey Rasdien.

If there were a true guru of comedy, we’d all be visiting John on the mountaintop... -Riaad Moosa.

John Vlismas is....  ORIGINAL BRILLIANT ALTHOUGH SCRECHINGLY FUNNY, SAVAGE, HILARIOUS, NOT FOR THE WEAK ARRESTING OFFICER. FEARLESS. "Didn't think he'd get this far. . . though I always knew he had it in him." Not once apparently. - MARK BANKS

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:

“The country’s most recognised comedian”   The Sunday Times

“…Arguably the best stand-up comedian in the country today”                         Bongani Madondo, Daily News 

“Vlismas impressed with his smart political jokes…” The Hollywood Reporter

“South Africa’s John Vlismas was definitely the highlight. This comic’s understanding of punchy dialogue mixed beautifully with his occasional leaps into highly amusing physical humour, making for a delightfully balanced routine” Impress Magazine, Melbourne

“Another delight was Barker’s cohort John Vlismas who delivered a high-energy stand-up set. A likeable, promising performer, Vlismas’ too-short set was an unexpected delight for the crowd who seemed to have come mostly for the more established Barker.” FOXTEL Magazine, Melbourne

“John Vlismas is one of the country’s most outrageous, original and manic stand-up comedians.” Christina Kennedy, The Citizen 

“If John Vlismas can’t make you laugh, who can?” Jill de Villiers, The Citizen 

“Vlismas is very much the face of comedy in the new South Africa.” Pierre de Villiers, Time Out