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A favourite title for a Pieter-Dirk Uys talk is “No one’s died laughing”. And, so far, after 7 322 one-man performances throughout the world, no one in my audience has died! And no public figure has had the decency to take the hint.
Is this possibly a bad reflection? Maybe it’s because I see laughter as the result of two things: the joke and the truth. Sure, laughing at a good rude joke is rewarding, but the only reason to remember it is to tell it to someone else. But the truth can often be funny without being comedy.
Humour is seldom as funny as the truth, not often resulting in the belly laugh, the great roar of ha-ha-ha that greets the stand-up comedian. Picture this: you go into a room. Someone is standing behind the door. They go: “Boo!” You get a huge fright, but then see it is your best friend playing silly buggers. You laugh! Not because it is that funny, but because you are relieved to find out it is not a threat. It’s a joke.
Laughing at fear can also make that fear less fearful. It will always remain lethal, even life-threatening, but at least you’ve focused on it. Keeping your eye on that fear proves that it will never become taller than you. It’s when you look away out of fear that it can become so overbearing that you will never allow yourself to confront it. That’s when fear wins.
What’s this got to do with a show with 20 different characters in all three genders spanning more than 40 years of entertainment? We all come from a South African past that was littered with hatred and horror, and yet humanity prevailed. We all live in a South African present that is a minefield of corruption, confusion and chaos – and yet compassion and optimism survive. And ahead of us lies a future struggle that could make the past look tame by comparison. So to laugh is the therapy we can all use to prevent ourselves from going numb and dumb.
Turning 70 this year for me is a crossroads between the choice of being inspired by the high road or depressed by the low path. As a terminal optimist, I believe that to remember where I come from can help me celebrate where I am going. To look back with amusement, to glance into today’s mirror with acceptance and to peer ahead with less caution than before can only happen when you allow the heartbeat of a 12-year-old’s excitement to lead you on. It is a levelling moment to, for the first time, identify your sell-by date. With good health, maybe 20 years lie ahead? Hopefully a full 10?
Once, my year was 365 days. Now my year only has two days: today and tomorrow. All my focus and energy is on the Now, knowing that within 24 hours, the Then will happen, enriched or poisoned by what happens at this present moment.
Seasons of An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish! lie ahead in Johannesburg and Cape Town, a fun-filled experience that gives the audience 20 boxes to choose from.
Democracy – with my tongue in their cheek! A different show every performance. This time, not just a parade of the old or the new, the sometimes borrowed and occasionally blue icons and aikonas, but also a celebration of 45 years of entertaining real people live on stage.
Now, too often people murmur: “Darling, how do you remember everything in your shows at 70?”
Well I do, touch wood. I’ve heard Dr Alzheimer knocks on aging doors. I just hope he forgets where mine is!
So the audition is over, the disease to please is cured. No need to prove anything, just improve. No one else might notice, but constantly striving to make things better could happily add fire and light to the supposed twilight years. So no retirement, no stopping just because someone asks: “Why do you still keep going?”
It’s simple, darling. Because I’m still here.
. An Audience with Pieter-Dirk Eish! is back by popular demand at the Pieter Toerien Theatre at Montecasino in Joburg
