REVIEW: MARC LOTTERING – NOT IN 3D

I have loved Marc Lottering’s comedy since I first saw him about ten years ago. He has that empathetic warmth that is so wonderful in a comedian – managing to make us laugh at ourselves without ever resorting to nastiness or making people feel uncomfortable.

Marc’s latest show, Not in 3D, is showing at Cape Town’s new On Broadway dinner theatre on Long Street. It’s a great little theatre above Boo Radleys (which, incidentally, is one of my favourite bars in the city, makes a killer cosmo and, if you promise the barman you’ll return his glasses, lets you take them upstairs with you for the show).

In Not in 3D, Marc takes us through a well constructed yet sufficiently random journey. It starts off with some banter about kids which will immediately have the gay guys in the audience in stitches.

The secret to Marc’s anecdotes is how perceptive they are, so that you will find yourself laughing at the things we all think about but never admit to.

His banter is interspersed with songs on the piano as well as appearances by his signature characters. There’s Smiley the taxi dude and he ties down that famous ‘fro in a doek to re-introduce us to Auntie Merle Abrahams from Athlone; someone we all feel we know so well.

Though Marc explains why it’s not very “contemporary” to laugh out loud any more, you simply won’t be able to help yourself.

One woman in the front row was getting so carried away with hysterical, husband-slapping laughter that Marc had to ask her to wait for him to finish the joke so that everyone else could at least hear it.

All in all, while it may not be in 3D, the show is a spirit-lifting, great night out. It’s been so popular that the run at On Broaday has been extended until 25 September.

Tickets (Tuesdays to Saturdays) can be booked for dinner or without. Call 021 424 1194, visit www.onbroadway.co.za or book through any branch of Computicket.