Madinga adds more of Africa to Noah’s Daily Show

The award-winning funnyman burst onto the stand-up scene in 2012 and took it by storm. Madinga, who matriculated from St Patrick’s High School in Kokstad, told the Dispatch yesterday he was so confident his segment would be well received he was betting his “career on this one.

“I discovered rural upbringing is the reason behind my success because I grew up in a rural area but went to a model C school, so that gave me a unique perspective on life. I have always enjoyed comedy and humour so it was easy to make a name for myself.

“There were times when I was reluctant to risk it all and focus on entertaining people.

“You don’t know how to go about it, especially coming from a rural area,” said the comic, who is inspired by US comedian Chris Rock.

Madinga, who left a career in advertising to pursue his passion for comedy, was hand-picked by arguably the funniest comedian around for The Daily Show.

Announcing the newest member of his team Trevor Noah, who since taking over from Jon Stewart in 2015 has targeted US President Donald Trump, said: “As wild as Trump is for America‚ many countries around the world have Trumps of their own and since The Daily Show is in many countries‚ we thought ‘why not give each country a chance to show off their ‘stable geniuses?’”

Madinga, who won the Graça Comedy Showdown in 2012 and the 2014 Savanna Newcomer Award, has opened for Trevor Noah during his tours. So how has his journey been since 2012?

“The job has been rewarding,” he said. “I worked with almost every great comic in this country.

“We have many incredible comics coming from the Eastern Cape.”

Asked why he thought Trevor Noah chose him, Madinga said: “I obviously fit into their plan.”

So what kind of a comedian is Madinga? “If I can be a link between different cultures and races through jokes, so people can start understanding each other, that would be very important to me.” — zikhonam@dispatch.co.za