Conrad Koch - puppet master

Anthropology is the study of humans and the complexity of cultures and there can be no better puppet than Chester Missing to analyse the South African homo sapiens.

The brains behind the country’s favourite puppet – Conrad Koch – is quite academic in his approach when talking about South Africa. He holds a master’s degree in social anthropology, after all.

Koch, originally from Cape Town, says he acknowledges white privilege.

“I benefit far more than I should because I am white,” he says.

He subscribes to a school of thought that says: “We didn’t support apartheid but we benefited from it.”

He said, as a child, he was so unaware of apartheid he swam in a dam wherein people were being tortured.

Koch and his puppet Chester Missing performed at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown last week.

Addressing the criticism he drew for some of his jokes falling flat when he delivered them to the predominately white, older crowd – he said: “Audiences differ in terms of their demographic and this determines what they laugh at and what material you must use as a comedian.”

He said one can’t always get it spot on, and while it is important to assess each crowd, one’s message should never be lost.

“Comedy is about making people laugh. I always want to make my audiences laugh but I will not subscribe to bigotry .”

“ included references to Mi Casa {the multiracial band) and Kim Kardashian which are quite funny but, because of the demographic, did not appeal to them.”

Koch said while he could not always be sure of his jokes finding their mark, he knew his quick come-backs and trickery appealed to all audiences.

During stand-up comedy, a lot of comedians tend to make fun of those sitting in the front row or those closest to them but Koch said this needed to be done in moderation.

“I try not to offend them and whenever Chester is being mean, I apologise on our behalf.”

The puppet has become his own character, separate from Koch – which is probably why some people believe he could be sued. He has been described as “the world’s first political analyst puppet, on a mission to get South Africans laughing at people with power”. Missing has interviewed almost everyone in the country’s political landscape.

Despite his controversial work, Koch said he has received immense support from his “liberal” family.

He said they are old and white which sometimes affects their thinking but after some conversation with their opinionated son, they find common ground.

“My family is pretty awesome in their support of my work.”

He would not say who Missing’s worst interviewee was because “I have been able to maintain the relationships I have with people because I do not diss them”.

Once, he said, the Freedom Front Plus’ Dr Pieter Mulder insisted on speaking Afrikaans while Missing spoke in English, however Missing resorted to IsiZulu and Mulder had no choice but to speak English.

Missing has interviewed Zimbabwean politicians like Tendai Biti and Jonathan Moyo, the DA’s Jack Bloom, IFP’s Narend Singh, the ANC’s Trevor Manuel and Adriaan Basson of the Beeld newspaper.

Koch said he would like Missing to be able to one day interview President Jacob Zuma, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the Economic Freedom Fighters commander-in-chief – Julius Malema.

In his most recent shows Koch has introduced two more puppets – Hillary, the ostrich, a “snooty, out-of-touch cougar”, and Ronnie, a green monster and rebellious reprobate.

Asked who he thought was funnier – himself or Missing – Koch without hesitation responded: “Chester is funnier, by miles.”— siyab@dispatch.co.za