In Conversation With Kevin Fraser Ahead of His #Imagination Comedy Tour

Kevin Fraser Brings His #Imagination2025 Comedy Tour To Local Stages

South African comedian Kevin Fraser, known for his unique brand of humor that blends cultural observations, social commentary, and a distinct focus on South African lifestyles and personalities brings his brand-new show Imagination to the stage this holiday season.

Kevin’s style combines relatable scenarios with his South African-themed humor about daily life, accents, and cultural stereotypes, making him a hit both locally and internationally. Kevin is back to captivate local audiences with his new comedy show, Imagination, making its highly anticipated South African debut this November.

Kevin took some time out of his current touring schedule to talk with us about what’s South African fans can expect from #Imagination2025, and more…

Where did the title for your latest tour, Imagination, come from?

Hopefully a funny story, because as you carry on with your tours each and every year, or each cycle that I do, it does get a little bit more challenging to like, come up with a concept.

After much needed brainstorming, I was sitting with my team making comments on things, and I quite literally said, well, my imagination is stomped, because I’m running out of ideas. And then I thought to myself, well, that’s it! Why don’t we just call it the Imagination Tour? And then because I’d made the sarcastic comment, everything just started unfolding. I’ve always enjoyed wanting to kind of title my tours and give people not just a show, but an experience.

I thought, you know what, in today’s world, we have so many conflicting things in our lives, so many distractions, and so many automated processes, I thought, it’s time to get back to the basics in some way, and actually just stimulate our mind. So I went with it, and it all just unfolded from there.

So it starts with an idea, just one single imagination, and then you’ve got the whole thing going.

Obviously, everything I do is not bound by my title, but it really sort of got me excited. It’s totally different from what we’ve done in the past, but still the same me, and that’s critical. The ideas have been flowing, and I’ve been really tapping into my imagination.

For me as a writer, if I’m a bit stuck, I will take pictures, and it guides me.

I’ve got ideas in my head that are based on where we’re going, and where society is going, and technology, and how do we play with that in a light-hearted way to make comments on that to people without it being sort of nefarious, or without it being scary, because I think a lot of what the world’s going through is intimidating.

With your hectic schedule, how do you stay grounded?

I think it’s finding the balance to be able to switch off in-between the tours. I’m very, very grateful that I’m able to see and experience places that I go to a couple of days before or after a show, so that’s been really, really incredible, and for me, it’s staying in charge of your health and fitness, and taking time off. I’m very much a beach bum, and I think that’s my meditation zone. A lot of people see me through the hourglass online, and it’s a lot of energy and extroverted behaviour, but I’m actually quite quiet and simple in my own world, outside of that newsfeed.

Audiences attending your shows know your humour style, but has it ever happened that an audience didn’t quite get the funniness?

There are certain situations where I’ve taken people by surprise, and I could use Australia as an example, because the humour is quite different. I’ve often found the South African sense of humour can be quite similar in approach to, say, a British sense of humour, but the Australian sense of humour can be quite different.

It’s almost a little bit cheesy sometimes, in my opinion. I’ll probably get done for saying that, but the thing is, I always find you’ve just got to be careful how you set something up or give people context. The context is key in order to land the joke, because South Africans are so sarcastic.

We are quick. We speak fast. We’ve come from a culture of having to always try and understand someone, where they are, and where they’re coming from.

Sometimes you can be caught off guard, or maybe there even is a word or an adjective in South Africa that’s totally received the wrong way. I’ve definitely been caught out there. The best way I’ve learned to handle it is to just own it!

You’ve performed all over the world. Is there a country you have not performed in yet where you would like to sink your teeth or ground your feet in?

The United States. We’ve been working very hard on that, and it is finally coming alive, but the US is a monster, and it’s very difficult to make it happen.

It’s extremely expensive to make it happen as well, but we’re finally making headway there, and I just have a very good feeling about it, because I think my energy might match there, so hopefully. Oh, I’m excited. That’s exciting times.

We’ve been using our imaginations for that.

Your career started at the young age of 16 as a DJ. Can you briefly tell us about your journey from the music and the dancing to where you are today?

Yeah, so I was mostly doing dancing in school, because I was never good at any sport, but I certainly played the part in terms of dressing up, and I was shadowing my sister, and all that she did. She was involved in tap dancing, modern contemporary dancing, and she was very, very good. So like any younger brother, I was inspired to get involved in the arts, but I think it was a weird one because in school I started with writing my own kind of fictional plays.

I created this African Cinderella concept, that did really well and won awards in school, but when reality hit and we couldn’t afford acting school and chasing that part of the dream, earning money was something that had to be sorted out pretty fast, and for me that became DJing. I’d already been collecting and listening to so much music, I said to my dad, you know I could make money off of this. I could do birthday parties, weddings or whatever, and I did, and it just grew pretty fast.

Eventually I had to pack that up and became a club DJ, doing very, very well, but when I was about 23, I just felt something was missing. I felt I needed to connect more and beyond the music, so I started talking a little bit more at my DJ gigs. I was not really confident, a few people whispered into my ear, why don’t you consider radio? I said no! I’m not into radio. Going through those emotions, life was changing, we started getting social media, and video content became a thing.

When I was traveling and studying in Australia, I was kind of absent from the time zone for so long, that video was the only way I could keep up with and connect with people back at home, so I would make videos and share them. After a month of doing that, I was waking up to my videos going seriously viral at the time, and it was just the feedback loop that kind of said to me, you know, this opportunity in comedy could be something that you need to look at.

The feedback loop was quite literally one particular video that went viral, an Angolan boxer named Damate Pena, reshared one of my videos, and I remember particular comments on there, and it made me laugh, this guy was like, I’ve been googling everywhere for this guy, I can’t find tickets for him, I’m like, what do you mean tickets, and I got my friend to comment on it, and ask what they were on about. They said he’s obviously a comedian, and I was like, well, no, I’m not, but okay. I’ve always dreamed of being an actor and in the industry, but becoming a comedian actually scared the living daylight out of me. It’s a lot of pressure.

Now that I’ve been doing this for a few years, you learn to separate yourself from those kicks, otherwise it can suck the fun out of it. If something doesn’t work, just laugh it off, quite literally, because that’s the space we live in now.

Where do you call home?

Oh, home is in my heart. I’ve a spot in Australia, and in Cape Town, so I’m between two worlds, and that’s the hardest part. It’s mostly due to my family being so split all over the world. Everybody’s in different pockets.

I made a promise to myself a couple of years ago that I was deeply passionate about spreading the seed of Africa to the world and promoting our country, our culture, and to be so positive about it. It’s been so beautiful to be able to do that, hence why last year we toured the Africa Is A Feeling concept. It was born out of that whole desire, and yeah, in everything I do, in every future tour I do, it’s always going to be the case.

What can the audience expect from your Imagination Tour?

Apart from getting your typical dose of Kevin, with my impersonations, my accents, my stories, I think people can look forward to really diving into another side of me this year, where I launch into sort of my rants and frustrations, which people have come to enjoy through some of my content, but now on stage, and actually giving people my comments on how I’ve had to cope with life, especially as you get older.

I’m in my 30s now, hopefully still got a long way to go, but obviously coping with a lot of changes in my life. There’s definitely an undertone of coping with technology, and the advancements of technology, and society, and how all of those influences take place in our everyday lives, whether it be at the supermarket, the dentist, or in your own home. I’m bringing all of those stories to life on stage, and I’ve got a few cool fictional stories that I’ve unearthed for that, and certainly my physical comedy is obviously, I guess, an attractive point for some people. I am a bit of a dancer, improvisational dancer, and I’ve really focused on that this year, and tried to bring that home.

There is a particular piece that I’m really excited about in the show, that I think is going to get the boomers standing, but it’s also going to get everybody of all ages understanding my work.

Get ready for a night of laughter, relatability, and unforgettable entertainment as Kevin Fraser redefines comedy with Imagination. Be sure to book your #Imagination2025 comedy tour tickets today!

Full SA Tour Schedule:
#Imagination2025 Comedy Tour

Johannesburg:

Venue:
Theatre of Marcellus, Emperors Palace

Date & Time:
Friday, 29 November 2024
at 17h00 | Doors Open at 16h00
at 21h00 | Doors Open at 20h00

Ticket Prices:
Available from R220 – R600 (including VAT)

Bookings:
Via Kevin Fraser official website
For early show click here
For late show click here

Pretoria:

Venue:
Heartfelt Arena

Date & Time:
Saturday, 30 November 2024 | Doors Open at 19h00

Ticket Prices:
Available from R220 – R600 (including VAT)

Bookings:
Via Kevin Fraser official website here

East London: