The roast that everyone has been gagging for will stream exclusively on Showmax from Friday 26th April 2024. As part of the Savanna and Showmax Laugh Africa Comedy Festival, Minnie Dlamini was roasted by some of the biggest names in celebville.
For everyone who wants to relive the experience and for all of those who missed it, the Roast of Minnie Dlamini is filled to the brim with jibes and jabs.
The lineup is star-studded with comedy heavyweights Tumi Morake and Jason Goliath at the Roast master helm, and Trevor Gumbi, Shahan Ramkissoon, Celeste Ntuli, Lasizwe, Penny Lebyane, Da L.E.S, Siv Ngesi and Robert Marawa as the panelists.
Stuart Taylor, Laugh Africa Comedy Festival Creative Director, says: “Having all these brilliant individuals on the panel giving Minnie a roast is like pulling the pin from a grenade and tossing it in there. It's shrapnel everywhere. It's people on the ground.”
Putting together the right panel
Taylor wanted a roast where the panelists really celebrated Minnie and had fun, certainly at her expense, but in a light-hearted way without going for the jugular. “We were careful about curating a panel of people who have worked with Minnie, people who know her, but also some people who are quite odd and wouldn't be associated with her necessarily.” explains Taylor.
For the panelists, Taylor selected two of the heaviest hitting comics – Trevor Gumbi and Celeste Ntuli. Gumbi started his set by saying that he was there to settle some scores and we were about to find out with whom. “Trevor can say some of the most offensive things, but the cadence and pitch of his voice is so disarming that he really does get away with murder. He was incredible,” says Taylor.
Shahan Ramkissoon and Robert Marawa are media professionals who know how to play a gag. They were purposefully thrown into the mix because the comedy space is out of their comfort zone. They sunk their teeth into it and really rose to the occasion.
“As soon as Robert Marawa started everyone involved breathed a sigh of relief because we knew it was going to be a great roast. Robert played every line and milked all the laughs. The same with Shahan. Everyone was like who is this guy? Why is he here? To all of this he came back even harder,” explains Taylor.
Minnie Dlamini takes the Mickey
With regards to the roastee, Minnie Dlamini was the perfect choice. Her celebrity status coupled to her scandalous life provided the perfect foil for jokes. Visually, she brought the opulence, glitz and glamour to the scene.
“Minnie is gorgeous, personable, she enjoys laughing at herself and knows how to hit back with her own jibes. We use the phrase media darling far too glibly, you haven’t met a media darling until you’ve met Minnie Dlamini. She’s a cultural icon. From an entertainment perspective, to have her kind of gravitas on stage was great. She set out to be the funniest and she hit back hard!” says Taylor.
The Roast of Minnie Dlamini will air exclusively on Showmax on the 26th of April. Laura Cooke, Head of PR & Communications at Showmax, says: “We are thrilled to be streaming the Roast of Minnie Dlamini exclusively for our audiences. African-centred comedy and entertainment is part of what Showmax is about, and the roast aligns perfectly with that.”
