Throwing his funny around

KNYSNA NEWS - Renowned ventriloquist Conrad Koch took to the stage at the Premier Resort Hotel the Moorings last weekend and had the audience in stitches throughout the show.

Koch performed on Saturday 9 October to an audience of 110 people. He called upon an eclectic mix of jokes and also managed to pull the leg of a handful of audience members along the way.

Starting off with a satirical dig at Covid-19 vaccines and those who oppose them, Koch got the show underway shortly after 19:00.

Once he had become acquainted with a few of the all-important audience members in the front seats, Koch pulled out his best-known comrade and self-proclaimed puppet political analyst, Chester Missing.

Chester had the audience laughing from the get-go and quickly made Koch's new-found acquaintances at the front of the hall feel extra special.

Conrad Koch and his trusty comrade Chester Missing.

Soon it was time to shift over from political commentary to some (at times questionable) relationship advice from the brilliantly eccentric (and slightly risqué) Hilton the ostrich. Hilton did not give the audience a chance to breathe and kept up the energy from start to finish.

Next, Koch took the audience back to his school days as the next character, the old Afrikaans teacher Mr Dixon, saddled his right hand to have a crack. An Englishman teaching Afrikaans will always make for good comedic relief and Koch put it to good effect by schooling the audience from time to time.

Despite admitting that he may know very little about rugby, Mr Dixon did leave one line of of advice in case audience members ever wanted to sound like they knew it all: "At the end of the day, the backline needs work".

Switching from an old fossil to a young troll, Koch brought out his final personality for the evening, Ronnie the rock n roll internet troll. By far the most edgy of Koch's four characters, Ronnie managed to perfectly walk the tightrope between borderline insults and just hilariously taking the mickey.

Koch granted an encore for both comrade Chester Missing and good old Mr Dixon, the latter signing off once again with his signature rugby advice - a line that by the end of the show the audience had down to a T.

Conrad Koch with his witty old Afrikaans teacher, Mr Dixon. Photo: Blake Linder

During the performance, Koch also managed to turn the quiet, idyllic town of Sedgefield into his running gag of the show, and due to his masterful audience engagement and ability to never give the audience a break, many a drink was spit out in laughter (thankfully white wine washes out).

His performance in Knysna formed part of his Ramapuppet tour that is taking him and his puppet compatriots across the country. He kicked off his tour at Cafe Roux in Cape Town on 25 September, and the stop-over in Knysna was the seventh show.

Conrad Koch with Ronnie the tough internet troll.