It’s been five years since he has been away from the limelight, but funnyman Eugene Khoza is back like he never left.
Eugene (41) took a break from his love of making people laugh and it was not meant to be a long break, but personal things happened that forced him to be away for a little longer and it ended up being five years away from the mic.
He chats to Drum while at his Johannesburg home, preparing to go to his first appointment for the day.
“TV was very coincidental for me. I did not choose comedy, but comedy chose me,” he says.
“I am not one of those people who left a cushy corporate job to follow my passion. I love comedy for what it is and to me, it found me working at a shop in a mall, earning R1 000 a week.”
He got into comedy by coincidence. It was through Trevor Gumbi, he recalls.
“Trevor was a friend of a friend and he invited me to a comedy show and that is where I met Kedibone Mulaudzi who suggested I should go on stage. I went on and I never stopped and as they say, ‘the rest is history’”.
He acknowledges that is comedy is not funny to everyone and that does not bother him at all.
“I still don’t think I’m funny. I know there are funnier people than me, but I think I just have a different perspective and I stick to my guns when it comes to an idea or a concept that I think is funny. I didn’t always think I was funny, because if I did, comedy would have always been an option but it wasn’t until I bumped into it coincidentally.”
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He adds that it is okay to not connect with an artist because comedy is subjective.
“The issues are the same, but the perspective is not the same. And very often, artists are too self-conscious and that is where the low self esteem creeps in. But the truth is, we need to relax and know that nothing is that serious.”
This is something he teachers to his 14-year-old daughter, Buhle.
“I really just want her to know that is okay to think in a different way and that she is not crazy. That if you open yourself up enough, in life you will find other people like you and it will all suddenly make sense. It is also important to know that things happen for you and not to you, so you should not take things personally.”
For the first ten years of his career, he says, it was mostly coincidental. But now he feels like he is having fun and is in control. At the end of last year, he had his one man show, Step Aside, at the Gold Reef City Lyric Theatre.
“I started doing comedy again about three months before I did the one man show. Now this year, I will be able to take the show on tour here at home and in the US and Canada. For the first time in my career, I feel like I am doing it my way. I am now actively doing shows in countries and cities that I want to go to.”
Even though his break from the industry was long, Eugene did not find it difficult to get back on stage again.
“It did not feel like I was starting over again because I have always been authentic to myself, and I always draw on myself. The return has been great, it came with ease and comfort.”
First it was the one man show and now he is presenting. He is hosting Mzansi Wethu’s latest reality show, I’m with your ex.
It’s a show where people come clean that their new lover is, in fact, their friend’s former flame.
“Something I am grateful about on this show is that we were all aligned to the fact that we did not want it to be trashy. Because people of colour are trashed enough. So, this show, to me, is like a time machine into relationships.
“People get to see their exes with other people in a way they never experienced the ex before. It is like experiencing the evolution of an ex. The truth is that the bro code and the girl codes are there, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Holding on to those codes does not factor in that we experience people differently.”
I’m with your ex airs on Saturdays at 8pm and DSTV channel 163.
Other new shows this year include the return of Umthwalo for a second season, hosted by Maqhawe Khathide. Previously known as Ho Lekane, it gives breadwinners the chance to confront financially demanding family members, finally drawing a line and saying, ‘it ends here’.
Ngithande Nami, which his hosted by presenter and spiritual advisor Siyabonga Mkhize, is a new reality show that focuses on individuals who seek answers from their absent biological parent(s). They have gone on to enjoy great success in their lives but the one thing missing is the love of their absent parent.
Ngithande Nami premieres on Saturday at 9pm on 163 and Umthwalo plays on Saturdays at 8.30pm .
