At the tender age of 19, Loyiso Gola came to Johannesburg with one dream, be the best possible comedian he could possibly be. With the energy and vigor of youth he hit the comedy scene, and it did not take long to realize that this was what he was born to do.
Almost immediately recognized as an up and comer and not to be taken lightly, he won the Sprite Soul Comedy competition and was runner up in the Professional category of Freshest Five Comedy Competition upon his arrival. He came, he conquered and from then there was no looking back.
Loyiso’s rise to fame is enviable to many in that it was so meteoric it took many by surprise. From performing with the Cape Comedy Collective in the Cape Town Comedy Circuit, still a mere school student at the time, he has evolved into a comedy phenomenon performing all over the country as well as appearing on Television, Radio and the Big Screen.
Always one to stir up opinions, his one man tour cheekily entitled “Loyiso Gola for President” encompasses all that he is about, and managed to gain rave reviews all across Africa. The guy clearly got it right, seeing as it won him a South African Comedy Award in 2007. Not one to brag, forever humble, he was invited to perform in London, Dubai, Gaborone and Lusaka to name a few.
Loyiso decided to step up his career and attempt television. His fans were overjoyed to see him appearing in local shows such as soapie Backstage, drama series Mthunzini.com, Comedy Showcase though this stint as a writer and performer in 2 seasons of cult comedy sketch series The Pure Monate Show elevated him into becoming a household name and forever placed him in viewers’ hearts. His easy going manner and likability saw him hosting the Metro FM Music Awards, a job he was born to do because not even a year later he was promoted to host the South African Music Awards. As if that’s not enough, he proved he had what it takes to hold his own when he was given the honor to open for international comic stars, the likes of Russell Peters and Sugar Sammy when they toured South Africa respectively.
Loyiso’s move to cinema saw him have a cameo appearance in the critically acclaimed cult movie Bunny Chow in 2005. It became clear that he could hold a show on his own so it came as no surprise that he was given the opportunity in 2007 alongside Pieter Dirk-Uys to co-star in a series aptly named Dinner with the President. The show was comedy gold and received great reviews as Loyiso and Pieter interviewed celebrities and well known public figures. By this stage Loyiso’s career spoke for itself so it came a no surprise when he was counted by the Wall Street Journal amongst the South African comedy greats the likes of Trevor Noah, Kagiso Lediga and Eugene Khosa as the next generation of Comedians men that shall take comedy in South Africa to the next level, and judging by his career, this prediction is a close to the truth as possible.
Nowadays Loyiso can be found performing for corporates, live shows and club gigs all over South Africa. If he’s not performing live or wowing us with his one man shows, such as the latest Life and Times of Loyiso Gola (performed in front of capacity crowds at the Teatro Theatre-Montecasino and the ICC in Cape Town), then he is entertaining us weekly with his latest acclaimed endeavor on ETV, Late Night News with Loyiso Gola (LNN). LNN is a politically themed satirical comedy show which has become one of comedy’s strongest endeavors on national TV. The show goes into the third season with an average of 1, 5 million viewers tuning in every week. He broke onto the scene in 2003 with his creative comic genius and he has no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon. He is here to stay.
