The local comedy industry is making strides to show development in the industry with each show in the year 2013. Comedy for the Nation of Botswana (COFONABO), also known as the Laff-A-Lot crew artists have so far managed to host Pule (birth name, Nicholas Welch) at their previous show at Khwest. They have also been invited to open for top South African act Riaad Moosa at Gaborone International Conference Centre.

The Laff-A-Lot crew is back to continue presenting fresh and innovative concepts with their 2nd event of the year. According to Media Liaison Officer for Laff-A-Lot, Gaolathe Kediemetse, “Having produced several Comedy Sundays with local comedians, it was only natural to show growth through inviting top notch international comedians to our events as we did on our past show.

These invited guests also workshop our local comedians as a development strategy to bring them up to par when it comes to performances”.

The headliners for the upcoming show is top South African comedians Thapelo ‘Shampoo’ Seemise and Mashabela Galane who will also be launching his latest DVD, “Rock the Mother Tongue”. Thapelo Seemise, previously known as Tips (Thru Inspiration People Succeed) is a seasoned stage performer, a trained Contemporary Dance choreographer, comedian, a singer and a drummer.

He was introduced to local audiences at the previous Miss Botswana pageant where he wowed the crowd. He has also performed at the previous Kings of Comedy in Gaborone.

Born in Pretoria, he is now known as Shampoo, the lead character role he played in David Kau’s hit feature film Taxi Ride. He has enjoyed several bookings across South Africa and was nominated for Markhams Brand Ambassador. Shampoo was a Top-6 finalist on the Fanta So You Think You are Funny on SABC1 with David Kau in 2008.

He is a regular performer at Ozone Comedy in Soweto, Bajelos in Alexander and Parkers Comedy at Monte Casino. He performed at the Tshwane Comedy Festival and currently hosting his own shows Shampoo and Friends all over Gauteng and South Africa. He has also hosted numerous comedy shows at Meropa Casino in Polokwane.

Shampoo spent 3 months in Indonesia as an African awardee for the International Arts and Culture Scholarship and hosted a comedy show in Bali for all the English-speaking tourists. He has also been featured and has headlined David Kau’s famous comedy production Blacks Only in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He also had a spot on the Laugh Out Loud TV show on DSTV channel Mzansi magic.

The event’s venue sponsor is Cresta President Hotel and the show is slated for Tuesday 30 April 2013 at 7pm, as Wednesday is a public holiday. The supporting acts for the show include Laff-A-Lot crew of newcomer Augustus ‘Legusty’ Mokgadi from Mochudi, Paphani ‘Paps’ Masalila (former Yarona FM presenter) and the Laff-A-Lot pioneers Bafana ‘Ribcracker’ Letsatsi and Modiri ‘MOD’ Keseabetswe.

“We have had tremendous support for our past shows from both the public and the media alike. We promise a scorcher of a show with this production as we promise to surpass all the previous shows as we have a bigger and better venue to accommodate more people”, says Kediemetse, who is also the event coordinator.

“The main aim really is to spread awareness about standup comedy as an alternative form of entertainment that is abundant in Botswana. But the ultimate goal is help comedians turn their talent in to a livelihood”