00:00:00
Speaker 1: Yassin Barnes is an award-winning South African comedian from Cape Town, best known for his sharp one-liners and deadpan delivery.
00:00:09
Speaker 2: That's you.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: Firstly, good afternoon, good evening, whatever the time is. But I hate the bios. It feels so pretentious. Like, that's... You can say all those things, but I must still pay rent. Like I must still do the basics to get by in life. Bios mean nothing.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Very occasionally I get asked to do an MC job and they say, send us a bio. And I go, what does it matter what I did in 1978? The only thing that matters, if it matters, is that I present a radio show that I talk crap for three hours every day.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: That's the only thing they need to know.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: That's the only thing they need to know.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Also, I don't think anyone listens to bios. Just thinking every time they've introduced someone where they've said those things, as soon as they say the name, you go, that's the person. That's all that I care about is the person in front of me.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: And you get up and walk out.
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Speaker 2: Also, in a country where qualifications don't mean much, you can just have the job.
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Speaker 1: No, they mean a lot. That's why people make them up so much.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, they also do comedy. But that thing of, yeah. The qualifications don't mean much. I feel like the experience is more of a thing.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: Do you have any qualifications to be a comedian, Yasin?
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Speaker 2: I have a matric. That's the highest qualification. And then I have three older sisters, which should explain many things about my life. Also, I've been bullied enough and groomed enough. I looked after it.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: A couple of days ago, I was watching an interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She's making her Broadway debut And I chatted with her And one of the questions was When did you first realize that you were funny? And her answer was when she was three years old She stuck some raisins up her nose And her parents laughed So when did you first realize you were funny?
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Speaker 2: So I don't think I realized I was funny But I was because I'm the baby I was made to perform When the aunties come over, then they, hey, Yasin, just do the dance. And then I had to go put on my nice clothes and my nice shoes and then do Michael Jackson for the aunties when they came.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: As long as you weren't doing it for the uncles.
00:02:21
Speaker 2: Yeah. But during high school, I used to make, I'll say, bad jokes. And, yeah, no one laughed at my jokes. They used to call bad jokes Yasin's. And then I would make a joke, then they go, oh, that's a Yasin. Then people in other classes would make bad jokes.
00:02:38
Speaker 1: Dad jokes, Yasin jokes.
00:02:39
Speaker 2: That's a Yasin. And now Yasins play the bulls. That's what it is now, yeah.
00:02:46
Speaker 1: So leaving school with a very distinguished matric, I believe.
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Speaker 2: Quite decent, yeah. Then I went to university. I did five years of a three-year degree. and then i still didn't finish as well and but i just knew like everything i did i had i enjoyed it but it wasn't it wasn't my thing and then one day i just like twitter started boosted off twitter um like it really picked up in the first year and then someone was like you try it on stage i was naive enough to to try it on stage and then i was like this is my this is my drag now And I've just been doing comedy since then.
00:03:24
Speaker 1: So the Yassins worked on Twitter in a way that they didn't work in the lounge and in the classroom.
00:03:29
Speaker 2: It was more of a red joke than an audio joke, I'll say. So yeah, the Yassins worked online. I felt like, I feel that's the nice thing of the internet now is that you can find your audience. Like you can be niche. If you just do reviews on Tupperware, you'll find an audience that is there for it. So I found my niche with just doing Silly dad jokes.
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:03:51
Speaker 2: And the people were there for it.
00:03:52
Speaker 1: Because I believe that they are, it's called, what's it called, guys? You told me about it. OnlyFabs. OnlyFabs. OnlyFabs. Dedicated to feet. I tried to set up an OnlyFans channel for my left knee, which I think is the best part. I've got three subscribers so far. That's not going that well.
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Speaker 2: I think they were asking for my knee, not my knee. That's the difference.
00:04:18
Speaker 1: There.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: There we go. Either that or it's Moosey, my knee. What's I going to say? So how's the OnlyFans going?
00:04:26
Speaker 1: Three subscribers.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: Nice. And is it free subscription or are you making money?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: No, I'm paying them to keep them.
00:04:34
Speaker 2: I feel like the fee thing is such an interesting thing. There's a niche for everybody and people will spend the money for their thing right now. That's how bad SABC is that people are paying for their own entertainment.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: That's mean.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? We're not watching TV anymore. Who's, like, I don't think anybody's watching scheduled TV. We're just like, oh, I'm going to choose what to watch right now. Yeah. If it does make sense. Yeah. No, it does.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: So if you have, so what's your niche? They're bad one-liners. Well, funny one-liners. Yes. Yeah, that's you.
00:05:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, silliness.
00:05:16
Speaker 1: Steve Wright, I mean.
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Speaker 2: Steven Wright, Jimmy Carr, Dimitri Martin, like the nerds. I like the boring stuff.
00:05:24
Speaker 1: Because I believe that your eyesight is actually 20-20, but the glasses are part of the nerd thing.
00:05:31
Speaker 2: Yes, these are actually prescription glasses. It's not just the look. I've been bullied for these for years. But I don't understand people that wear fake glasses. I've recently met people who wear fake specs. It works for my nerves because why would you choose a disability that just makes you see worse? Like, rather choose, like, a disability that gets you better parking. Like, now you're just, you're just now in the background doing, looking bad, I'll say. But, yeah, I think people need to be more silly in the world. Like, that's why I like to do one-liners because it's just, it's just, like, it's just a groan. I love it when people just go, it's a stupid joke, Yasin. It's my favorite, favorite, a stupid joke. We need more stupid in the world. Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: I'm going to take issue with you on that. We have more than enough stupid.
00:06:27
Speaker 2: No, we are stupid, but we don't have stupid. And there's a fine difference. Stupid is, like, just incompetence. Stupid is, like, silliness. Because, you know, the news is sad. And, like, the debit orders are strict on us. We live lives with our shoulders or so. Then when you see, like, a stupid joke, then you just, you don't even laugh. People, like, it's so wild. Like, at my shows, I need to teach people how to laugh and just, like, be comfortable.
00:06:53
Speaker 1: Well, perhaps if you were funny, they'd find it.
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Speaker 2: The shows are sold out, don't worry.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: You're on your phone.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: No, no, no. I was actually going to like to see what was the last of the last jokes that I did write in the last week. Yeah, if you come up with a cure for eczema, do you do it from scratch? If you want to understand stupidness, if a dog bites you, are you injured? These are the silliness we need to see in the world right now.
00:07:30
Speaker 1: And you write them.
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Speaker 2: So my mind is constantly writing stupid jokes. I'm just like, I write everything down and then eventually we'll see what works on stage.
00:07:41
Speaker 1: I never know when these young people, they've all got bright smiles and open faces.
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Speaker 2: And hope.
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Speaker 1: I was looking at him earlier today, that lovely young man, and he was wandering somewhere. No, he wasn't wandering. He was moving with purpose. And he was holding things that looked important. And I just thought, I want to be him rather than me. He's making, you know, he's making things. I don't know what he's doing, but it's much more important than what I'm doing.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: That's actually the trick you learn when you're the young one at the family. Where you go, you must just look busy so you never need to do anything at the family function. You just, oh, no, I'm not going to help you, but I'm just walking to the aunties. Then by the aunties, you go, I'm just going to help the uncles. And you never, you just eat the whole day and you never help anyone. It's the actual trick. Look busy, guys.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Do you think I can get away with that trick now that I'm very much grandfather age?
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Speaker 2: I think if you stand in the line at Sasa, you don't need to do stuff at family functions. You can just call children out. The child doesn't even need to be family at the family function. You can just call the child out. A snot in his light, he just.
00:08:55
Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to give you about a minute and a half to think of a joke about Cape Town traffic, okay? Or look for one that you've already thought of.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: You'll find it. EWN Traffic.
00:09:10
Speaker 1: It's brought to you by Outsurance in partnership with Cape Talk.
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Speaker 3: Happening now in Robert Sabukwe, just after Stellenbosch Arterial, that's towards the airport, there's just been an accident. And on Nelson Mandela Boulevard outbound as you leave the city, traffic is slowing down at Rudebloom Road. The M5 South, it's still usual peak traffic between Pinelands and Rondebosch East. And the M3 South is also slowing down at Klipper Road this afternoon. And those traffic lights remain faulty in crossroads. at Gavin Beckey and New Ice, Lieben. I'm Justine Rinkwist and I'll have more EWN traffic in 20 minutes.
00:09:42
Speaker 1: There's more EWN on air, online and on the EWN app. 51-year-old Nosipo sleeps well knowing she's without insurance. An insurer awarded for paying claims fairly and they gave her a low, low premium of £ 395. SMS OUT to 30674. That's out to 30674. Licensed insurer and FSP, TCs and information online. Taking the edge off with Yassin Barnes continues. You're too young for this to be a serious question for you. But how many cars have you owned?
00:10:36
Speaker 2: I think like four.
00:10:40
Speaker 1: Okay. I think I'm somewhere around 20, 25. And none of them's been a Jimny. And I feel that before I die, I should own a Jimny.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: They look fun.
00:10:51
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:10:51
Speaker 2: They look like, like, I feel like a Jimny if you pull it back and drive forward. Like, you know, those toys that you just pull back and go forward. They just, they look like a, they look like a toy car. Like, you can't be sad in a Jimny. Like, I hope if you dive a Jimny, no one breaks up with you. You just, it's too happy of a moment to have. Yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker 1: I met somebody, somebody who absolutely loves his Jimny. And, you know, the big 4x4s, they've got these big shovels that they used to get them. And he had a little plastic.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: Beach spade tied to the front of his Jimny. Also, the Jimny, I think, is like a bit alternative to those big cars. Because, again, the Beetle's expensive. We don't need big cars on the road. The parking spaces are not big enough for those things. So by all means, guys, we need more Geminis and less Land Rovers and all those big boot cars, the Rangers.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Comedy 2026 versus comedy, to sort of get a little bit serious, versus comedy 2010 when you started putting your sins out on Twitter. How different is it?
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Speaker 2: I think such a... I think it's gotten better. Like we've become more like inclusive and thoughtful of people. A lot of the people go, oh, comedy is too woke right now. But I like what it is now because it means more people can speak and more people are thought of. So now when you write a joke, you actually have to take in the context of the world before you write something. There's some comedians where they want to be edgy. We're done with edgy. I think edginess when it comes to comedy is, it's a weak thing. Yeah, it's too.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Jimmy Carr as somebody who has been... Jimmy sometimes, quite often for me, goes over the edge.
00:12:51
Speaker 2: Yes, but I also think he's someone... Good comedy understands both sides. You must understand the good side and the bad side of the topic so when you make the joke, they can hear the intention of the joke. They can hear... Even when Jimmy Carr does a joke that I say he's offside, you can hear that he knows what he's talking about and it's just a joke. He doesn't fully believe that thing that he's saying. So he gets away with being edgy and it's also a short joke so he doesn't fully believe it. It's not like a story that's taking time.
00:13:30
Speaker 1: There's an interesting distinction which I'm not sure would stand up to academic analysis.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: It's also subjective. That's the other thing. I feel like when people go, they'll see Trevor and they go, oh, he's not funny. And they see Leon Schuster and they go, he's not funny. And you go, yo, they've made too much money to not be funny. They can just be not for you, but you can't say someone that is so, I'll say, well at their craft is not funny. So I think it's all just subjective. Comedy is flavors. Some people like chocolate, some people like banana, it's fine.
00:14:05
Speaker 1: Nobody likes bananas.
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Speaker 2: That's also true. Banana, yo, banana pollutes everything it's in. If you put a banana in a smoothie, it's a banana smoothie. Even if it's a chocolate smoothie, it's a banana smoothie, often bananas there. Yeah, sorry, bananas waste my time.
00:14:22
Speaker 1: Comedians used to only do stand-up. And so if you were lucky, you were playing to a nightclub with 150, 180 people in it, and you might get a theater, 300-odd people. And now your jokes are being shared with the world. And does that mean that you have to be more productive? Because pre... the internet, you could get away with 30 jokes a year. And now you need 30 jokes a day.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: I think it's the attention spans, but also the market is so much bigger. And now you get to perform for more different people as well. So you're so exposed to more things, but now the job is you must be able to write a joke, perform a joke, record a joke, edit your joke, and then post your joke as well. So we in the In the slash slash of careers at the moment, I think all freelancers in Cape Town also have the slash slash. You're a writer, slash a copywriter, slash a social media manager, slash that. So now the comedians must learn all the parts of the job, including how to send an email, how to send an invoice. There's no agency.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: How to pay a tax.
00:15:38
Speaker 2: That's also something some of us do. How to pay tax. So that all becomes part of the job now is social media as well. And I hate social media so much. Really? It's part of the job and there's parts of it I enjoy, but also it's such a slip. Like just posting and replying to people. I just want to tell jokes. That's my main love is writing stupid jokes and giving stupid jokes. Also, sorry, you were saying I was doing a joke on the traffic. I just remembered now. I have ADHD, so my brain is demarka. Oh, the only reason I, whenever I see someone do the traffic, I just want to read the traffic so I can say, there's a Simba truck stuck in the end too. Expect delays. I also saw your producer figure that one out in his mind. Now you're here to do the maths, guys. Try jokes here.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: There's an absolute explosion in the number of comics and that's because there are more venues and venues not only in the physical three-dimensional sense but venues in the social media senses and channels. And it's extraordinary because when Pre-2010, we probably had about 10 funny people. Well, we had 20,000 funny people. We only knew about 10 of them. Now, everybody kind of has a chance to say, hey, I'm quite funny too.
00:17:07
Speaker 2: I've got a thing, yeah. But now you go, every demographic has comedians that fit them now, which is part of, I'll say, the internet, where you go, whatever you look like, there are people who will find a fan base for you And even when you come to venues, you were speaking of like the 100-seaters. Last night I was doing a show that's like 20 people. But a great night. It was at the back of a bookshop, OBS Books in OBS, in a tent. And I go, that's also like a great moment. Comedy can be experienced in theaters, in yards, in garages, in shops. So coming to a place where comedy must, it's a live experience. We spend too much time on the internet and at home. It's experiencing something live. It's just a different gift. So I love that when people come out, they get to see us be at our lowest level and also at our biggest level.
00:18:03
Speaker 1: Yes, Ian Barnes, we will continue talking after. After some commercial news and some news news and some rapid fire news and some sports news, you'll have plenty of time to write lots of Yasin jokes between now and then. Taking the edge of Friday in conversation with comedian Yasin Barnes. You care about sport, Yasin?
00:18:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, just because as a South African, we have to care about sport.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: No, you don't.
00:18:32
Speaker 2: It's one of our religions in our country. We have to be a part of it. But I just like the highlights. I'm not really like a sports guy. I feel like it's too much pressure. Because if you wear any jersey from any team, anyone that sees you in that jersey, there's an initiation task that must happen. If you wear Man United top, then they're going to go, do you know this? Who's this? Your team is junk. And I just say, there's too much pressure. I'm just trying to buy milk. Why are they trying to fight me in the road? Even if you wear a spring box, then everybody's just shouting at you because... You're now a Springboks fan. Calm down, guys.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: So you don't support any team?
00:19:11
Speaker 3: No.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: I support the winning team. That's the loser's way.
00:19:17
Speaker 1: Before I came on air, I was reading that a Cambridge professor has won the World Tiddlywinks Championship. And I'm going to task my producers next week to get the World Tiddlywinks Champion on the radio. Did you grow up playing Tiddlywinks?
00:19:35
Speaker 2: I mean, as a A teenage boy, tiddlywinks was very much the things we did. What is tiddlywinks, guys? It's when you use a thing to flip a thing into a holder.
00:19:44
Speaker 1: Like a thing?
00:19:50
Speaker 2: Tassel, kind of a... Is it like a... Help me here. I feel like I've played the game. It just didn't have a name. I feel like there's many games as a child. It's housey, housey. You just make up a name for it. That's fine.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for Riaz to write something to me that gives me. But he's so slow.
00:20:17
Speaker 2: He's Friday. That's what he is. He's Friday.
00:20:20
Speaker 1: Yeah. What is your weekend old?
00:20:24
Speaker 2: Tonight I'm going to go see Dan Corders, who the F are we voting for.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: Yes. And it's hard to know who the F to vote for.
00:20:33
Speaker 2: It really is. Also, I love this season just before elections.
00:20:37
Speaker 1: You throw plastic discs in a hole.
00:20:41
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:20:42
Speaker 1: Never played that.
00:20:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:20:43
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:20:43
Speaker 2: I think if I see it, I'll probably know it. But I think I like election season because it makes out. It makes all the light bulbs look like Klopse. It's just bright and colorful. If you just play Welcome to Cape Town while you drive down the M5, it looks like you're in Adelaide Street. Yeah, it's fun times.
00:21:01
Speaker 1: But you will vote?
00:21:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have to vote. Oh, jeepers.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: I wish more people believed that.
00:21:08
Speaker 2: I just feel like you must go do the research. You must go be a part of it. It's your responsibility. If you want to complain, you must just read. If you want to complain, go vote, then you can complain.
00:21:21
Speaker 1: How much do you do in the way of political bad jokes?
00:21:25
Speaker 2: It's almost too easy. That's the problem with South Africa. It's changing constantly, but a lot of the politics that you want to talk about, it's too on the nose. The politicians write their own jokes. You can't make fun of them because they are the stupid, not the stupid. Of the moment, yeah.
00:21:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking at Shadrach Sabir and that's kind of hard to make a joke about. Saps and the Madlanga Commission and so on. There's a task for you. A bad joke about the Madlanga Commission.
00:21:55
Speaker 2: Madlanga, what you must. That's the only thing we stand for. But again, even with Madlanga, you watch it and you go, it's like a soapy. It's written just dramatically. Every day you see it, you go, how are these people in charge of things? And whenever I see the politicians, I go, why do we not have responsible people? And I go, oh no, because responsible people know better. They will just make better choices in life and not be politicians.
00:22:23
Speaker 1: Before we get to a song that you have chosen, you can tell me why you've chosen it. Reach for your phone and just a couple more recently written jokes.
00:22:41
Speaker 2: Growing up, we had to share a computer. Yeah, growing up, we had to share a computer, so I had a PC.
00:22:51
Speaker 1: Okay took me half a second took me a little bit of time but I got you Peter.
00:22:57
Speaker 2: Lee's so bad right now in the next Force and Furious movie they must drive in one car a friend of mine she was telling me she's looking for a man who's like who travels and is into finance and is like, I think she's looking for a gachi. That's someone who knows. He can show you the whole world from Bovary to Cape Town every day.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: You were telling me earlier that you are doing a show at the Homecoming Centre over the festive season.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: So the 14th, 15th and 16th, 20th and 27th. It's called Just Jokes because that's all that it is. It's just jokes. It's just stupidness and... Because I don't want to change your mind. I just want to change your mood. That's all that the show must do is just give us a little break and a breather from the world. So tickets are on Quicket. And, yeah, the people must come through. It's also end of year. It's festive. We need a break now.
00:23:49
Speaker 1: Yeah. But this is, yeah, can't wait for the year to end. And then the next one starts. And it's no different.
00:23:58
Speaker 2: That's also the thing of as soon as you hear that back to school, back to life, that little anthem that plays every year. Then you go, oh. Also, you know the economy is bad when parents are buying stationery for Christmas. Then you go, no, the children aren't even getting toys. They're getting pens and pencils. For Christmas, you're getting school shoes. No, man. Buy your children toys, please.
00:24:21
Speaker 1: Natasha Bedingfield, this is a song not you're going with.
00:24:26
Speaker 2: It's just a song that you must sing loud. And even if you don't know the words, you must sing because it will bring joy to you. I feel like it just, you sing it and a smile comes to your face. I can't describe it in any other way. It's just a song of joy.
00:24:39
Speaker 1: For me, the song that I sing, if you... If you spoke to people who'd listened to Cape Talk for a long time and said, what is John's kind of song?
00:24:48
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:24:49
Speaker 1: In this, it would be Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: Yes. Something that just.
00:24:54
Speaker 1: Yeah. I can't not.
00:24:57
Speaker 2: You walk on sunshine. It's in the bones. Also, the song is a earworm. And tonight at seven, you'll sing it. Tonight at nine, you'll sing it. Tomorrow you'll wake up and then you'll go. Release your inner vision. Yeah. It's just a good karaoke song. It gets the mood started.
00:25:13
Speaker 1: Yasin, thank you very much for coming in. Really appreciate it.
00:25:15
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: Yassin Barnes is an award-winning South African comedian from Cape Town, best known for his sharp one-liners and deadpan delivery.
00:00:09
Speaker 2: That's you.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: Firstly, good afternoon, good evening, whatever the time is. But I hate the bios. It feels so pretentious. Like, that's... You can say all those things, but I must still pay rent. Like I must still do the basics to get by in life. Bios mean nothing.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Very occasionally I get asked to do an MC job and they say, send us a bio. And I go, what does it matter what I did in 1978? The only thing that matters, if it matters, is that I present a radio show that I talk crap for three hours every day.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: That's the only thing they need to know.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: That's the only thing they need to know.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Also, I don't think anyone listens to bios. Just thinking every time they've introduced someone where they've said those things, as soon as they say the name, you go, that's the person. That's all that I care about is the person in front of me.
00:00:57
Speaker 1: And you get up and walk out.
00:01:00
Speaker 2: Also, in a country where qualifications don't mean much, you can just have the job.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: No, they mean a lot. That's why people make them up so much.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, they also do comedy. But that thing of, yeah. The qualifications don't mean much. I feel like the experience is more of a thing.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: Do you have any qualifications to be a comedian, Yasin?
00:01:20
Speaker 2: I have a matric. That's the highest qualification. And then I have three older sisters, which should explain many things about my life. Also, I've been bullied enough and groomed enough. I looked after it.
00:01:33
Speaker 1: A couple of days ago, I was watching an interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She's making her Broadway debut And I chatted with her And one of the questions was When did you first realize that you were funny? And her answer was when she was three years old She stuck some raisins up her nose And her parents laughed So when did you first realize you were funny?
00:02:02
Speaker 2: So I don't think I realized I was funny But I was because I'm the baby I was made to perform When the aunties come over, then they, hey, Yasin, just do the dance. And then I had to go put on my nice clothes and my nice shoes and then do Michael Jackson for the aunties when they came.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: As long as you weren't doing it for the uncles.
00:02:21
Speaker 2: Yeah. But during high school, I used to make, I'll say, bad jokes. And, yeah, no one laughed at my jokes. They used to call bad jokes Yasin's. And then I would make a joke, then they go, oh, that's a Yasin. Then people in other classes would make bad jokes.
00:02:38
Speaker 1: Dad jokes, Yasin jokes.
00:02:39
Speaker 2: That's a Yasin. And now Yasins play the bulls. That's what it is now, yeah.
00:02:46
Speaker 1: So leaving school with a very distinguished matric, I believe.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: Quite decent, yeah. Then I went to university. I did five years of a three-year degree. and then i still didn't finish as well and but i just knew like everything i did i had i enjoyed it but it wasn't it wasn't my thing and then one day i just like twitter started boosted off twitter um like it really picked up in the first year and then someone was like you try it on stage i was naive enough to to try it on stage and then i was like this is my this is my drag now And I've just been doing comedy since then.
00:03:24
Speaker 1: So the Yassins worked on Twitter in a way that they didn't work in the lounge and in the classroom.
00:03:29
Speaker 2: It was more of a red joke than an audio joke, I'll say. So yeah, the Yassins worked online. I felt like, I feel that's the nice thing of the internet now is that you can find your audience. Like you can be niche. If you just do reviews on Tupperware, you'll find an audience that is there for it. So I found my niche with just doing Silly dad jokes.
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:03:51
Speaker 2: And the people were there for it.
00:03:52
Speaker 1: Because I believe that they are, it's called, what's it called, guys? You told me about it. OnlyFabs. OnlyFabs. OnlyFabs. Dedicated to feet. I tried to set up an OnlyFans channel for my left knee, which I think is the best part. I've got three subscribers so far. That's not going that well.
00:04:12
Speaker 2: I think they were asking for my knee, not my knee. That's the difference.
00:04:18
Speaker 1: There.
00:04:18
Speaker 2: There we go. Either that or it's Moosey, my knee. What's I going to say? So how's the OnlyFans going?
00:04:26
Speaker 1: Three subscribers.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: Nice. And is it free subscription or are you making money?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: No, I'm paying them to keep them.
00:04:34
Speaker 2: I feel like the fee thing is such an interesting thing. There's a niche for everybody and people will spend the money for their thing right now. That's how bad SABC is that people are paying for their own entertainment.
00:04:48
Speaker 1: That's mean.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? We're not watching TV anymore. Who's, like, I don't think anybody's watching scheduled TV. We're just like, oh, I'm going to choose what to watch right now. Yeah. If it does make sense. Yeah. No, it does.
00:05:05
Speaker 1: So if you have, so what's your niche? They're bad one-liners. Well, funny one-liners. Yes. Yeah, that's you.
00:05:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, silliness.
00:05:16
Speaker 1: Steve Wright, I mean.
00:05:18
Speaker 2: Steven Wright, Jimmy Carr, Dimitri Martin, like the nerds. I like the boring stuff.
00:05:24
Speaker 1: Because I believe that your eyesight is actually 20-20, but the glasses are part of the nerd thing.
00:05:31
Speaker 2: Yes, these are actually prescription glasses. It's not just the look. I've been bullied for these for years. But I don't understand people that wear fake glasses. I've recently met people who wear fake specs. It works for my nerves because why would you choose a disability that just makes you see worse? Like, rather choose, like, a disability that gets you better parking. Like, now you're just, you're just now in the background doing, looking bad, I'll say. But, yeah, I think people need to be more silly in the world. Like, that's why I like to do one-liners because it's just, it's just, like, it's just a groan. I love it when people just go, it's a stupid joke, Yasin. It's my favorite, favorite, a stupid joke. We need more stupid in the world. Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker 1: I'm going to take issue with you on that. We have more than enough stupid.
00:06:27
Speaker 2: No, we are stupid, but we don't have stupid. And there's a fine difference. Stupid is, like, just incompetence. Stupid is, like, silliness. Because, you know, the news is sad. And, like, the debit orders are strict on us. We live lives with our shoulders or so. Then when you see, like, a stupid joke, then you just, you don't even laugh. People, like, it's so wild. Like, at my shows, I need to teach people how to laugh and just, like, be comfortable.
00:06:53
Speaker 1: Well, perhaps if you were funny, they'd find it.
00:06:56
Speaker 2: The shows are sold out, don't worry.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: You're on your phone.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: No, no, no. I was actually going to like to see what was the last of the last jokes that I did write in the last week. Yeah, if you come up with a cure for eczema, do you do it from scratch? If you want to understand stupidness, if a dog bites you, are you injured? These are the silliness we need to see in the world right now.
00:07:30
Speaker 1: And you write them.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: So my mind is constantly writing stupid jokes. I'm just like, I write everything down and then eventually we'll see what works on stage.
00:07:41
Speaker 1: I never know when these young people, they've all got bright smiles and open faces.
00:07:46
Speaker 2: And hope.
00:07:50
Speaker 1: I was looking at him earlier today, that lovely young man, and he was wandering somewhere. No, he wasn't wandering. He was moving with purpose. And he was holding things that looked important. And I just thought, I want to be him rather than me. He's making, you know, he's making things. I don't know what he's doing, but it's much more important than what I'm doing.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: That's actually the trick you learn when you're the young one at the family. Where you go, you must just look busy so you never need to do anything at the family function. You just, oh, no, I'm not going to help you, but I'm just walking to the aunties. Then by the aunties, you go, I'm just going to help the uncles. And you never, you just eat the whole day and you never help anyone. It's the actual trick. Look busy, guys.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Do you think I can get away with that trick now that I'm very much grandfather age?
00:08:40
Speaker 2: I think if you stand in the line at Sasa, you don't need to do stuff at family functions. You can just call children out. The child doesn't even need to be family at the family function. You can just call the child out. A snot in his light, he just.
00:08:55
Speaker 1: Okay, we're going to give you about a minute and a half to think of a joke about Cape Town traffic, okay? Or look for one that you've already thought of.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: You'll find it. EWN Traffic.
00:09:10
Speaker 1: It's brought to you by Outsurance in partnership with Cape Talk.
00:09:13
Speaker 3: Happening now in Robert Sabukwe, just after Stellenbosch Arterial, that's towards the airport, there's just been an accident. And on Nelson Mandela Boulevard outbound as you leave the city, traffic is slowing down at Rudebloom Road. The M5 South, it's still usual peak traffic between Pinelands and Rondebosch East. And the M3 South is also slowing down at Klipper Road this afternoon. And those traffic lights remain faulty in crossroads. at Gavin Beckey and New Ice, Lieben. I'm Justine Rinkwist and I'll have more EWN traffic in 20 minutes.
00:09:42
Speaker 1: There's more EWN on air, online and on the EWN app. 51-year-old Nosipo sleeps well knowing she's without insurance. An insurer awarded for paying claims fairly and they gave her a low, low premium of £ 395. SMS OUT to 30674. That's out to 30674. Licensed insurer and FSP, TCs and information online. Taking the edge off with Yassin Barnes continues. You're too young for this to be a serious question for you. But how many cars have you owned?
00:10:36
Speaker 2: I think like four.
00:10:40
Speaker 1: Okay. I think I'm somewhere around 20, 25. And none of them's been a Jimny. And I feel that before I die, I should own a Jimny.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: They look fun.
00:10:51
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:10:51
Speaker 2: They look like, like, I feel like a Jimny if you pull it back and drive forward. Like, you know, those toys that you just pull back and go forward. They just, they look like a, they look like a toy car. Like, you can't be sad in a Jimny. Like, I hope if you dive a Jimny, no one breaks up with you. You just, it's too happy of a moment to have. Yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker 1: I met somebody, somebody who absolutely loves his Jimny. And, you know, the big 4x4s, they've got these big shovels that they used to get them. And he had a little plastic.
00:11:24
Speaker 2: Beach spade tied to the front of his Jimny. Also, the Jimny, I think, is like a bit alternative to those big cars. Because, again, the Beetle's expensive. We don't need big cars on the road. The parking spaces are not big enough for those things. So by all means, guys, we need more Geminis and less Land Rovers and all those big boot cars, the Rangers.
00:11:53
Speaker 1: Comedy 2026 versus comedy, to sort of get a little bit serious, versus comedy 2010 when you started putting your sins out on Twitter. How different is it?
00:12:06
Speaker 2: I think such a... I think it's gotten better. Like we've become more like inclusive and thoughtful of people. A lot of the people go, oh, comedy is too woke right now. But I like what it is now because it means more people can speak and more people are thought of. So now when you write a joke, you actually have to take in the context of the world before you write something. There's some comedians where they want to be edgy. We're done with edgy. I think edginess when it comes to comedy is, it's a weak thing. Yeah, it's too.
00:12:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Jimmy Carr as somebody who has been... Jimmy sometimes, quite often for me, goes over the edge.
00:12:51
Speaker 2: Yes, but I also think he's someone... Good comedy understands both sides. You must understand the good side and the bad side of the topic so when you make the joke, they can hear the intention of the joke. They can hear... Even when Jimmy Carr does a joke that I say he's offside, you can hear that he knows what he's talking about and it's just a joke. He doesn't fully believe that thing that he's saying. So he gets away with being edgy and it's also a short joke so he doesn't fully believe it. It's not like a story that's taking time.
00:13:30
Speaker 1: There's an interesting distinction which I'm not sure would stand up to academic analysis.
00:13:35
Speaker 2: It's also subjective. That's the other thing. I feel like when people go, they'll see Trevor and they go, oh, he's not funny. And they see Leon Schuster and they go, he's not funny. And you go, yo, they've made too much money to not be funny. They can just be not for you, but you can't say someone that is so, I'll say, well at their craft is not funny. So I think it's all just subjective. Comedy is flavors. Some people like chocolate, some people like banana, it's fine.
00:14:05
Speaker 1: Nobody likes bananas.
00:14:06
Speaker 2: That's also true. Banana, yo, banana pollutes everything it's in. If you put a banana in a smoothie, it's a banana smoothie. Even if it's a chocolate smoothie, it's a banana smoothie, often bananas there. Yeah, sorry, bananas waste my time.
00:14:22
Speaker 1: Comedians used to only do stand-up. And so if you were lucky, you were playing to a nightclub with 150, 180 people in it, and you might get a theater, 300-odd people. And now your jokes are being shared with the world. And does that mean that you have to be more productive? Because pre... the internet, you could get away with 30 jokes a year. And now you need 30 jokes a day.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: I think it's the attention spans, but also the market is so much bigger. And now you get to perform for more different people as well. So you're so exposed to more things, but now the job is you must be able to write a joke, perform a joke, record a joke, edit your joke, and then post your joke as well. So we in the In the slash slash of careers at the moment, I think all freelancers in Cape Town also have the slash slash. You're a writer, slash a copywriter, slash a social media manager, slash that. So now the comedians must learn all the parts of the job, including how to send an email, how to send an invoice. There's no agency.
00:15:36
Speaker 1: How to pay a tax.
00:15:38
Speaker 2: That's also something some of us do. How to pay tax. So that all becomes part of the job now is social media as well. And I hate social media so much. Really? It's part of the job and there's parts of it I enjoy, but also it's such a slip. Like just posting and replying to people. I just want to tell jokes. That's my main love is writing stupid jokes and giving stupid jokes. Also, sorry, you were saying I was doing a joke on the traffic. I just remembered now. I have ADHD, so my brain is demarka. Oh, the only reason I, whenever I see someone do the traffic, I just want to read the traffic so I can say, there's a Simba truck stuck in the end too. Expect delays. I also saw your producer figure that one out in his mind. Now you're here to do the maths, guys. Try jokes here.
00:16:37
Speaker 1: There's an absolute explosion in the number of comics and that's because there are more venues and venues not only in the physical three-dimensional sense but venues in the social media senses and channels. And it's extraordinary because when Pre-2010, we probably had about 10 funny people. Well, we had 20,000 funny people. We only knew about 10 of them. Now, everybody kind of has a chance to say, hey, I'm quite funny too.
00:17:07
Speaker 2: I've got a thing, yeah. But now you go, every demographic has comedians that fit them now, which is part of, I'll say, the internet, where you go, whatever you look like, there are people who will find a fan base for you And even when you come to venues, you were speaking of like the 100-seaters. Last night I was doing a show that's like 20 people. But a great night. It was at the back of a bookshop, OBS Books in OBS, in a tent. And I go, that's also like a great moment. Comedy can be experienced in theaters, in yards, in garages, in shops. So coming to a place where comedy must, it's a live experience. We spend too much time on the internet and at home. It's experiencing something live. It's just a different gift. So I love that when people come out, they get to see us be at our lowest level and also at our biggest level.
00:18:03
Speaker 1: Yes, Ian Barnes, we will continue talking after. After some commercial news and some news news and some rapid fire news and some sports news, you'll have plenty of time to write lots of Yasin jokes between now and then. Taking the edge of Friday in conversation with comedian Yasin Barnes. You care about sport, Yasin?
00:18:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, just because as a South African, we have to care about sport.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: No, you don't.
00:18:32
Speaker 2: It's one of our religions in our country. We have to be a part of it. But I just like the highlights. I'm not really like a sports guy. I feel like it's too much pressure. Because if you wear any jersey from any team, anyone that sees you in that jersey, there's an initiation task that must happen. If you wear Man United top, then they're going to go, do you know this? Who's this? Your team is junk. And I just say, there's too much pressure. I'm just trying to buy milk. Why are they trying to fight me in the road? Even if you wear a spring box, then everybody's just shouting at you because... You're now a Springboks fan. Calm down, guys.
00:19:09
Speaker 1: So you don't support any team?
00:19:11
Speaker 3: No.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: I support the winning team. That's the loser's way.
00:19:17
Speaker 1: Before I came on air, I was reading that a Cambridge professor has won the World Tiddlywinks Championship. And I'm going to task my producers next week to get the World Tiddlywinks Champion on the radio. Did you grow up playing Tiddlywinks?
00:19:35
Speaker 2: I mean, as a A teenage boy, tiddlywinks was very much the things we did. What is tiddlywinks, guys? It's when you use a thing to flip a thing into a holder.
00:19:44
Speaker 1: Like a thing?
00:19:50
Speaker 2: Tassel, kind of a... Is it like a... Help me here. I feel like I've played the game. It just didn't have a name. I feel like there's many games as a child. It's housey, housey. You just make up a name for it. That's fine.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for Riaz to write something to me that gives me. But he's so slow.
00:20:17
Speaker 2: He's Friday. That's what he is. He's Friday.
00:20:20
Speaker 1: Yeah. What is your weekend old?
00:20:24
Speaker 2: Tonight I'm going to go see Dan Corders, who the F are we voting for.
00:20:29
Speaker 1: Yes. And it's hard to know who the F to vote for.
00:20:33
Speaker 2: It really is. Also, I love this season just before elections.
00:20:37
Speaker 1: You throw plastic discs in a hole.
00:20:41
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:20:42
Speaker 1: Never played that.
00:20:42
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:20:43
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:20:43
Speaker 2: I think if I see it, I'll probably know it. But I think I like election season because it makes out. It makes all the light bulbs look like Klopse. It's just bright and colorful. If you just play Welcome to Cape Town while you drive down the M5, it looks like you're in Adelaide Street. Yeah, it's fun times.
00:21:01
Speaker 1: But you will vote?
00:21:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have to vote. Oh, jeepers.
00:21:04
Speaker 1: I wish more people believed that.
00:21:08
Speaker 2: I just feel like you must go do the research. You must go be a part of it. It's your responsibility. If you want to complain, you must just read. If you want to complain, go vote, then you can complain.
00:21:21
Speaker 1: How much do you do in the way of political bad jokes?
00:21:25
Speaker 2: It's almost too easy. That's the problem with South Africa. It's changing constantly, but a lot of the politics that you want to talk about, it's too on the nose. The politicians write their own jokes. You can't make fun of them because they are the stupid, not the stupid. Of the moment, yeah.
00:21:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking at Shadrach Sabir and that's kind of hard to make a joke about. Saps and the Madlanga Commission and so on. There's a task for you. A bad joke about the Madlanga Commission.
00:21:55
Speaker 2: Madlanga, what you must. That's the only thing we stand for. But again, even with Madlanga, you watch it and you go, it's like a soapy. It's written just dramatically. Every day you see it, you go, how are these people in charge of things? And whenever I see the politicians, I go, why do we not have responsible people? And I go, oh no, because responsible people know better. They will just make better choices in life and not be politicians.
00:22:23
Speaker 1: Before we get to a song that you have chosen, you can tell me why you've chosen it. Reach for your phone and just a couple more recently written jokes.
00:22:41
Speaker 2: Growing up, we had to share a computer. Yeah, growing up, we had to share a computer, so I had a PC.
00:22:51
Speaker 1: Okay took me half a second took me a little bit of time but I got you Peter.
00:22:57
Speaker 2: Lee's so bad right now in the next Force and Furious movie they must drive in one car a friend of mine she was telling me she's looking for a man who's like who travels and is into finance and is like, I think she's looking for a gachi. That's someone who knows. He can show you the whole world from Bovary to Cape Town every day.
00:23:18
Speaker 1: You were telling me earlier that you are doing a show at the Homecoming Centre over the festive season.
00:23:26
Speaker 2: So the 14th, 15th and 16th, 20th and 27th. It's called Just Jokes because that's all that it is. It's just jokes. It's just stupidness and... Because I don't want to change your mind. I just want to change your mood. That's all that the show must do is just give us a little break and a breather from the world. So tickets are on Quicket. And, yeah, the people must come through. It's also end of year. It's festive. We need a break now.
00:23:49
Speaker 1: Yeah. But this is, yeah, can't wait for the year to end. And then the next one starts. And it's no different.
00:23:58
Speaker 2: That's also the thing of as soon as you hear that back to school, back to life, that little anthem that plays every year. Then you go, oh. Also, you know the economy is bad when parents are buying stationery for Christmas. Then you go, no, the children aren't even getting toys. They're getting pens and pencils. For Christmas, you're getting school shoes. No, man. Buy your children toys, please.
00:24:21
Speaker 1: Natasha Bedingfield, this is a song not you're going with.
00:24:26
Speaker 2: It's just a song that you must sing loud. And even if you don't know the words, you must sing because it will bring joy to you. I feel like it just, you sing it and a smile comes to your face. I can't describe it in any other way. It's just a song of joy.
00:24:39
Speaker 1: For me, the song that I sing, if you... If you spoke to people who'd listened to Cape Talk for a long time and said, what is John's kind of song?
00:24:48
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:24:49
Speaker 1: In this, it would be Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves.
00:24:53
Speaker 2: Yes. Something that just.
00:24:54
Speaker 1: Yeah. I can't not.
00:24:57
Speaker 2: You walk on sunshine. It's in the bones. Also, the song is a earworm. And tonight at seven, you'll sing it. Tonight at nine, you'll sing it. Tomorrow you'll wake up and then you'll go. Release your inner vision. Yeah. It's just a good karaoke song. It gets the mood started.
00:25:13
Speaker 1: Yasin, thank you very much for coming in. Really appreciate it.
00:25:15
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. It was a lot of fun.
