Season 3 of
Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola wrapped on eNews and e.tv on Wednesday night (30 November) with the strong likelihood of a Season 4 next year. There's no confirmation that it'll definitely be happening but I'm convinced it will.
I caught up with Loyiso to chatter about the season and the show since it's start and was shocked but not surprised when he split dirrrrt on the most hectic response he's had:
Tashi: What's been the most dramatic response to the show? Something that you'll never forget?
Loyiso: There isn't a lot of direct response to it - everyone just let's go, they watch it - top policians watch it, the President watches it apparently but nobody really reacts to it. They're like: "Yeah, yeah, it's funny."
I had one incident with Brad Wood who wanted to kill me but for the most part no-one really gives a f*ck. One guy out of three seasons threatened me and it was Bad Brad.
Tashi: Was it at the time of the fiasco with the shooting?Loyiso: Ja, ja.
Tashi: Did he message you or phone you - what did he do?Loyiso: He called me and threatened me and put my number on Twitter - all kinds of crazy stuff. He's a mad guy.
Tashi: So how'd you get rid of him?Loyiso: I just ignored him. I think he was just looking for attention.
Tashi: And then he went silent after that?Loyiso: Ja, ja, people like that you just ignore.
Tashi: Crazy, crazy. What did you say about him in the show that he wanted to kill you?Loyiso: We spoke about the story like every other media person, that he'd been accused of shooting people and we called him a "serial shooter of things."
Loyiso at the launch of Blame It On Fame, So What and Rolling With Zola - hanging with the Twinz and not Kenny.
Of course I asked about his outburst towards Kenny Kunene at the launch of So What? - which led to channel hopping and sworn statement on City Ses'la ...
Tashi: Are you watching So What?Loyiso: No, no, no, not really.
Tashi: So you haven't even watched one episode?Loyiso: Not at all.
Tashi: Do you still feel the same about Kenny as you did at the launch?Loyiso: I don't know Kenny - I've never met the guy so I don't really know him that much. I don't really care that much. That was my opinion at the time and that's it.
Tashi: Did you guys ever speak about it?Loyiso: No.
Tashi: Out of every TV show on the box, what do you watch?Loyiso: One show that I like is Mythbusters - it's just the best show on TV for me. It's fun, entertaining, it's for nerds.
Tashi: Are you a nerd?Loyiso: Not really but it's for nerds and I appreciate that. I watch a lot of sport, SuperSport, a lot of news, Al Jazeera, eNews, CNN, Sky, all that kind of stuff. I watch every Arsenal game, I watch football and NBA. I watch a lot of History Channel and Discovery.
Tashi: What do you think of the comedy shows currently on TV? Besides yours obviously.Loyiso: I think some of them are sh*t. Most of them are sh*t. The South African sitcoms are sh*t - the City Ses'la's of the world. That show's horrible - it's not funny at all.
Tashi: Is there any comedy you think is good?Loyiso: I watch
Modern Family sometimes and
Breaking Bad.
Tashi: Yes but that's not a comedy! ... although now that you mention it, it gets so intense it can be very funny.Loysio: It's very funny sometimes. Modern Family, Breaking Bad - that's about it. Modern Family's the funniest sh*t on TV. You can't have a TV show where people are being forced to laugh.
It's like City Ses'la has a laughing track and you're like: "What the f*ck is this?! The 90's? The 80's?"
Modern Family's the funniest thing on TV and there's no laughing track - no-one tells you when to laugh. You laugh when you want to. When we started doing our show, when we pitched it to e.tv and they said: "Yes," - the one thing we said: "We will
not have a laughing track."
* Loyiso's 2011 Awards*
Tashi: Looking back at this year, who would you say the three Late Nite Newsmakers of the Year have been?Loyiso: Julius Malema, the President and Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
Tashi: What's been the biggest story of the year?Loyiso: I think the Protection of Information bill's a big story because there's a law pending involved.
Tashi: Do you think it's gonna go through? What's your take on it?Loyiso: Ja, well, the media's not holier than thou and we woudn't be the first country to have it but it's very dangerous for our young democracy to have this law.
Tashi: How will it impact on your show?Loyiso: It won't impact on the show - it'll impact on the news. It won't impact our show at all because it isn't an investigative show. We read newspapers like everyone else so it'll impact on us like it does everyone else. The law doesn't cenor, it protects information which is a totally different issue to censorship.
Loyiso's much taller in real life than he is on TV. Out of everyone I've ever met who's on TV versus real life, his height difference is the most notable.
I had to ask him about lurve because of how silent he always is about it. I don't know about you but I've never heard a word about him dating/splitting/hiding/marrying:Tashi: Did you become a stand-up comic to impress girls?Loyiso: No, I became one because people thought I was funny.
Tashi: When did you discover people found you funny? Was there a moment when you realised?Loyiso: I was in High School - people thought I was funny, I tried it and "boom" there it is. I was in Standard Nine.
Tashi: The reason I ask if it's to impress girls is because in interviews with musicians and comics - many say that they started playing guitar or sang or told jokes to impress girls. Has it landed you girls though?Loyiso: Musicians are weird people though, it's a weird genre of entertainment. They have a sense of self-importance.
Tashi: What do you mean? That they think the world can't be without them when actually it can?Loyiso: Yes, musicians are bigger ego kind of people, especially the bigger musicians. Comedians are just chilled so to compare the two's a bit weird. I think most comedians can't get girls.
Tashi: I don't believe that - are you being serious?Loyiso: Yeah, yeah girls aren't into comedians that way. Girls are into musicians that way - they're like: "Wow". They'll like your joke and be like: "Cool," but with DJ's and music it's different - that's the power of the music.
Tashi: My own opinion on the matter is that a sense of humour makes a guy hot, hot, hott.Loyiso: Uh,
no.Tashi: So all your stand-up comicking has never landed you girls?Loyiso: I've got one girl, she's cool, I like her, I love her, we're having a good time but girls don't throw themselves at me because of gags.
Tashi: Is she your girlfriend?Loyiso: Yes.
Tashi: Is she marriage material?Loyiso: Very much.
Tashi: So we should expect to hear weddings bells soon?Loyiso: I have no comment.
That's always my best question to ask 'cos it puts so much pressure, ha!