Fiona Ramsay

Fiona graduated from the University Of Cape Town, before founding the Troupe Theatre Company whose productions include East, Total Eclipse, Metamorphosis and Threepenny Opera, Life X 3, Decadence & Talking Heads.

Fiona was last seen at the Jo’burg Theatre in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in the annual panto as the wicked fairy Kakebos in Sleeping Beauty. She is delighted to be back in Fings Ain’T Wot They Us’D To Be and also looking forward to being the Blue Fairy in Pinochio at the end of the year. 

Fiona has been nominated for and won many awards for her performances, notably here roles recently as martha in Whose Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? And for her dazzling Mrs Meers in the hit musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has won awards for her sizzling roles in Decadence, her versatility in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing and for eva braun in Summit Conference, Agnes Of God, Born In The Rsa, Indiscretions, Six Degrees Of Separation, Benefactors, The Book Club, Ladies & Gentlemen Shakespeare, Life X 3, Sleeping Beauty, Honour and Going To St Ives

Fiona is one of South Africa’s leading actresses, working locally and overseas. She built up an impressive body of work while in England - highlights were playing lady croom and hannah for the royal national theatre’s Arcadia by tom stoppard, lady macbeth in Macbeth, leading roles in Alan Ayckbourne’s Small Family Business and Communicating Doors and terry johnson’s Dead Funny. She also appeared on television in the UK playing the villain in Lynda la Plante’s Supply And Demand, a teacher in Element Of Doubt and as the tough magistrate in The Bill.

Well known to television audiences as the feisty hard bitten news editor dorothy wilcox from the series Hard Copy, and will be seen on our television screens later this human rights lawyer kate hansen in Justice For All 4.

Fiona founded the Speakeasy Vocal Academy, and does vocal empowerment training in all sectors – business, corporate and of course the arts. Most recently has been in Los Angeles dialogue coach to us actors Tim Robbins and Derek Luke for a film shot in South Africa. And has appeared in several international films most recently in Borderline and is currently filming Country Of My Skull. Fiona has also appeared often on television in Arende, Stolen Lives.

Fiona is a much sought after dialogue and dialect coach and has worked with international actors on films shot in South Africa – most recently No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Jill Scott), Skin (Alice Krige, Sophie Okenedo, Sam Neill), Catch A Fire (Tim Robbins, Derek Luke), Hotel Rwanda (Don Cheadle, Sophie Okenedo, Nick Nolte), Stander (Thomas Jane, Dexter Fletcher), Critical Assignment And Beat The Drum.

Fiona works extensively on musical and plays as vocal coach – most recently worked on Beauty & The Beast, The Full Monty, The Lion King, Hairspray, The King & I, Hair and Saturdy Night Fever.
Fiona is also an accomplished director and productions include Total Eclipse, Laughing Wild, Hallelujah! The Pen  and most recently Guga Mzimba – The Spirit Of Gerard Sekoto a musical on the life of SA artist.

Fiona has been a familiar voice on radio – where she hosted the popular program dedicated to books between the covers as well as a program on arts and culture Cultural Exchange.

Most recently Fiona has been attending speech therapy lectures and classes and is a member of the team on the Park Lane Voice Laboratory – where she is the vocal specialist working alongside ENT doctors, anaethestists and speech therapists.

Fiona is a vegetarian and enjoys treating folk to her culinary concoctions and relishes a good evening with friends. Interests include: her basset hounds Babette and Chanel, sailing, walking, reading, travelling and exploring new places.

Salamina Mphelo

Educational Qualifications - Secondary - Matric Exemption with distinctions in English, Afrikaans and History. Tertiary Education- Bachelor of Arts degree in Corporate Communication RAU- University of Johannesburg majored in Corporate Communication and Sociology.

Salamina has more than 11 years experience in the television and entertainment industry. She made her debut on the Sabc1 educational drama series Soul Buddyz in 1999-2002; this was followed by an 8 year presenting stint on Craze-ETV. Other television shows she appeared in include Soul City, Justice for all, Backstage and the international feature film Beat the Drum.

Salamina’s star quality has also been noted by big brands such as Lotto, Comporal and McDonalds; they all featured her in their advertising campaigns between the years 2003 and 2005.

Furthermore she is currently the face of Sadie, a roll-on brand that was purchased by Loreal in 2007. This has meant that besides the television exposure that she enjoys, she is also a familiar face in magazines such as Glamour, True love and True love Babe.

In 2007 she presented shows; Craze Games (SABC 2) and the reality show Top Class on SABC1. This show combined corporate principles with education and it meant that Salamina had to try her hand at her own brand of investigative journalism. She was rubbing shoulders with business giants such as Martin Feinstein, the creator of the Proudly South African campaign. Salamina is not just a TV face; she also obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Corporate Communication from the University of Johannesburg in 2007.

In 2008 she was also the face of two Nedbank game shows on SABC3 and ETV, respectively.

Currently she is a presenter on Top Billing on SABC3 and has just joined the RPM events and decor company, as the marketing and business development manager.

Carmel Fisher

Carmel Fisher is the Founder & Managing Director of Celebrity Cherubs Charity-Aid. Carmel has discovered a niche in this market & took the onus on herself to create constant platforms & means for celebrities & corporations to give back to the communities who make them who they are. This is a win-win situation upon which Carmel has established her charity-aid.

Carmel Fisher is a talented Actor, Singer, MC & media personality famous for her portrayal of the feisty Roxanne Campbell, on Backstage, an E-TV soap opera.  

Carmel went on to star as Brenda, in Soul Buddyz & thereafter starred in Kyknet’s Kruispad. More recently, Carmel joined Villa Rosa as a journalist called Cheryl Daniels. Evidence of this work will be broadcast from May 2009.

Apart from featuring on television programmes, Carmel also made appearances in theatre productions like The King & I & in films like Triomf, where she had a cameo-role, & also played Mosca, the lead, in a Shakespearian-period film, The Fox.

She is currently on E-TV’s Rhythm City.

Carmel, apart from acting, also models & is a T.V Presenter. She was nominated in the Top 50 for the FHM 100 Sexiest Women & made the Hot VIP list in 2009 for the same magazine. Carmel has featured in numerous commercials & print publications like Destiny Magazine & in-store Catalogues to name a few. She has worked on Channel O on an interactive music video show called OBOMA as well as on Supersport for PSL TV.

In terms of being an MC, Carmel has hosted an array of events from concerts, restaurant & product launches to corporate events. Carmel knows how to grab audience attention & intuit the specific entertainment needs of any given event. She is bilingual; speaks English & Afrikaans. She is classy & eloquent & can bring a great mix of charm & charisma to any event.

For bookings or any further information please contact the following person for your specific requirements:

Manager

• George Georgas
  Managing Director
  Fusion Entertainment Solutions cc

Kagiso Lediga

Kagiso Lediga ventured into comedy while studying at the University of Cape Town 9 years ago and over the ensuing years set about establishing himself as one of South Africa’s top comedians. Not only is now lauded amongst the best comedians in the country with an impressive body of work behind him but is also now celebrated as one of South Africa’s pioneering and most recognizable comedians.

His talent and ability can easily be confirmed by an exhaustive trail of achievements and accolades. Testament of this is the fact that he has graced the stages of all the biggest comedy events in South Africa including the most prestigious one in the Cape Town International Comedy Festival where he won the People’s Choice Award in the company of acclaimed comedians from all over the world. Other comedy events he has performed at are Laugh Out Loud, Comedy Blackout, Kingsize Heavyweight Comedy Jams, Blacks Only, Freshest Comedy Festival, Pure Monate Comedy Jam, Let Durban Laugh Festival….the list is endless. He has also entertained corporate crowds all over the country with his refreshingly intelligent and thought provoking brand of comedy, a list boasting a wide spectrum of companies from various sectors of the economy. His talents can be further confirmed by the fact that he has performed successfully overseas as well, performing at the internationally renowned Edinburgh Comedy Festival as well as in the famous comedy clubs of New York and Toronto. His ability to adapt his material according to his audiences but leave them in raptures has always been a strong feature of his repertoire wherever he performs.

He also has a flair for writing brave and entertaining content and he has also been working towards producing content that is shaking up the South African film industry. It is testament to his creative ability, that he is now recognized as one of the young, up and coming television and film producers in the country. This was first evident when the sketch comedy series, the Pure Monate Show which he produced, wrote and performed in was voted in the top 5 most entertaining local programmes on SABC 1 for 2004 and was nominated in 8 categories of the South African Film and Television Awards. As the anchor of the show, he fast became a household TV personality nationwide and is now recognized wherever he performs. He went on to play roles on various other tv shows such as Sorted and Hard Copy.

His successful foray in TV led to Kagiso’s involvement in films. He has already acted in two but it is with a movie called Bunny Chow which he produced and also was the lead actor that he once again finds himself in the headlines. This movie which was opened at box offices both locally and internationally and became a cult hit with its with its honest depiction of the new South Africa. It went on to win awards the Toronto Film Festival, American Film Institute Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne Film Festival and was also invited to the Rotterdam Film Festival. It was also the opening film at our very own Cape Town International Film Festival ( Sithengi ) where Kagiso’s inspired performance saw him being awarded with the “Best Actor Award” beating off competition from some accomplished and revered actors from all over the world. Such was the impact of the film that MTV Films Europe put pen to paper to be the global marketing partner of the film. He was also cast in various roles in local movies Crazy Monkey, Footskating and Good Fellas.

Another huge feather in Kagiso’s cap was his selection as one of the international judges for the Emmy Awards, a massive accomplishment and endorsement of his growing stature as a talented producer worldwide.

In 2009, Kagiso Lediga is recognized as one of the country’s headlining comedy and screen acts. He was referred to as a national asset at a recent performance for the city of Durban by its mayor. As he continues to hone his craft both locally and internationally, he remains in the top tier of home grown comedy talent and has left a hard act to follow.

Performance Summary

Live Events

Oppikopi Festival Worcester, Up the Creek Rock Festival, 5fm Kingsize Heavy weight Jam Johannesburg, Cape Comedy Collective University Tour, Heavyweight Comedy Jam Durban, Cape Town Smirnoff International Comedy Festival, Kingsize Comedy Festival, Laugh Out Loud concert, Comedy @ the Playhouse : Durban 2004, Metro FM Music Awards, Oppikoppi Festival 2005, Music at Constitutional Hill 2005, Blacks Only Comedy Festival 2005, Cape Town International Comedy Festival, Pure Monate Comedy Jam, King Kong Tower Festival, Amahlaya Etheku Comedy Festival, Golden Scissors Awards 2006, South African Film and Television Awards Nominee Junket, Botswana Charity Comedy Event, Blacks Only 2006, Cape Town International Comedy Festival 2006, Let Durban Laugh Festival “06, Let Durban Laugh Festival 07, North West University Comedy Extravaganza, Pretoria Comedy Festival, Stars of Mzansi Awards

Corporates

Transnet, Black Business Executive Circle, Speakers Corner Caltex, M-web, Blue Moon, Black Accountants Forum, Ster Kinekor, Alstom, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times, Khaya Majola Craven Week, Spescom, SABC, Old Mutual, Centricity Dinner , Internet Solutions, Octogon, Nike Social Responsibility Launch, , African Access Holdings Golf Day , Torque I.T. Golf Day, ABSA Fun Day, Coca Cola Year – End, Momentum, Eskom, Santam Child Art Function, SABC Marketing, Top Agency Awards ( Mauritius ), BlackBerry, Shanduka Holdings, Dept of Public Works, Sasol, Eskom

Interviews

Top Billing, Channel O magazine, Pace Magazine, Mail and Guardian, New York Times, (with Cape Comedy Collective), BBC (with Cape Comedy Collective ), Channel 4 (with Cape Comedy Club ), Cape Review, Toasty Show, The Star, Pretoria News, Drum Magazine, Sawubona, Cape Argus, Cape Times, E-news, Phat Joe Live, CNN, World Online.co.za, 5 fm, SAFM, Y fm, Y – Mag, Metro fm, East Coast Radio, Isolezwe, The Mercury, Cape Talk, German Public Radio, JHBlive.co.za, Cosmopolitan, E-news, SABC Africa, Lotus FM, Destination SA, Channel O, Hey SA, Elle, Jozi FM, , Screen Africa, Good Hope FM, P4 Radio, Night Life, 702, GQ Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera

Television

Evita Live and Dangerous (E-tv 1999), Comedy Showcase (SABC 3), Comedy Show Barry Hilton (SABC 3), Toasty show. (E-tv), Phat Joe Live. (E-tv), Phat Joe Show. (SABC 1), Laugh out Loud (SABC 3), Quickies 2 (SABC 3), SOS (E-tv), H20 Music video, The Pure Monate Show 1 & 2, Documentary on Zola ( Channel O ), Leanne Liebenberg interview for FHM ( MNet ), Creative Direction Strategist for Loerie Awards 2005, Hard Copy, Shift ( SABC 1 )

Commercials

Parmalat Yoghurt, Vodacom, Aero-spatialle French Airports Company.

Movies

Crazy Monkey 2004, Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon 2005, Bunny Chow 2006, Footskating 101 2006, Good Fellas 2007, Strike 2009

Comedy Clubs

Blues Room, The Armchair, The Underground Cool Runnings, Dachs, Comedy @ 88, Tanz Café, Carnival City, Horror Café, Cherelee’s, Morula Sun, , Funny Bones, Carolines ( New York ), Yuk Yuks ( Toronto ), The Laugh Lounge ( New York )

Loyiso Gola

South African Comedy Awards 2007
“Best Breakthrough Comedy Act”
WINNER

Stars of Mzansi Awards 2008
Comedian of the Year
NOMINEE

Loyiso Gola’s unique sense of humour, affinity towards openly frank and observational commentary has carved him into a comedy genius elevating his status to that of one of South Africa’s most talented comedians.

Loyiso has been performing comedy for 8 years and has graced the stages of all the major festivals and events on the local comedy calendar. In being invited to perform for 2 years running at the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, South Africa’s most prestigious comedy event, he announced his arrival as one of the country’s most talented comedians. His talents were also recognized and honoured further when he was selected to perform in the “Best of the Festival” line up which included all the best acts at the festival, mostly internationally acclaimed acts.

In 2009, Loyiso is also wowing audiences nationwide as he tours the country with his critically acclaimed one man show, interestingly titled “Loyiso Gola for President” He has received rave reviews in his Joburg and Durban runs of the show. The success of the show culminated in it winning him a South African Comedy Award in 2007. He is also was asked to perform at this inaugural instalment of this event. He has also been invited to perform in London, Dubai, Gaberone and Lusaka.

His rise on the comedy local rankings has been nothing short of meteoric. From humble beginnings performing with the Cape Comedy Collective on the Cape Town comedy circuit “while he was still at school”, he has evolved into a comedy phenomenon performing all over the country as well as having been on television, radio and the big screen. The comedy fraternity was first made aware of his talents when he won the Sprite Soul Comedy competition and was the runner up in the professional category of the Freshest Five Comedy Competition literally upon his arrival in Johannesburg in 2003 at the age of 19.

Since then, he has gone on to perform in events such as the Kingsize Comedy Jam, Comedy Blackout, Pure Monate Comedy Jam, Blacks Only Comedy Show, Sprite Soul Comedy Jam as well as many other comedy events all over the country. His physical comedy skills have not gone unnoticed and he has landed roles on SABC 3’s Comedy Showcase, drama series Mthunzini.com as well as popular local soapie, Backstage. However, his on screen popularity really grew when he became a writer and performer in 2 seasons of SABC 1’s cult sketch comedy series, the Pure Monate Show ( nominated in 8 categories of the South African Film and Television Awards.) which had millions of viewers and served to make Loyiso a household name, increasing his fan base significantly nationwide. He was also entrusted with hosting the Metro FM Music Awards and a year later was given the honour of being one of the hosts of the more prestigious South African Music Awards. In addition, he has been granted with the honour of opening for international superstar comedians, Russell Peters and Sugar Sammy in their respective tours of South Africa.

In 2005 he also landed a cameo in a locally produced comedy feature film Bunny Chow that was theatrically released in 2007 and was a huge hit on the local as well as international movie circuit. Last year also saw Loyiso being given his own tv show to co-star with iconic comedy great Pieter Dirk-Uys. Aptly titled Dinner with the President, it was a sitcom meets talk show which saw them interviewing various celebrities and well known public figures for 13 episodes on prime time South African television. It received great ratings and may be commissioned again this year. In 2008 Loyiso added to his growing collection of achievements in being selected by the world famous Wall Street Journal alongside Trevor Noah, Kagiso Lediga, Eugene Khoza and Kagiso Lediga as one of the leading lights in the next generation of South African comedians who are taking local comedy to the next level. This article which was entitled, “What’s so funny about Apartheid” made the cover of this critically acclaimed publication with a half page picture of Loyiso.

Today you can find Loyiso Gola performing at numerous corporate functions, live shows and club gigs all over the country. He is now recognized and lauded wherever he performs and is sure to grace the higher echelons of comedy talent in South Africa for a long time to come.

Live Events

Loyiso Gola for President ( Joburg ), Loyiso Gola for President ( Durban ), The BIG International Comedy Week 2007, Pure Monate Comedy Jam, Mentos International Comedy Festival , Blacks Only, Freshest Five, Forget What You Heard – One Man Show, King Kong Tower Festival, Sprite Soul Comedy Jam, UP Yours Comedy Night, Heavyweight Comedy Jam ( Joburg ) Heavyweight Comedy Jam ( London ) , Kingsize Comedy Christmas Jam, Metro FM Music Awards, Comedy Collective University Tour, Cape Town International Comedy Festival, Arts Alive. Frolic Festival, Comedy Blackout, Arts Alive 2006, Amahlaya Etheku Comedy Festival, Botswana Charity Comedy Event, Masana Petroleum Golf Day, Dubai Comedy Series, Celebrate Durban 2007, Vodacom Campus Tour, United Nations Comedy Tour 07, WOW Comedy Jams, Life Is A Joke Comedy Festival, The Last Laugh at Silver Star Casino amongst others.

Corporates

Hosted Metro FM Awards, Hosted South African Music Awards, Clover Year End Gala Function, State of the Station ( MNet ), ABSA Choir Festival, Toyota Golf Day, Hewlett Packard, MTN Campus Tour, MTN SAMA Launch Party, Sowetan, Dept of Trade and Industry, FNB, SABC Airtime Sales, Sprite Campus Tour, Nokia June 16 Celebration, Urban Brew, ABSA Fun Day, Edgars, Muncipality of Durban, YFM, Ningabo Media, Mojo, University of Cape Town, Masana Petroleum Gala Evening, Choir Festival National Tour, UCT Graduate School of Business, SAFA 2010 Gala Event, Proudly South African Awards amongst others.

Television

Pure Monate Show, Mthunzini.com, Backstage, Comedy Showcase, Dinner with the President

Movies

Bunny Chow

Comedy Clubs

Tanz Café, Horror Café, Blues Room, Jou Ma Se Comedy Club, Bambatha, The Oz Pub, Comedy Underground, Tings n Times, Dachs, Horror Café, Morula Sun, Carnival City, Sibaya Casino, Comedy@88, Coco Bongo – Montecasino, Funny Bones, Back Room, Armchair

Eugene Khoza

He has been described as a new age comedian who breaks down boundaries, builds bridges, challenges prejudices and inverts stereotypes but Eugene will probably just tell you that it’s just him telling it like he sees it. Undaunted by working in his 2nd language his performances are littered with vernacular references, vivid characterizations coupled with witty dialogue leaving crowds whooping for more and rolling in the aisles.

It is difficult to believe that Eugene Khoza has only been in the stand up comedy game for two years given the maturity and confidence he conveys on stage irrespective of audience or venue. Born and bred in Pretoria, his has been a meteoric rise in the world of local comedy and Eugene can now be found performing all over the country. As his career blossoms, he is already establishing a strong and diversely ethnic fan base. That can be accredited not only to his multilingual delivery but his in depth understanding of cultures and being able to engage them all on a humorous level. It makes him a favourite amongst audiences.

It is this ability that took him from performing open spots to hosting the popular Horror Café Comedy Night for a year. His rise in the comedy ranks was initially confirmed when he made the semi finals of MNET’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Competition but when he won the Ricoffy Comedy Challenge in the same year – it was evident to all that he was a star in the making.

Those achievements and more great performances led to him being put on the line up for Arts Alive 2007 as well as The Blacks Only and the Heavyweight Comedy Jam. Not only did Eugene hold his own amongst some the country’s most celebrated comedians, he had found where he belonged. He also went on to perform as the opening act for fellow comedian Loyiso Gola in his one man show and undoubtedly contributed in the show winning a SA Comedy Award. All this also led to him co-hosting a show on popular Joburg radio station, YFM and achieved great ratings during that period. He has also done various interviews and appearances on television, making him a name that’s becoming synonymous with comedy nationwide.

His talent has not gone unnoticed and he recently got picked to become one of the presenters of SABC 1’s “Build Up To 2010” which is sponsored by FNB. The show sees him travelling all over the country as well as the world – interacting with guests on the show and reporting on developments to do with the World Cup. He was picked for his comedic outlook and sharp wit which adds a light hearted angle to the show and for these reasons, is making him a popular personality with audiences nationwide. In addition, Eugene was also selected to perform alongside Trevor Noah as hosts of the Etv’s prime time reality series – The Axe Sweet Life which received wide scale media and audience attention – this has only served to confirm that Eugene has genuinely arrived as a television personality.

Today you can find Eugene Khoza performing at numerous corporate functions, live shows, club gigs all over the country and well on his way to become one of South Africa’s most popular comedians.

Live Events

Loyiso Gola for President, Blacks Only, Heavyweight Comedy Jam, Pretoria Comedy Festival, WOW Comedy Jams (Dbn), Just Because Comedy Festival, 99% Zulu Comedy Jams, Festival of Fame, The Just Because Comedy Festival, Rand Easter Show, DStv Comedy Festival

Corporates

Safripol, Transnet, Ericsson SA, FNB, Aromat, City of Tshwane, Ministry of Arts and Culture, FIFA, Edgars Internal Function, Mvelaphanda

Comedy Clubs

Horror Café, Blues Room, Morula Sun, Disfunktional Revolution, Tanz Café, Oz Pub, Bassline, Bambatha