Siv Ngesi

thumb|Sivuyile Ngesi Sivuyile Ngesi (born 18 October 1985) is a South African actor, comedian, presenter, and producer. Quotes My mother taught me that the only Plan B is to enforce Plan A. As a kid, I didn’t want to invest in anything apart from the performing arts. There’s nothing else I wanted to do and it’s the only thing I’ll ever do. I want to die doing this. I was a child star, performing for Nelson Mandela and traveling the world, and then the acne hit, and it really slowed me down. It was a difficult, but quite an important part of my career. It shaped me into who I am today. It’s about consistency, consistency, consistency and trying to do it for the right reasons. Don’t chase the break, but work like it’s around the corner – continuously. That being said, if I’m honest, Knuckle City and Still Breathing are two projects I think I am happiest with my performance. I just want to create and carry on. I don’t want to ever sit and think about my work for too long. Oh, all the time.It’s definitely easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I will speak my mind and I refuse to hold back. Any brand that associates with me needs to understand that. When you are successful, people will always have an opinion about you and what you are doing,Remember – dogs only bark at moving cars, never at parked ones. It’s like stopping at a zebra crossing and people thanking you – I’m not stopping here because I want to, I’m stopping because I have to. I believe that I’m just a normal South African, who hates seeing injustice and I have the platform. So I speak out. But I think every single person, even if you don’t have a platform, should speak out against the injustices of the world and of this country. I think it is an injustice, having young women miss school or having to pick between a loaf of bread and [sanitary products]. They say you can judge a society by how tightly a woman holds her bag – see that woman over there? She’s holding her backpack casually across her shoulder, where the other one is holding it tightly to her side – that’s interesting. If they don’t pick me, it’s their mistake and I’ll continue to create work. It’s the same as getting your heart broken. No matter how many times it happens – it never gets easier. There’s a saying that I posted on Instagram; ‘A mistake that makes you humble, is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant. It’s about reaching for the stars, but with your feet firmly grounded. I’m going to do it. There is no choice. You have to execute; you can’t make excuses. When you are a developing country, there are many stories that haven’t been told. People are loving it and South Africans are saying that they have never seen anything like this before, so there is still great opportunity here. I feel like it will be more of a back and forth thing. I won’t be staying there permanently – I still have a lot I want to do here. A reluctant activist, June 25 2020 You know, Sivanna could arguably be SA’s most famous drag queen currently. And that’s quite interesting to say. I will say that it has been 90% love and 10% negative. And it is quite easy for people to talk about the negative. But for me, I always knew that the negative was coming. I always knew that the backlash was coming. I was prepared. I was ready. I’m glad that I did it at the age that I am now. I think if I had done it three, four years ago. I would have been defensive. I would have fought back. Everyone who has attacked me has attacked me from a place of hurt. I know what the LGBQTIA+ community has gone through a lot. But there has been very constructive feedback. At the end of the day, Sivanna is here to stay and she is here to dominate...To everyone who thinks she’s a one-hit-wonder, you are mistaken! Peoples anger was that they thought I was taking work from other drag artists. I think a lot of them have underestimated me. At the moment, I am working with other drag artists to be able to create TV shows with them, to be able to create roadshows. It is quite unfortunate that a heterosexual man has to get into drag for many of the sponsors to jump on board. So there is definitely a plan and I will not be the only face involved. There are a lot of other drag artists involved. I’m respectful, I’m humble, I’m here to f**k shit up and I’m not here to play, Everyone must be prepared for what she (Sivanna) has planned. To many of the guys out there, you guys are jealous because you can’t get a girlfriend as hot as Sivanna. When I’m in a dress, I feel the most powerful and enlightened version of myself. There is definitely a power in wearing a dress and a vulnerability, that I love. When I watched the first season of ‘Tali’s Wedding Diary’ and I saw Ari (Kruger) and Julia (Anastasopoulous), I said to them, ‘I need to be in the second season. I worked with Ari twice before. The guy (his character) is a lot similar to me: he’s cocky, he’s brash, he’s in your face. In ‘Dam’, Victor is a minute character in the whole thing. I really tried to ground him as much as possible. I gave him a very different voice to me. He’s not a bad guy. I think a lot of people underestimate me as an actor. I would say I’m one of the best actors in the country and, if I’m given a chance, I can show people. I will say, South Africa as a whole is sleeping on my talent. For me, I will keep on climbing mountains and standing on mountains and still make sure I push on and show people how great I am. I want to be able to be creating content on social media, I wanna be doing stand-up comedy, I want to be producing content and I want be writing scripts and I want to be acting in as many versatile roles as possible. I’m unapologetic when I say I believe I’m one of the most versatile performers/ entertainers this country has. I’m out to prove it and I take no enemies! Siv Ngesi: I’m respectful, I’m humble, I’m here to f**k shit up and I’m not here to play, The Post, March 06 2021 I am unapologetic about celebrating my achievements. I am one of the most underrated entertainers in the country – and people tend to call me controversial, but I find that quite unusual because I have only ever been me – completely so. I think people don’t realise that comedy is an art – it really teaches you so much about engaging with people, and with the material one produces. Another thing with comedy is that the stakes are so high. You have to make people laugh. There is nothing that evokes quite as much pressure than when your performance depends on the reaction of the audience. Comedy is entirely dependent on the pace of the performer; while you are expressing one thought, another one has to be lined up already to land with the audience in a seamless way. It is a performance rooted in multi-tasking. It really brought me to engaging with politics, and South African history – it requires a lot of background knowledge, and unfortunately I feel that socially we are becoming incredibly sensitive; in which we have to remain correct in everything that is said even within the comedic format. It’s a little bit like being porn star – and then COVID comes and you can’t have sex so you end up watching other people having sex online. That’s how I feel about performing comedy on Zoom. Well, I was fortunate enough to grow up with something that many people did not have – and that was an incredible mother. My mother believed in me, and as I was the last born yet the first boy, I was always continually told I was special. All my life. I was super energetic as a kid, and my mom was told to put me on Ritalin – but she refused, and put me in drama and sports instead – and that changed my life. There is no plan B for me, the only plan is to enforce plan A, and that’s all I have ever done and will ever do. I am unapologetic about celebrating my achievements. I am one of the most underrated entertainers in the country – and people tend to call me controversial, but I find that quite unusual because I have only ever been me – completely so. I unapologetically believe I am one of the most talented people in the country. I have worked too hard and come to far to back down. The goal will always be to be remembered as one of the most talented performers to come out of the country. I am fascinated by improving, learning and being the best version of myself that can possibly exist. Will people recognize this? It’s none of my business actually, all I can do is continue to pursue this goal with the dedication that I do every-single-day. Doubt kills dreams, and I will not rest until I have achieved everything I have set out to, and to be remembered for that too. Having said that, what people think has nothing to do with me. Masculinity is like nuclear power; it can be harnessed for both extreme destruction, while it can also be incredibly necessary and useful for the balance of life. In the right hands, it can do great and positive things. The problem is toxic masculinity. Around last year in lockdown, I came to this point of reflection about being 34 years old and having been taught such negative things about masculinity my whole life that I need to unlearn. So I started doing drag, ballet and pole dancing – and particularly with pole, I have been competing internationally. The perception is that these mediums are easy; ascribed to femininity, which is seen as fragile. I want to live in a world where my future son can wear a dress, and no one can say shit about it – nor question his masculinity. I will consistently help to grow drag in this country; that is part of my mission. I want to live in a world where people don’t have to “come out” – that spectrum of sexuality is normalized and nuanced, and respected for being so. Our Chat with One of SA’s Biggest Names in Entertainment, Siv Ngesi, September 20 2021 I was able to hire a Cadillac from 1955, and had to (illegally!) buy wifi coupons because they didn’t have wifi in most places. travel to meet myself, and to develop parts of myself that tend to get left behind in day-to-day life. Travelling has taught me that we are all the same, it is an equalising force. I hate being confined to one place! With an estimate 9 995 Rhinos poached in the last decade, the plight of the rhino is one that the world needs to listen to. Worth more than gold per gram, the rhino horn is in demand, yet has proven to have absolutely no value for medicinal purposes (nor any other purposes) – its keratin, nothing more than your nails on your hand and feet. When I say “plan” I mean, I’m getting a backpack and booking a flight. I’ll see what happens when I get there. ‘I travel to meet myself’ – Siv Ngesi on the Eastern Cape, Cuba and scuba,Getaway, February 18 2022 Well, let’s start; let’s begin! Let’s start with blacks! I’m going to speak about all races, so everyone will get a chance to be offended! Now the blacks in this country love their delicacies when it comes to food,” Ngesi told the crowd. “You know – sheep heads, intestines, sheep legs, chicken feet…. I do, too! But my white friends are always like, ‘Ah just get that away from me boet (brother)! It bloody stinks; I’m going to vomit!’ But I’m the same when a white person gives me salad; I’m like, ‘Hayi (no)! Get that away from me, man, before I vomit! I want chicken! I remember him putting his hand on my shoulder and asking me to take a seat at his table! Blacks in this country don’t believe they suffer allergies at all; they say that’s a white thing. They say only white people have sinuses. How many white people have you ever heard doing this?Sinuses, black people! Those are sinuses! With all these broken toys in the townships, a lot of black kids grew up thinking that Barbie was a half-blind paraplegic doll! Now you have these black girls [saying], ‘Ah, shame, poor Barbie! Poor white girls, man! Afrikaners will complain about everything and blame everything on blacks. Potholes – ‘It’s the blacks!’ No rain – ‘It’s the bloody blacks!’ Racial quotas in sports – ‘It’s the blacks’ fault, man! You always seem to be walking around in two-tone shirts…chest out…stomach out! They love buying wine in boxes, because of that plastic bladder inside. When they’re drunk on the wine, they blow up the bladder and use it as a pillow when they pass out. I believe that I have a gift to present race issues and insults and so on in a comic way that doesn’t offend people. If I say something that’s extreme and ludicrous, people will be like, ‘Hah; it’s just Siv; it’s just Siv.’ My show is not a show that anyone can do. Race is my thing; I am the Ace of Race. And you can’t just pick up my script and try to do the same thing because a lot of people will fail. There are people out there who can do it but it’s a certain kind of je ne sais quoi [special, mysterious quality] that you need to have. Me being black does help me, but white people can tell the same jokes – but they have to tread lightly. By tread lightly I mean they must show a certain level of respect and must tell the jokes not in an aggressive, angry way. I learnt that from David [Newton; a leading white South African comedian]. David says things about race that other white comedians would never have the [nerve] to say. But he puts on a smile and delivers his material in a way that somehow doesn’t offend people. It’s all about personality. Truth, relate-ability, and just being able to laugh and chuckle [are important elements of my work]. I’m not the funniest; I’m not the most talented. But I can tell you one thing – I know how to put the two together with hard work. So I got to experience white people, black people; all different shades of people. I witnessed that we are [all] the same – but we’re still very different and we need to celebrate those differences. In my show I want people to laugh, not just at other people, but they must laugh at themselves. I have a mission and my mission is to take racism down, man!The only time there’ll be no racism is when we’re all coloreds [people of mixed race], from interbreeding. And I can’t wait that long. I have to do my bit now to make people realize that we’re all basically same, no matter what our skin color says. We all want to be happy in life, and to have food and shelter and safety and security. I’ve met [white] racists who get along with me because they have seen that I’m ‘different’ [than] the other blacks; [the different] in inverted commas…. It shows you that it’s not about the color of your skin. It’s got a lot to do with background and upbringing and beliefs…. It’s a cultural thing, or even a class thing. A lot of Afrikaans people love me because I love rugby and we have something in common. So if you can find a link with someone, a common purpose, that’s the most important thing…. Then skin color is insignificant,” said Ngesi. “So, simply because I love rugby, white people who profess not to like black people, like me. This shows that their dislike of black people isn’t based on skin color. It’s based on cultural differences. I want people to leave my show feeling proud to be South African and knowing that in South Africa the only thing that should be separated by color is the laundry. South African Performer Combats Prejudice with Humor, VOA (April 5 2013) External links Category:Actors from South Africa Category:Comedians from South Africa Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Xhosa people