I’ve had the pleasure of watching Emile Minnie perform many times over the years.

I’ve always enjoyed his shows – not only because he’s such a talented musician – he has this lovely, charming way about him. Minnie really seems thrilled to be on stage and happy entertaining people. And it rubs off on his audience.

Joining him on stage is Godfrey Johnson, also no stranger to audience interaction!

Having missed opening night, I went to the second evening’s performance – on a miserable and very wind swept Cape Town evening - which resulted in a rather small audience.
Undeterred, Minnie and Johnson embraced their “intimate” audience (as Minnie called us) to put on a very energetic and engaging show – I daresay more so than had it been a larger audience. And it worked beautifully in the confines of the Kalk Bay Theatre.

Minnie and Johnsons’ show is broken into three parts: Solo sets by Minnie, then Johnson and finally a combined show featuring both artists. Minnie’s show features some of his own work (Gee My Jou Hand) and traditional cabaret numbers, including a delightfully funny Le Vie En Rose – with a lot of emphasis on the “R”. Johnson’s set is also not short on humour - but takes a more serious turn with very powerful performances of “Carousel” and “Amsterdam”.

For the final segment of the show Minnie and Johnson provide a slick performance, effortlessly exchanging quips and turns behind the piano. Songs to look out for include Tainted Love from Soft Cell and Bonnie Tyler’s I Need a Hero (which our intimate audience provided the chorus for) and their rather unique Madonna – Lady Gagga – Die Antwoord mash up.

Catch Minnie and Johnson at the Kalk Bay Theatre Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8:30pm until the 8th. Tickets are R75.

Jeremy Abbott is a born and bred Capetonian and loves everything about Cape Town,

except the southeaster, traffic jams, taxis... the list goes on... and so does he...

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