Ex-Hudsonian Virgil Prins ~ guaranteed to make you smile!
“I wanted to meet with you today but I’ve just got off the bus from Johannesburg, there’s no water in East London and I’m all dirty and stuff! Man, this water crisis is definitely going into my show next week!”
Virgil Prins is a funny guy. It’s kind of difficult to explain really as it’s not like he tells jokes all day long. He’s simply funny… his conversation, the odd wisecrack here and there, and of course, he’s sharp, in a Trevor Noah kind of a way. Totally on the ball, with observational humour that I, for one, find very funny. And on top of all this, he’s a lovely guy too, a real genuine, salt of the earth character.
Now residing in Johannesburg, Virgil grew up in East London and attended both Hudson Park Primary and High School. As a student of Rhodes University studying Law and Management, comedy was the last thing on his mind, despite his friends frequently reminding him that he was a funny guy. He tells me that things shifted in his life one day when he was walking around the
Campus with a friend and they spotted some posters advertising auditions for an Improv group opening. His friend (who was also very funny), asked Virgil if he would accompany her along to the auditions and he agreed, only to find himself alone on the night itself after she didn’t show up. Still not considering himself funny enough to audition, he hung around and told the organisers that he was only there waiting for a friend… but when it was clear she wasn’t going to make it, he ended up participating and, not surprisingly, being selected.
That was pretty much the start of it all for Virgil, opening doors to opportunities he had never previously considered. After graduating from Rhodes with a BCom in Law and Management, he returned to East London and found employment as a teacher for a few months. During this period he would do the odd comedy show around the city, mainly at 9 Miles (since closed down), making a name for himself locally.
Eventually, Virgil decided to spread his wings a little and make the move to Johannesburg. He didn’t have a job waiting for him there, so he was fully prepared to work as hard as he needed to make things happen. And happen they did. He made sure he moved in the right circles and did what he needed to do to get his name out there.
His passion for comedy and his perseverance paid off. He landed himself frequent gigs around Johannesburg and people began to sit up and take careful notice of Prins (as he is known in the comedy world).
In this past year alone, Virgil has won several nationwide competitions, including the opportunity to travel overseas to Switzerland for the Montreux Comedy Festival, performing with none other than Loyisa Gola, South Africa’s ambassador for the event. He tells me that it was an absolutely amazing experience, especially as it was his first time out of the country, and he was feeling seriously happy and blessed throughout his entire stay. He said that by the time it came for him to perform, he was so unbelievably amped that he gave one of the most radiant performances of his life. Given that he’s a radiant enough person off-stage, his character would have undoubtedly shone through like never before and I can well imagine the kind of performance he gave.
Virgil has since gone on to share the stage with the likes of Mark Banks, Chris Forrest and Mark Lottering and is now a well-known figure in comedy circles around the country. He is well aware that he has more work to do and further to go but he is most definitely not afraid of the hard work, not when comedy is such an enormous passion.
His upcoming one-man show at The Guild Theatre next Tuesday is a first for him and he is extremely excited about it. For Virgil, the Guild was always a place that he held in awe and he made a promise to himself that one day he would perform there… now’s the time for that dream to come true as he brings home his talent to the local stage. It is a very special occasion for him, to finally perform in a place that he has carried in his heart all this time, plus to grace the stage in front of his family, friends, and many supporters. It is undoubtedly going to be a proud moment for all.
His show ‘Unnecessary’, will take a comedic look at the things, ideas and situations in life that we deem, well, unnecessary. It is also a look into the life and story of Virgil, and will feature some of his best comedy…comedy that many have come to love, and of course, comedy which has a light sprinkling of the unnecessary. Opening for him next week will be his good friend and fellow funnyman Ebenhaezer Dibakwane, a comic Virgil describes as absolutely brilliant.
I already know that the show is going to be something really special. And since he has worked so very hard in turning his dream of performing at The Guild Theatre into a reality, I think the least we can do, as fellow East Londoners, is support this young, incredibly bright and of course, extremely funny, man.
Click here to find out more about Virgil’s show and get your tickets today… I promise you won’t regret it.