Comedian & Entertainer

Anne Hirsch is funny. She is also smart and savvy and has digitised the South African comedy culture with The Anne Hirsch Show on YouTube.

She has performed and co-written three one-woman shows, was the winner of the second season of SABC’s So You Think You’re Funny, was labelled The Next Big Thing in the Glamour Women of the Year 2013 awards, and is the only white woman to have performed in David Kau’s Blacks Only Comedy Tour.

She’s all about looking at South Africa through a quirky lens that often highlights some pertinent issues.

“It’s amazeballs to live in a country that writes its own comedy every day,” says Hirsch. “I’m inspired by our diversity, by the crazy news I read and the people that I meet.”

Hirsch believes that it’s important for all young South Africans to stand up and live their dreams because nobody else is going to do it for them, although she does recommend that while you are dreaming big it’s best to have a back-up plan.

She is also an advocate of passing on skills to the next generation.

“I think Michael Jackson was onto something when he said: ‘Heal the world. Make it a better place. For you and for me and the entire human race’,” says Hirsch.

“Then again, he also said: ‘There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time. Thriller night. Thriller!’ so maybe he’s not the best source of inspiration.”

With her hugely successful online show already moving into its fourth season, Anne says that it’s important for more resources to be given to growth in the arts.

“People are constantly complaining about the standard of television here, but they forget that most successful comedy shows overseas have huge teams of writers and funding,” she says.

“We can only improve once we get the resources and development, which I think is slowly happening. Comedy has become rock ‘n roll in South Africa and it’s a great time to be funny.”
— Tamsin Oxford

Twitter: @Anne_Hirsch Facebook: TheAnneHirschShow YouTube: theannehirschshow