Review: Dalin Oliver charms the audience with 90 Day Comedian

Fiercely and proudly South African and very relatable:  Dalin Oliver is wrapping up his 90 Day Comedian SA tour in Cape Town, at Artscape (October 1 to November 30, 2024).  The season has sold out. An additional show has been added – at 3pm on December 1. At the opening show in the Artscape Arena Oliver charmed the audience with stories about his recent tours internationally.

The title his 90 Day Comedian is a reference to his 90-day work visa that Oliver received for his first trip to Australia. “So it was similar to the 90 Day Fiancé, the American reality series. While they were looking for love. I was looking for laughs and punchlines with gags tight enough to get past border control. It wasn’t funny. I was worried I would get deported.” The South African tour has taken him to Johannesburg, Durban, Paarl, East London, Gqeberha and now Cape Town. 

Oliver a school teacher turned stand-up comic is celebrating 14 years in comedy. His convivial rapport with the audience is a hallmark of his comedic style which is evidenced in his show in the intimate Artscape Arena. Dalin comedy is often jabbed with hard hitting observations but he doesn’t get nasty. He can be stern teacher but he means it for our own good.

In addition to regaling the audience with reminisces of his touring abroad, he mused how we frame things in South Africa, in relation to for example the lingo in Australia. For example, he gave a delightful ode to the “bakkie” and all its permutations of meaning in South Africa.

Oliver got personal, talking about his recent nuptials to singer Maxine Caesar. In the question and answer session, he was asked about his marriage and It’s Family! It’s Festive! the show that he will be in, along with Maxine, her father (Richard Ceaser) and brother (Vaughan Ceasar) at the Baxter, on Sunday December 29. The Caesar family is an illustrious musical family. In the question and answer session on opening night of 90 Day Comedian, Oliver delighted the audience with the insights into his own family (the Oliver family) and its love of making music – for fun. See clip: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMh3LS7TF/

The show on December 29 is titled It’s Family! It’s Festive! and will be taking place  +in the garden at the Baxter from 5.30pm. It  is very much geared for family audiences. Booking link here:  https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1553866379 For tickets for 90 Day Comedian, the show on December 1 (the rest of the season has sold out): https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1549574539

✳ Pic of Dalin Oliver by Rizqua Barnes. Supplied.