Review: Despicable Hehe, theatrical masterclass in satire, puppetry and ventriloquism

Despicable Hehe with Conrad Koch and Chester Missing received a coveted Bronze Ovation Award at National Arts Festival in Makhanda, last year [2024]. This is a well-deserved award for an exceptional show, which is an astounding theatrical masterclass in comedy/satire, puppetry and ventriloquism. Koch is performing Despicable Hehe in Cape Town at Theatre on the Bay from February 10-15, 2025. After its premiere at NAF last year, the show went on tour. The Cape Town season is the wrap up leg of the tour.

I saw the show last night, February 11. It ends February 15. Do not miss this incomparable artist in a highly entertaining, hilarious show which is also breathtaking in its scope in terms of puppetry craft, ventriloquism and theatre. With this show, Koch has gone beyond “puppet guy” (the title of one of his previous shows). It is exhilarating theatre.

In his past stage shows, we saw Conrad, puppet guy, hauling Chester and the other puppets out of suitcases. There was inevitable chit-chat between Conrad and Chester about who was doing the manipulating and lots of quips about having his hand up his butt. As a political comic and satirist, the ventriloquist-puppet paradigm continues to provide a wealth of material for Koch as he puts words in his the mouths of puppets.

With He He, for me, Koch has gone beyond puppet guy with his menagerie of puppet characters. In some past shows, for me there was a sense of Conrad as puppet handler taking secondary position to the Alpha puppet, Chester who is adorable and captivating. The other puppets also tended to undercut him. In He He, Koch and the puppets are equal opportunity protagonists. I liked the format of the show, where appearances by the puppet characters are kept short. Koch is on stage as – himself – for longer periods than I have seen previously. He is not simply there to voice the puppets but there as Conrad Koch – satirist.

Koch’s physical manipulation of the puppets is extraordinary. For instance, he gleefully squashes and squeezes Chester’s latex head. He dazzles with his creation of a puppet out a hoodie. He has used DJ Hoodie in previous shows but in He He, the puppet character truly manifests as a protagonist. This is inspired puppetry of innovation. I loved the minimalism of Gunter, “a recently divorced German mosquito who’s hilariously bitter about love”. Vladimir Putin the Vampire is a scream- and I mean that metaphorically well. There is much to howl and scream about right now in this messed up world. There is hilarious and very clever material around President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. It is intensely current and fabulous. Cracked us up. The show ends with a grand finale set with Koch’s puppet Mr Dixon, a high school teacher. Mr D enthralls the audience with his power of recall from the audience participation moments.

Koch has a masters in anthropology – the study of humans. As a stage comedy/satirical ventriloquist, Koch uses inanimate objects – puppets – as scalpels to cut through layers of our so-called humanity – but with a light touch.  Koch says that in “recent years”, he has “leaned into the ‘politics of joy’—creating a space where people can laugh together without feeling alienated”.  Sure, this is evidenced in the show. It is not a lecture or a lesson. It is funny and fun but within that, there is much to reflect and ruminate on as Koch digs deep into our ruptured humanity. It makes for thrilling theatre.

❇Featured image – Conrad Koch with Mr Dixon, a high school teacher in Conrad Koch’s Despicable Hehe, enthralling the audience with his powers of recall, Theatre on the Bay, Cape Town, February 10-15, 2025. Image supplied.