Comedian Mark Johnson, of Avondale, says the show-business bug bit him when he was treading the boards in school plays, such as Fiddler on the Roof and Grease, when he was a teenager.
Mark says he always had a knack for orals while at The Settlers High School in Bellville.
“I started taking part in the annual school musicals and I played the lead in The King and I in 2000. My friends and I would do performances in front of the entire school whenever we had the chance. It was actually ridiculous, but we had so much fun.”
When he was a child, his family moved around a lot, going from the Eastern Cape to the Northern Cape before finally returning to the Western Cape and settling in Cape Town.
“We moved around a lot from the Eastern Cape to the Northern Cape and finally returning to the Western Cape to settle in Cape Town. We moved to Oostersee in 1995, and I started attending Boston Primary School. We have been living in Avondale since 1998.”
Mark did a Bachelor of Social Science degree at UCT, where he majored in social anthropology, English, literature and drama. He also holds a diploma in online marketing and lifestyle photography.
Some of his career highlights, he says, include interviewing comedian Barry Hilton on CapeTalk last year, clinching a modelling role in an international advertisement, and performing at Parker’s Comedy and Jive in Johannesburg, the Cape Town Comedy Club at the V&A Waterfront as well as performing and at the Mother City Comedy Festival at the Baxter Theatre.
Mark says he is looking forward to performing a gig at the Cape Town Comedy Club from Wednesday May 22 to Sunday May 26.
“I’ll be in Joburg later this year for more gigs. And the rest of the time you can see me at various venues around Cape Town such as MashTun in Woodstock, Trenchtown in Observatory, Craft Burger Bar in the CBD, Station on Bree and the Premium Sports Bar in Mitchell’s Plain.”
His parents have been his biggest supporters, he says.
“When I see others do well, it shows me that things are possible, that greatness takes time, and that challenges are not there to stop you but to make you stronger.”
His advice to youth wanting to break into the entertainment industry is: “Try it, do it, start now! Don’t be afraid of failure and learn from your wins as much as you would learn from your losses. If it were easy, everybody would do it.”
You can follow Mark on Instagram @markjrockslife
