There’s a sketch in the new Alan Committie show that had me crying with laughter. Actually there were several, but the most memorable not-a-dry-eye-in-the-house moment saw our portly comedian dangling precariously from a silken sheet wearing a fetching red leotard and leggings.

Aerial gymnastics was all the rage, he’d explained, so he’d been practising for us.

I don’t know if the red was a deliberate choice or sheer good luck, but it did make him look rather like an EFF recruit and tied in beautifully to the godsend of the State of the Nation chaos, which he’d used earlier to craft a topical new intro. “It’s a tough act to follow,” he said, “but hopefully I can get to the same level of comedy.”

Committie is always sparking off new ideas, and in The Sound of Laughter he’s absolutely blazing. It’s another of his traditional one-man shows and for me it’s the funniest so far. Good value too, with two generous halves where the pace never flags for a moment. Even when he becomes his alter ego Johan van der Walt, a scene that I usually find a little tedious, the humour is dished up generously.

At one stage Committie shows a short video of other comedians telling a joke, and when a cheeky slide appears saying something like ‘aren’t you glad you’re watching me instead’, you gigglingly agree.

The Sound of Laughter is loosely based around a theme of The Sound of Music, but as ever Committie shoots off into a dozen different directions. What’s admirable is how the patter always loops back in on itself, with off-the-cuff asides harping back to previous jokes to build a continuingly funny conversation rather than disjointed segments.

He has another fabulous knack of great audience interaction in a way that’s never demeaning. He’s probably one of the few comedians who makes people actively want to be picked out by him for his teasing, like the geography teacher whose profession sparked off another string of jokes.

He’s incredibly clever and quick thinking, and while he did have a day to weave in his State of the Nation lampooning, a slot where we Tweet or submit comments by SMS during the interval feeds him fresh material that he capitalises on instantly.

He spans the Banting diet, breathes new wit into the Oscar Pistorius trial, tackles yoga and disses SAA. Committie literally has decades of experience to draw on, and he’s nowhere near done. “I’m sorry if I’m having more fun than you are,” he quips at one stage. There’s no fear of that given this superb performance.

The Sound of Laughter runs at Montecasino Theatre until 15 March. DM

Photo: Jesse Kramer

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