"Ventriloquist". Who said that? Conrad Koch, most likely. Conrad, for those not familiar with his work, is reinventing the art and serving it up in his utterly unique, wacky, and madly funny way. As the only ventriloquist currently working South Africa 's comedy circuit he is something of an exception.

In short it is ventriloquism meeting stand up comedy - awake, alive, intelligent and completely crazy!

Conrad, trained through Cape Town's College of Magic and on the stages of the revitalized South African comedy industry, is also an anthropologist through UCT (B. Soc Sci (hons)), with a masters degree in psychology through WDHR, an Australian based organization, with a special focus on communications. He has even worked as a professional facilitator for corporate self-help workshops. This psychological and humanities bent gives Conrad a poignant and honed insight into the zany characters he creates on stage.

In the show the characters, including a Scottish tokoloshe, a vegetarian vulture, a feminist Sandton kugel, and a Cape Flats drag queen, play on Conrad's and his audience's psyche in an extremely entertaining, and often thought provoking comic encounter. His puppets have been handcrafted by South Africa 's leading special effects designers, and with his comic and ventriloquial abilities make for one of South Africa 's most exciting corporate acts. Conrad's shows can last anything from five to fifty minutes, depending on the client's needs. The show is clean and geared towards a thinking adult audience, and can be adapted or even rewritten for the situation - Conrad can literally make anything talk.

Conrad has worked in the UK, Australia, and in SA , is a frequent guest at corporate functions and repeatedly rebooked for some of South Africa 's biggest entertainment events e.g.

The 5fm Heavyweight Comedy Jams, Night of 100 Stars, Smirnoff International Comedy Festival, Oppikoppi Music Festival, South African Comedy Festival in London, Jerry Springer Show etc.

" Taking ventriloquism beyond anything in the UK or America " SUNDAY TIMES, London

" Brilliantly executed " THE ARGUS, Cape Town

" Delightfully surprising " THE SA TIMES, UK

" Hilarious " Mail & Guardian

" Brings the roof down " THE INDEPENDENT, London

" The best.actually the only ventriloquist in South Africa " Alex Jay

" You'll be needing two Mic's?" Sound Technician

As far as corporate clients Conrad has worked for everyone from AAHA to Zytek.

" Sharp, able to assess his audience correctly, elicits audience participation. Brilliant" ESKOM .

" It was just what we needed - Conrad was very professional and (needless to say) funny " BP.

Check out his website at www.conradkoch.com