Mark Banks this year celebrates 20 years as a one-man entertainer. He originally started in the performing arts at the age of 11 when uniquely he was able to balance an entire Zulu rondavel and its contents on his chin while singing I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing by the then-New Seekers.

In 1985 Mark Banks entered the Grahamstown Festival Eistedford and came 71 st out of an astounding lot of entries with his first one-man show Stars of South Africa. Since the year of his founding, Banks has endeavoured to perform at least one new show a year. Once these have been completed in Diane Wilson's Hout Bay garage they are then toured around the country, provinces, cities and zip codes. Among the many legendary shows Banks has written and performed in are the hilarious We're Not On Top. We're Inside (winner of the prestigious Epol Late Entry Award at the Gilooly's Farm Dog Show)

Other benchmark productions over the years and years and years have been:

•  It's Getting Harder (An early candid look at the White House)

•  Laughing all the Way to the Banks (a comic soporific)

•  The Titanic (a disaster)

•  The Kosher Father Christmas

•  A Bit off the Mark!

•  Stark Raving Mark!

•  Overstepping the Mark

•  Room with a Revue

•  Ghandi (a tribute)

•  Saturday Night Lemur (in association with the Madagaskar Men's Choir)

•  The Banks Act

•  Ek's a Doos from South Africa

When Mark Banks is not busy entertaining as a Comedian, Master of Ceremonies, Satirist and Satire related duties involving fun things, he moonlights with a guest spot on SAfm's Big Big Brunch show, BBC World Service Weather Report and occasionally helps out with Port Elizabeth's Radio Algoa Memories are Made of This - old folk's nostalgia request programme.

Mark Banks represented South Africa at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal in 1996 where he was awarded absolutely nothing as no awards are given at this prestigious event. It's not that sort of "do".

He is presently writing an autobiography about his years spent with himself during which period he got to know the character really well and managed to share anecdotes, songs and insight into a life less ordinary.

Devoted to his fellow man with exhaustive charity work in the areas of world wildlife, underprivileged endangered animals and 17 th century Florentine clock repair, Banks has always been a very humble and self deprecating member of the show business firmament. Among his achievements last year Banks wrote the screenplay for the English Patient , staged two complete touring ice shows in Europe and hand carved a life style statue of Celine Dion for the Durban City Hall steps in record time.