Dailin Oliver new show: Dubai missiles and other funnies

Comedian Dalin Oliver turned a terrifying Dubai war scare into award-winning comedy show. He shares the funny on tour and at Montecasino. South African comedian Dailin Oliver went to Dubai expecting to catch a flight to Australia. Instead, he found himself stranded in the Middle East as missiles flew overhead, emergency warnings lit up mobile phones, and international flights were grounded. What began as a frightening scramble to get out of the country has since become Stuck in Dubai, getting the funny going, in a big way. Oliver’s unexpected adventure has already won an Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, Best Comedy Show and the Jury Prize at London’s Bitesize Festival, and a Best Comedy Show nomination at Stockholm Fringe Festival. Now he’s bringing the laughs home, with performances at Montecasino’s Studio Theatre in Johannesburg from 14 to 18 October. You got stuck in Dubai and turned it into an award-winning comedy show. Was there a moment when you thought, “I’m completely screwed, but at least I’ll get 60 minutes of material out of this”? At no point did I think a comedy show would come out of this. I was taking notes and jotting down funny situations, like the ones I posted about, but I didn’t think it would translate into a comedy show. A comedy show takes a couple of months, if not a couple of years, to write, and obviously, I hadn’t compiled any material from the experience yet. When I came home, I had a bit of a break. Then, in May, my wife, Maxine, asked, “Are you going to do a show about it?” I said, “I mean, Max, it takes a while to write a comedy show.” She said, “No, man, just trust the process, trust your comedy muscle, trust your experience, and do the show.” The beautiful thing is that, as South Africans, if your partner says, “I believe in you,” then you believe in yourself. In the end, I did the South African thing of turning a traumatic situation into something funny because that’s what you do as South Africans. We find humour in everything. What was the most ridiculous thing that happened to you in Dubai, the kind of thing that would make someone think you were lying if you told them at a braai? Honestly, the entire show, the entire experience, sounds fabricated. It sounds like I’m lying when I retell the story to people in real life. Within that story, I speak about seeing two missiles. My South African brain saw missiles, my South African brain had an international flight cancelled, and it had to process language like, “We have intercepted 200 ballistic missiles overnight.” Your South African brain goes, “What on earth is all of this?” International airspace was shut down, and your South African brain goes, “What do you mean international airspace is shut down?” You get the alerts on your phone, and I posted about this. It’s called an Amber Alert, when your phone buzzes and everyone’s phone buzzes around you. We got those alerts at the airport while we were about to leave on the very first flight from Dubai to Sydney. We received two of those Amber Alerts at the airport, and then you go, “This is a very real situation.” The entire show is based on real experiences and the experiences of other people. People go, “Phew, I don’t know if it’s true,” but it is true. Tales of missiles and mishaps. Picture: Supplied Your show is called “Stuck in Dubai”, but what’s the one thing that happened on that trip that was so outrageous or embarrassing that even you couldn’t put it in the show? There’s no embarrassment, so nothing is off-limits. I speak openly in the show. If I have to tell you about embarrassing things, then the secret’s out! What should Joburg audiences expect at Montecasino? There are very few people who have had this experience and are able to share it with people both within our borders and outside of them. A lot of people followed the story online. They might not know who I am, but they’ll recognise my face. The reason I’m proud of this show is that it solidifies the fact that South African and African stories have a place in the world. Our voices and our stories should be celebrated, and they can hold their own with a global audience while still being proudly South African.