‘Son, we live in a world what has walls’: the comic genius of Afrikaans4Dummies

Tom Cruise stands proud in his Navy uniform, hair immaculate, righteous anger flowing through his veins and turns to Jack Nicholson who is sitting in the witness box. Then in a voice straight out of Joburg’s Southern Suburbs or a Joule Street second-hand car dealership asks: “Colonel Jessop, did you order the Code Red?”

All illusions are shattered and I challenge you not to burst out laughing. Welcome to the wonderful world of Afrikaans4Dummies, a YouTube channel that is dedicated to proving to the world “Why South Africans can’t do drama”.

The channel has been up and running for over a year now but in recent months, the mysterious team behind this channel seem to have really hit their stride and are breaking out into public consciousness.

Take a look at their latest parody of the new trailer building up to the Steve Jobs movie. The tagline for their version reads “Steve Jobs was a great visionary. This is the best biopic of the tech genius yet. His leadership and Apple’s contribution to our world should never be understated – but we wonder if the iPhone would have been the success we know today if Steve Job’s had been from Ventersdorp.”

Another gem to have emerged, and by far their most popular video yet, is the Wolf of Wall Street parody, which has notched up over 66 000 views since it was uploaded on the 27 September – just a few weeks ago. The manipulative trader / guru played by Matthew McConaughey teaches the young naïve Leonardo Di Caprio the tricks of the trade, which includes an introduction to cocaine. The sprinkling of Afrikaans and the use of Suikerbos as the song they hum are classic comic choices and suddenly it all makes sense why we don’t rule the world of Wall Street, let alone Hollywood.

Take a look:

They make it look so easy but there’s a lot of skill involved here and the lip-synching is pretty near faultless. The one aspect I thought was weak was that it seemed that the female characters in Steve Jobs were still being voiced by a man. Surely it would only strengthen the story to get some great female voices in as well. In fact, we’d love to see what they do with a rom-com like Notting Hill or 4 Weddings and a Funeral, not to mention a multi-racial cop drama. The possibilities are endless.

We reached out to the team on Twitter (@FunnyAfrikaans) but heard nothing back. Perhaps they like their anonymity. But in a world where comedy stars find their feet and their form on the internet, that anonymity might not last for very long. There’s a new comedy act in town and Suzelle DIY, Anne Hirsch and even Casper Lee should be watching their backs.
Check out their channel for more classics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0dN42OQV3HmQKhSGqfPGrw