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Johannesburg – How do you honour a Lifetime Achiever recipient? By grilling him, of course.
That's exactly what happened to veteran comedian Soli Philander at the Savanna Comic's Choice Awards Grilling of a Lifetime on Wednesday.
Soli, who has been named the Lifetime Achiever at this year's awards, was joined by an all-female panel who brought out the big guns as they roasted him all in the name of laughter.
Making up the grilling panel was singer Bianca Le Grange, who delivered a unique performance paying tribute to Soli through music, as well as comedians Mel Jones, Lihle Msimang and Shimmy Isaacs.
The host for the night was social media sensation Coconut Kelz, who had the audience in stitches from the get-go.
As the comedian in the hot seat, Soli had the privilege of choosing the grillers, opting for an all-female panel to celebrate and support women in comedy.
"When I started, I was pushing parameters, and that's what the female comedians are doing right now. Well, they have been for a while. I really wanted to acknowledge that," Soli told Channel24.
He laughs as he admits that he also thought an all-female panel would be a lot easier on him when it came to the roast. Sadly, that was not the case, as, in true grilling style, the ladies did not hold back.
Speaking to us about her role as the host on the evening, Coconut Kelz (real name Lesego Thlabi), said she was honoured to be hand-picked by Soli for the job.
She tells us that Soli was one of the first local comedy stars she looked up to as a youngster. " I've always wanted to use my comedy to have a social message. To make people learn something, to make people change something about themselves or look inside. He's one of the people I used as a benchmark," she adds.
The 2019 Savanna Comic's Choice Awards takes place on 7 September at the Gold Reef City Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg.
Tickets are available at Computicket.
