After spending time in front of the camera on Showmax’s “Spinners”, comedian David Isaacs gets behind the camera to direct the new comedy, “Mince Jou Hare”.
The show is a feel-good story that sees Frieda, played by actress Melissa de Vries, who quits her factory job to set up a hair salon.
Multi-award-winning Isaacs, who has been on the comedy scene for nearly three decades, says through a statement, that the new show is a “fun exploration of family life in modern-day South Africa”.
“Comedy is hard to get right. I like the fact that as a director I can create the conditions for people to have fun.
“If people have fun while doing the work and they’re not under stress or feeling bad about themselves, generally you’ll get a really great project at the end. This then creates an organic comedy because you can’t write a lot of this, you have to find it in the moment,” he shares.
He says he enjoyed being a part of something that was light-hearted and fun.
“I think people are yearning to laugh about situations that they are used to… Their family, their friends, the spots they find themselves in.”
Isaacs adds that the show creates a sense of nostalgia for those who grew up watching comedy.
“People go through waves of interest. We were inundated with sitcoms and then they went away, and then we get older and become the people in the boardrooms making the decisions, and there’s a nostalgia for sitcoms again.”
He adds, “It’s short enough to just get into something, watch it quickly, have a laugh and then move on with your day.”
“Mince Jou Hare” is set in the fictional town of Hex Valley in the Western Cape. The show was created and produced by Isaacs.
It stars comedian Dugald Pieterse as Frieda’s husband, Vincent; Bianca Flanders as her best friend Julia; and Franka Kirby in a breakthrough role as her daughter, Jody.
Keenan Arrison, Lee-Ann van Rooi, Euodia Samson and Gershwin Mias also join the show with Emile Smit, who rounds out the stellar cast as Frieda’s love-struck neighbour.
Isaacs, who recently starred as Nazeem in “Spinners”, a series that shone the light on the spinning culture of the Cape Flats, says he is happy to see more opportunities opening up for coloured actors.
“Now there is more emphasis on storytelling and whose stories we are telling. Who are these people? And how can I tell these stories? How can I represent them?
“I feel so lucky now that there is a whole library of different characters that I can choose from in the coloured community.
“A whole field has opened up as to what roles are now available for coloured actors. And you can see that diversity in ‘Mince Jou Hare’ and the way it represents coloured people, who are all different but just happen to live in the same small town.”
The first episode of “Mince Jou Hare” is currently streaming on Showmax with new episodes dropping every Monday.
Watch the trailer below.