Conrad Koch is one of South Africa’s most in demand comedy talents. He combines hilarious comedy with world-class puppetry, and has done so for over fifteen years to local and international acclaim. Conrad was the winner of the 2010 Entertainer of the Year award, and of a 2012 Standard Bank Ovation Award from the National Arts Festival. He was a nominee for 2014 SA Comic of the Year, and won The Times Comic’s Pen Award for 2014, a double International EMMY nominated comedian.
What drives Chester Missing? | A man with a suitcase. I am a puppet.
What is your LIFE-MISSION in one sentence? |It’s my life mission to end racism.
What do you think is often the difference between people who are good at what they do and people who are great at what they do? | Commitment and focus. I’m not a fan of the word focus, because it’s cheesy, like cheap Ford type cheesy, but the truth is that very little beats the power of singular intent. And I know how to focus, mainly because I am a puppet and have no eyelids. We can’t control what life will throw at us, what suitcase you will be put into, or what airline will lose you (in my case it was Air France, true story), but you can control what you do each morning. Focus, feedback, calibrate, repeat is the secret to all success, unless you are Donald Trump. Then just wait for your dad to give you the cash.
What is one talent or strength of yours, which has been critical to your success? | Being a puppet has really helped. It means my skin is thick. I have been punched by politicians and racists alike. Sometimes at the same time. Focus on whats helping you, the people, the events, and move around what isn’t. Too often we become obsessed with what isn’t serving us – from internet trolls to load shedding, instead of mining whats working. The advantage of being a puppet is that no matter what happens it’s never actually my fault. It’s like being an Eskom executive.
When you get / got STUCK, what caused it and how did you get going again? | Getting stuck is all part of getting to where you want to go. It’s going to happen. So instead of wasting mental energy on the fact that you are stuck, look around at what alternative routes being stuck makes apparent to you. Creativity is fueled by constraint. No matter how stuck you feel, always remember I’m just a puppet and I have literally won a court case.
What are the principles and values that you believe are important to live by? | Eating, breathing and pooing. If you leave one of those out you will die.
What are the critical skills that you have used and worked on improving, in attaining your success? | Playing to your strengths. As a puppet I am really good at asking uncomfortable questions, because the only thing worse than being nailed by a puppet is getting angry at one. Existing and not existing has advantages that human beings don’t. If you play to the one thing that makes you exceptional nobody can touch you.
What is your biggest weakness? | I’m made out of latex. I melt in the sun.
Can you share a time in which you either doubted yourself the most or had great fears, yet faced up to them and conquered them? | I doubt myself all the time. I’m a puppet! I literally can’t do anything unless someone else sticks their hand inside of me. But focusing on your doubts is not how to succeed. Focus on what you can do. Now I’m a double EMMY nominated, award winning, globally recognised puppet who has had numerous TV, radio and print media spots, and gets called by actual experts for my opinion. I even wrote an award winning book. The time I doubted myself most was when I was lost in France by an airline. But social media saved me. Book me and maybe I’ll tell you about it.
What do you want to achieve next and what’s in the way? | I want to take my conversation on race and South Africa to the world. Translating it to a global audience is working incredibly well. Like all things though, it just takes time to make as accessible as I would like it to be.
Petra Škarja is a young entrepreneur with inspirational life story, where motto JUST DO IT takes an important part. She is an author of two best sellers in Slovenia and an organizer of the biggest event for women entrepreneur in Slovenia. She says she is just a girl who decided to make her own way […]
Garth Walker is the founder of design studio, Mr Walker. His interests lie in developing and encouraging a design language “rooted in the African experience” and it is this that he is best known for. Since 1995 and some 24 issues later, Walker has published Africa’s only experimental graphics magazine, i-jusi. He has been widely […]
Andile Khumalo is the the ex Chief Investment Officer of MSG Afrika, a media and communications group. He is also the founder of I am an Entrepreneur, an online platform to find and assist entrepreneurs in South Africa. Andile was named one of Mail & Guardian‘s Top 200 Young South Africans in 2012. Andile Khumalo […]
Jessica Dewhurst has been an active member of the Edmund Rice Network for 13 years, a volunteer in ER projects for over 9 years, and the Networks Youth Coordinator for 2 years. She is also the chairperson of the Edmund Rice Associates Young Adult group in Cape Town. In December of 2013, Jessica was appointed […]
Stig Severinsen is a four-time World Champion freediver and holder of multiple Guinness World Records and the author of Breatheology – The Art of Conscious Breathing. Stig is also the founder of the health & performance optimizing concept Breatheology® Stig Severinsen Definition Of Success | Success to me is being able to live your dreams […]
Gary Kirsten is a former South African cricketer and the World Cup winning coach of the Indian Cricket Team. He played 101 Test matches and 185 One-day internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman. He has recently established a cricket academy named the Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy (GKCA). Kirsten […]
Stefan Antoni is South Africa’s very own “Howard Roarke” – creatively brilliant, outlandishly bold and prolific. He is today, without doubt, one of the most formidable and most decorated architects that South Africa has produced in recent times. Together with his partners and colleagues at SAOTA, he has continued to stretch the boundaries of creative […]
Simeon Oriko is a young entrepreneur, who is the founder and Executive Director of The Kuyu Project, which is a digital literacy initiative aimed at teaching African high school students how to use social media and other digital tools to effect social change in their communities. Another project Simeon is involved in is Jamlab which […]
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