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6 hilarious satires to stream this weekend


Cape Town - Political satires, genre spoofs, mockumentaries, sharp parodies and intelligent imitations provide much-needed comic relief at the end of the year that’s felt like the longest in history. You’ll find all of these on internet TV this weekend.

1. Tali’s Wedding Diary (Showmax)

The first Showmax Original stars Julia Anastasopoulos as Tali, a complete narcissist who becomes obsessed with the idea of the perfect wedding, especially since there’s a film crew to record all the highs and lows of the build-up to her big day. This mockumentary gives very funny and astute insight into the increasingly crazy mind of the bride-to-be, and the very talented supporting cast does an excellent job of being a foil to self-obsessed Tali. All eight episodes are on Showmax, and you can binge them all in under three hours. That’s Friday night, sorted.

2. Wonderboy for President (Showmax)

In this political mockumentary, South Africa needs a new leader, a breath of fresh air, someone credible who truly cares about the wellbeing of their people. The ANC find the perfect candidate, deep in the Eastern Cape, and bring him back to Egoli to groom him as the heir to Number One’s throne. This crude comedy doesn’t shy away from delicate matters, and if you’ve had it up to here with real-life political shenanigans, it will have you rolling in the aisles. The supporting cast includes Helen Zille, Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema and Loyiso Gola as themselves, as well as Lara Lipschitz, who plays Tali’s frenemy-in-chief in Tali’s Wedding Diary.

3. HBO's 7 Days in Hell (Showmax)

Andy Samberg stars as notorious tennis star Aaron Williams - that’s right, a member of Serena and Venus’s family. He was adopted by the Williamses when he was a boy, which cemented his place in the tennis hall of fame - that, and his terrible temper, and the fact that he once murdered someone on the court at Wimbledon and then pushed (pushed!) the Duke of Kent. This wonderfully silly mockumentary sees Williams take on British tennis star Charles Poole (Kit Harington), who’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic, in the longest-running tennis match ever. Interviewees include Serena Williams, John McEnroe and David Copperfield as themselves.

4. Hotel (DStv Now, Showmax)

Think Fawlty Towers meets The Office and you’ll have this very funny Afrikaans mockumentary about a failing hotel in Mpumalanga. The manager Ferdie (James Borthwick) even reminds us of Basil Fawlty, with his moustache and his irate outbursts at his staff. Schalk Bezuidenhout plays the actor-turned-bell-boy Danny in an incredible performance as someone who’s so oblivious of his ineptitude that you almost can’t blame him. Season 1 is on Showmax and Season 2 is available on DStv Now.

5. American Vandal (Netflix)

This laugh-a-minute true-crime satire is about a high school prank that involves 27 cars in the staff parking lot at Hanover High being spray-painted with phallic images, and the ensuing investigation to find the perpetrator. If you’ve watched true-crime drama Making a Murderer, also on Netflix, you’ll recognise the formula and find it even more ridiculous and clever.

6. The Campaign (Netflix)

Will Ferrell plays Cam Brady, a Democrat running an uncontested race to be elected into Congress. Uncontested, that is, until Zach Galifianakis’ Marty Huggins appears. Marty is so incompetent it’s a joke - except it’s not, because he’s funded by a couple of billionaires with zero scruples. Being able to have a laugh at US politics will make a nice change after a week that saw a controversial real-life Senate race in Alabama.


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