Conrad Koch is a South African

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

best known for his character Chester Missing, a fictional political commentator who confronts racism and

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots ...

in post-apartheid South Africa. Koch and Missing gained fame through their performances on the television programme ''

Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola ''Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola'' (''Late Nite News'' or ''LNN'') is a South African late-night satirical news television series that aired weekly on e.tv and eNCA from September 2010 to April 2015. The show, featuring a variety of local stan ...

'' between 2010 and 2015, where Missing satirised the

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

administration as well as opposition politicians and became best known for interviewing politicians in a humorous style. Missing then became prominent as a way for Koch to examine the effects of apartheid and racism in South Africa as well as to address white privilege and systemic racism that he and others benefit from. Originally, Missing was designed to appear like a black person, but controversies over Koch, a white person, using a black character and accent led to the puppet being changed to have white "skin" and blue eyes. In 2014, Koch criticised singer

Steve Hofmeyr Steve Hofmeyr (born 29 August 1964) is a South African singer, songwriter, writer, actor and former TV presenter. Personal life Hofmeyr married actress Natasha Sutherland, whom he had met on the set of '' Egoli: Place of Gold'' in 1998. They h ...

using Missing for having made various racist statements, in particular by claiming black South Africans were the "architects of Apartheid", and called for companies to boycott his performances. In response, Hofmeyer sued Koch and asked for a protective order, which was denied. After being disrupted by the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 5 March 2020, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize had conf ...

, Koch returned to touring with the show ''Ramapuppet'' (a blend of ''Ramaphosa'' and ''puppet'') in 2022, where Missing was joined by other puppet characters. This show focused less on political satire and more on the daily lives and experiences of South Africans during the pandemic. Koch reportedly holds a master's degree in social anthropology from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Conrad South African stand-up comedians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Ventriloquists University of Cape Town alumni