This one-off event utilised the universal language of laughter to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela charities by uniting 10 of SA's cutting edge comedians - Trevor Noah, Marc Lottering, John Vlismas, Tumi Morake, Nik Rabinowitz, Ndumiso Lindi, Chris Forrest, David Kau, Riaad Moosa and Barry Hilton - all performing in the same evening.
Gearhouse's Tim Dunn was asked by promoter and show producer, Roddy Quinn, to create a visual concept for this high profile showcase that was enjoyed live by over 4500 people.
Dunn rose to several technical and creative challenges. One was producing a sophisticated, yet uncomplicated stage look that allowed the performers to communicate directly with the audience and feel like they were in a much more intimate space than the cavernous Super Bowl.
To aid the technical flow of a very busy show, Dunn integrated control of the outro audio cues for each artist, applying video effects and running them from his grandMA lighting console.
Dunn had the idea of a really open stage, clear of set, clutter and distractions, with a cross shaped LED screen, which consisted of a large portrait shaped section in the middle, dividing two smaller landscape sections at the bottom. "I really wanted something contemporary and alternative to the standard two side screen IMAG set up," says Dunn. "That would have been too distracting. The whole idea was to keep everyone completely engaged with what was happening onstage."
The screen was made up from Lighthouse Technologies R16i/o ll modules and it was supplied by LED Vision
In keeping with the clean design aesthetics of the design, above the stage were two circular lighting trusses - of 16 and 6m diameters respectively - with a fabric ceiling stretched between.
Each comedian had their own music/audio intros and outros, and for convenience of control, Dunn and the team from Gearhouse Media (Chris Grandin and Marcel Wijnberger) decided that this should be run from the grandMA lighting desk via one of the MA VPUs.
It was the first time that they had run sound from the lighting desk, but the concept worked perfectly and also allowed Dunn to choose specific video clips and edit and match them to the audio - all adding to the visual dynamics of the presentation. "It gave us a really tight and coherent control that allowed us to integrate sound and visuals ... and apart from anything else, it was really good fun to be controlling sound from the lighting desk for once," concludes Dunn.
He kept the lighting clean and simple, using a rig of all Robe moving lights. A total of 24 ColorSpot 2500E ATs were positioned on the circular trusses and 23 of Robe's new REDWash LED wash fixtures were divided between the air trusses and the floor. Another eight Robe Robin Spot 300s on the floor were used for gobo texturing and colouring the circular ceiling and for some spectacular upstage beam-work.
Gearhouse Audio supplied an L-Acoustics sound system which was mixed by Johan Griesel.
(Jim Evans)
