Pharanoid: A Stand Up Comedy Show by Ntobeko Ximba, directed by Andi Colombo.

Are you ready for a pharadigm shift? Let’s pharambulate on the pharameters of pharanormal South Africans together! What is iPhara? And why are South Africans so Pharanoid? Cape Town comedian Ntobeko Ximba answers these questions in his debut one-man show, aptly named Pharanoid.

The show debuted at Baxter Theatre in 2025, then travelled to the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and has just returned from a run at Toyota Woordfees 2025 in Stellenbosch.

Ntobeko won a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival 2024 as part of the creative team behind 32 Lavender Close. In 2023 and 2024, he performed as part of the trio stand-up show Proudly Problematic. He has performed at the Cape Town Comedy Club (RIP), Cape Town Funny Festival, and as far afield as the famous Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, California.

Directed by the visionary theatre-maker Andi Colombo, Pharanoid is a culmination of Ntobeko’s six years of stand-up comedy, and a hilarious and tightly-orchestrated reflection on being South African, from a silly yet thoughtful comedian. Frankly, his work, as Cue Online put it, is “sure to make you fall in love with dark humour”.

Audience feedback:
“Commentary about social class in SA was spot on, and your ability to improvise super impressive.”
“Sharp, quirky, tender, gorgeous”

Social media:
@phuphemini / Instagram
@ntobekoxoxo / TikTok
Ntobeko Ximba / Facebook

Ntobeko Ximba is a stand-up comedian based in South Africa. Originally from Durban, he moved to Cape Town to study Art Direction at the AAA school of advertising and spends most of his days coming up with funny ideas at an international ad agency. From 2018, he started doing stand-up comedy. Within 6 months of starting at the iconic Armchair Theatre in 2018, Ntobeko was performing at the Cape Town Comedy Club (RIP) and the Jive Cape Town Funny Festival. He even graced the famous Los Angeles Laugh Factory stage that same year. Since then, he has starred in the Savanna Newcomers showcase on DSTV and toured SA with The Proudly Problematic Tour including National Arts Festival for the past two years.

Performance history:
2024: National Arts Festival – Proudly Problematic Comedy Show, The Problematic Tour – Gqeberha, Cape Town TV – Performance and interview
2023: Woordfees Festival – Savanna Stage, Savanna Newcomer Showcase, Me Channel 115 showcase, Rising Stars of Stand Up – Protea Hotel, National Arts Festival – Proudly Problematic Comedy Show, National Arts Festival – Sundown concert host
2020: Cactus Comedy Club (webseries)
2018-2019: Armchair Theatre and various open mics, Cape Town Comedy Club Jive competition (Second Place winner), Jive Cape Town Funny Festival (2 weeks, nightly), LA Laugh Factory

Website: ntobeko.co.za/comedy

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