The Side of Kevin Fraser No One Talks About

Everyone knows Kevin Fraser for making people laugh.

But behind every sold-out show, viral video, and standing ovation is a man who's had to reinvent himself, question himself, and keep moving, even when no one was watching.

In this conversation, Kevin opens up about the transition from DJ to comedian, the pressure that comes with success, the mental battles most people never see, the discipline he's found through running, and what it really means to build a life with purpose.

We talk about identity, fame, masculinity, mental health, resilience, failure, and the search for meaning in a world that's constantly demanding more.

No scripts. No headlines. No filters.

Just one honest conversation with one of South Africa's most loved entertainers.

This is Kevin Fraser like you've never heard him before.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up guys? We're back on the Enjoy Edge. Today's guest definitely needs no introduction. So I'm not even gonna waste time on it. He is probably well, not probably, he is the best comedian to come out of South Africa. Kevin Fraser. Jeez, that's a intro.

SPEAKER_04 0:19

Thank you. How are you? Thank you for your time. I'm so excited. Pleasure. I'm excited. This is a more formal settling settling for me. So yeah, let's go for it.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

So, Kev, I'm gonna start off with you are one of the most rec recognizable South African entertainers. When did you first realize comedy is not a career?

SPEAKER_04 0:39

Jeez. Yeah, well, when you stop making money, then you can maybe take on a career. Um, no, but honestly, yeah, I think uh I was always a funny guy in school. Like that's obviously where you you start to have your your best social interactions with teachers. Well, actually, probably there's probably a few that'll have a few other things to say about me, but yeah, I was definitely a back chatter in class and always throwing comments and stuff. And I was always that funny kid amongst my peers, but it didn't click until later on in my in my my journey, you know. Once I'd started vlogging my life and getting that feedback loop, people deciding in the comments that that that I was funny. I was like, could this be a career?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Could this be an option? You know, and we're gonna get into what was before comedy now now. Just now. Just now. Do you you're born you're from KZN?

SPEAKER_04 1:30

Yes, born and bred. Well, born and fled, as some say.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Underneath everything, do you still feel like the Durban guy?

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Absolutely. I actually just had a trip there now, went down for my birthday, visit the family. Um, and it's always, yeah, it's always good to be home. And like I'll always be a Durban boy or banana boy, as they say.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

What does home mean to you now?

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Where the heart is, hey? Home is no, SA is always home, you know. It it always will be. It's you can't let Africa lose your, like, you can't let Africa lose your blood. You can't let Africa leave your blood. Is that fine? I think so.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

That is perfect. I love that. So that and that comes to my next question. I've been to two of your shows at Empress Palace.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Oh, have you? Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Your humour connects cultures, cultures across South Africa. Why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_04 2:22

I think for me, I've always tried to just be me and tell my stories, my observations through the typical essay lens, but also just by being me. But I've become good at reliving the situations that we all find ourselves in. And I think just last week I did a very probably one of my most viral pieces yet on home affairs. And we often try and unpack it with my team, and it's very simple. Every who hasn't experienced that in their everyday life. So I go into studio and I'm like, right, I want to repaint this situation here, but where's like where the hooks, where the where where the pain points, and then relive those for Cy Africans because we have a lot of pain points, and so I think skirting that line and playing it safe at the same time has allowed me to cross all different groups, and you know, using your your influences and the way you grew up, language, different characters, and that's how we bring everybody in this country together, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

South Africans, and I know you've done tours around the world, but do you think we laugh harder because life is just heavier?

SPEAKER_04 3:36

I think so. I think uh one of the biggest things I've learned in touring overseas is that we all still have our little situations and our our irritations and our frustrations in day-to-day life, but they're very relative to how you grew up or the world that you're living in. So I'll often be overseas and I'll talk to some of my, let's say my Aussie mates, and they'll reiterate their problems, and I'm like, that's a problem for you. Like it's that's not, you know, we we we're so resilient, we have such a a tenacity amongst us that I think we're able to just see a situation and go, oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Let's laugh, or we cry, or we dance, or we dance, and just by the way, we don't have any injuries because when I was talking to you, I started dancing. So if I've got any injuries from your Instagram page, it's your fault.

SPEAKER_05 4:26

We dance through everything, there's always music involved, coping mechanism.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

So, humor, especially from a comedian side of things, okay. Does it become a shield? Is it a shield? Is it something you're hiding? You hear about the Robin Williams, and I had Timber Robin on and on the podcast as well. Um, and we spoke about men's mental health and stuff, and I came across that it's almost like a shield that you're using to protect something.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

Well, yeah, it's interesting. I think that uh everyone's got a story to tell, everyone's had things happen to them in their lives. Uh, I do know for one that humour is definitely a coping mechanism for whatever you're going through in your life or your job, or if it's your relationship, or if it's your just your family, etc. etc. But I know that when I step on stage and I do what I do, like that is I feel incredible, and I know that I'm I was born to be there, and so you still go, Well, this is my passion, this is what I actually love doing. I love making people laugh. But I think that on that subject, the biggest thing I've learned that I didn't realize that when I started doing shows and I started doing stand-up, and I'm and then you're starting to meet people afterwards, or you're talking to them, or you're getting uh emails on the Monday following your show, you're like, Wow, there's some people just unleash their stories to you, like to start to feel like a bit of a therapist in a way, because they're like, Oh, I'm dealing with XYZ. I came to a show, I feel so much better, and you go, Wow, this is so important for people. So I do feel like more and more responsible as time goes on to just keep it going. Okay, so I think it's time to get deep then.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Deep when everything is quiet, yes, and there's no audience, no work, no distraction. What does Kevin's mind actually sound like?

SPEAKER_04 6:25

I'm quite uh I'm quite to myself, hey. Um I think when a lot of people meet me, they they expect me to be that extension of my newsfeed a lot of the time. So some people are like, oh, you don't have the voomer that you normally do. I'm like, yeah, I'm actually quite quiet in my own space and in my head a lot, and thinking of ideas, and but I am I'm a very chill, calm person. I like my solitude, and that's the person I am. But I don't I don't think I have an off switch. It's hard. I'm always thinking of an idea.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Do you feel like you do you ever feel like you have to perform when you perform like you have to act being okay when you're actually not?

SPEAKER_04 7:15

I have had I have had uh shows where uh I I just I was panicky because I I wasn't all there, you know? You've you maybe you've had uh some serious issues in travelling. Um sometimes you're cutting it fine to get to cities for a gig and you're just flustered or just exhausted, and it's that's why they call it chaubers, right? In that moment you have to show up and you like have to draw a line in the sand, put everything behind you, go on there, give it guns, and then deal with everything else later.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

So I've got no doubt that your videos, your shows, whatever has helped many people out there get through something. I don't even think you I I'm sure they message you and they say you've helped me get through a death or whatever it might be. Has your humour ever helped you get through the hard things?

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Yeah, that's a cool question because um it's very I don't I don't often go back through my own stuff and actually just start looking through. There are days you go through and you you look at some comments or something's going very viral, you want to see what people are saying, but I've never actually sat there for a long time just actually gone through and see seeing the impact of what you've done. Um but when I have, um I'm like I I do laugh because for me I laugh there's a very exact situation in my head that I have a reference for. Like I'm like this this happened to me. You know, I went to the licensing department and I experienced this. Uh I'm laughing at that, but then the fact that I can deliver it, yay. But it's definitely helped me. I mean, it's like how you get through life. I'm cracking jokes all day, every day.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So we go to your Instagram page, we see you dancing in the kitchen, doing all these things, all these crazy cool things. Give us the real day of Kevin. When Kevin wakes up, what does Kevin do?

SPEAKER_04 9:17

Yeah, so um because I'm always in different time zones, it's like it's it's a bit of a juggle. But my typical day is um I do I like to get up early. Um, you know, I if if it's my let's say let's go on my best day, it's just got my best, my best Kev day. Um, I'll be up at five and um I'll I'll check a few things like on my phone and see like what's what's happening for the day, and then I'll have some coffee and I'll hit the road. Um I I run and uh I run far. And when I'm back from that, that's usually like an hour and 20, and I'm back and I'm calm and level-headed because I feel that's that's the time I get to myself to process my ideas and how the day is gonna go. And yeah, what better way than to hit the tarmac and then just you know, be with your thoughts, and then my day starts. Then it's usually like uh in studio. I try and do all the fun stuff first, but that's a fight I have with myself because often admin gets in the way and I'm like chasing all these other things. I'm like, no, no, it's lunch now. I need to get in studio. And but you know, that's the other side of it, is is that you can't choose when you're gonna be at your having the best creative moment. I put hours into content in studio in a good day of mine, and then it's eh, it wasn't something that hit. But I've had something off the cuff that just was a thought, and I do it in my car, like some of my rants, if you've seen, and then that that's fire. So um for me, sometimes those moments are three o'clock in the morning. You wake up and you're like, I have to do this now. Okay, like I have to, and then you flip your day around. But fortunately, um, with having a supportive team as well, I'm able to now be even more creative, whereas I used to do absolutely everything myself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

So you said you run, we've got something in common. Running saves my life. When did you realize running has become part of your life and it's something that you need?

SPEAKER_04 11:19

Yeah, um well, I think almost as soon as I started touring. So that was in 2016. I I started touring very small scale, it ramped up towards 2018. But when I started traveling, especially in 2017, uh, I mean I'd already been running and doing the odd runs, but then I took it more seriously because I'd go to a city and now you've got apps that also help you navigate all these things, and I thought, like, what better way to see a city than just put your running shoes on and just go for a run, get your bearings. Now you see what's what, and then you can plan the rest of your trip according to what you saw on your run, and you also managed to kill some exercise. So it went hand in hand with touring, and then I got a little bit obsessed, like, oh, I'm going to a new city, I'm gonna record, like I'm here, I'm there. So my Strava is very brilliant, it's a brilliant canvas. And then I did my first marathon in Cape Town, I think it was a Cape Peninsula marathon, and I loved that. I loved the the feeling of being part of like a whole community of people that were all you know doing opting for the same goal and their own goals because I was never that kid in school, I never I never was a team sport player, I didn't do any of that, no cricket, no golf, like run nothing, but running. I was like, oh, this is something. Um, and then you then you hooked, right? Then you have to beat your last marathon. Now you're doing two marathons, three marathons, you're doing comrades coming up, then the addiction kicks in the addiction kicks in. So yeah, exactly. And here we are. So now it's like marathon comedy runner.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

What is your first time for the Cape Town marathon?

SPEAKER_04 13:03

Uh 342. It's a first sub-4 first marathon. Sub four first marathon, then I did uh three uh I came back for no, I I went on to do the Gold Coast marathon in Australia and I did 330, then 330, and then last year I did 258. Yeah. When are we gonna beat the 258? Because like I'm not this year's been a crazy year so far, and I'm not ready for this year's GC Marathon, and I'm not doing it unless I beat my time. So now it's a problem. So I'll probably end up doing Sydney Marathon whilst I'm out there, um, which is also a beautiful run. But um, I also didn't want to become that guy who has to go who chases the whole thing, yeah, and like you miss one year, and then it's the end. Like, rather just be like, you know, it's a balance, everything. Some marathons here, love swimming, going to the gym for normal gym stuff. Um, yeah, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

So I'm thinking, and I did see that that reel actually, now that I'm thinking about the question. No high rocks yet.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Loverbox, high rocks, all recalling.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

Definitely Loverbox. I can explain that, but I mean, um uh no. I mean, I I would, it's it's cool, it's cool. Um, but when I heard what it stood for, I was like, come on, guys. Come on, guys. Um, no, cool. You know what they say each to their own, eh? Each to their own. But I mean, um, we're actually launching a platform this year later on that's um stemmed off the back of all of this. So I've I've got a network launching called Jim and Tonic. Oh, right, playing on obviously Gin and Tonic, which is um which was where the idea came from. But um, I've sat on this idea for many years and now uh I've decided to actually act on it. So the one the one bit of feedback I've had from my fans over the years, outside of the straight comedy stuff, is can you give us a dance class? Can you give us like a lesson or can you show us how to move?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

I actually thought the same thing. Like stalking you, sure. But I was giving it to teach me to dance.

SPEAKER_04 15:17

But then it's like, well, um, I'm I I'm not I'm not a uh like I I trained dancing and I did all you know, but I didn't go like hell for leather in being a professional dancer, but but other people would say, oh, but you know, they just want to learn basics or you know, shake their ass or have confidence and blah blah blah, girls and guys, or however you identify. But um I I I like that. I like that people were asking me that. Um, but I've also naturally got very, very uh into the whole fitness side of things, that especially the last six years of my career. So I'd always wanted to create my own sort of sports label out of the entertainment industry because I I believe people didn't see how hard entertainers and performers actually work to be on stage. Like there is a fitness level required, there is uh a level of um endurance you need for stage. Like um, it's the weirdest feeling when I come off stage after an hour and a half of performing and I give it everything I got and I dance and I move, you know, I'm not a traditional stand-up. Uh, if you've been you've obviously seen this on my shows, and then like the next day you're like, wow, but that wasn't a workout though. And people are like, oh, it was, you know, mentally, yes, but like you do feel it physically, yeah. Um, especially the way I cartwheel around. But um in launching this this network, I wanted to to bring those two worlds together. I wanted entertainment and wellness to to merge, and I wanted to create a platform where people can subscribe to you and actually come and have that fun, get moving. You know, they don't have to be a sub two marathon, you know. It's it's just it's to have all of that in one ecosystem. So, yeah, it's a new category we're unfolding here.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Some when it unfolds, you know where to find us. Yes, we will back you and back it and everything, please. Um, I've got a radio show, 919 FM2. Awesome. We're backing you on that. Okay, when that unfolds, it's called the Monday Thrive. So we'll back you on that show completely. So long runs. Okay, long runs. What do they do to Kevin's mind?

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Well, in like there's days, it's funny because there's days, and I'm sure you've had it yourself, where you're like, I'm not in the mood to run today, but your legs are telling you that you should. You get out there, and you're like, I'll just do five, ten, and then you end up doing like 21. I don't know if that's ever happened to you, but it like there'll be days where I do that, and then all of a sudden I've done a half marathon for training, and I'm destroyed afterwards because I'm notorious for not stretching, and that's terrible. I need to do more of that. Um I just like get out there and go. Um, but by the end of it, yeah, I've come up with really solid plans, and um I have to kind of stop for 10 minutes and just write everything down and write your thoughts through because that's that's the best thing I found about running. So I can't imagine what when you do a comrade does to your head because you got hours on the tarmac.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

You unpack files that eight business plans, you've got the whole nine yards, eh?

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah, the bad things you've done as well, not just the but the good things 100%.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

You do you work through it all, but it just it's just a sense of calmness that that I that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

The hardest mental battle you've ever faced during any of your races, or or just endurance training.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

Um, you know, last year's run I panicked a bit um because you've worked for the sub-three. So my strategy on the day was to stay just in front of the first three bus, sub-three bus. So if people don't know what the bus is, that's obviously just the the groups of people that are running for that time. And I I thought, no, I'll just stay in front of it, then I'm guaranteed to be just shy of three, and that that'll be fine. And then I got past 30, the bus overtook me, and then I was in the bus for like two, three K's, and it's like an oven in there because everyone's just sweating around you, just hearing feet, feet, feet, and I'm I just couldn't, I was like, I need to get in front of these guys, and I was really, really, really struggling. And then um, I came around on the like the last stretch, and then you just felt people screaming like that carries you, and that that was definitely the biggest challenge I faced was having to like push past. Now I'm cramping and things are shaking. And uh I I managed to just get in front of that bus, and then I don't know, you just mind over matter somehow, you just start going, and then you're going faster because I have this issue. I can't go uh at at sub three, I think you probably 415, I think, or so 410, 415 um max. But then if I if I run faster, I don't go to like 408, 454, I go from like 415 to like 350. I don't know, I don't know, and I'm not the tallest in the world, but like I went to that and then promised your length does not matter. So I'm like cruising, and um I realized when I came on that last 200-meter stretch that your time only started when your shoe crossed the start line because there's 20,000 people running, you know, and it takes you five minutes to cross the start line. So I came sailing in at 258 and I was like, Oh, I got nothing to worry about, you know. Um, my time had only started a few minutes before because I saw the finish line, it was saying like 304 or something. I was like, no, I haven't made this, and I was very disappointed until I I crossed, and then I still made it coming across as a very disciplined person in life.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Do you think there's time that discipline has saved you at certain points?

SPEAKER_04 21:11

I think so. I mean the first thing that comes to mind is uh once I started touring and moving quite fast. I think 2018 was a was a a big change going into towards 2019 where I was like I'd added on maybe twenty or thirty shows in a year. I just wanted to go. I just wanted to go everywhere, I wanted to find where people were, I wanted to like take our flag all around the world. And then um I just like I just kinda hit a wall halfway through the year. And so my team had said, look, you should consider just quality over quantity, yeah, and just make sure that you can do what you can handle. you don't compromise your own uh performances and then I think I I was overseas and I was doing a show in London and I just um I I I'd already felt like how it was taking its toll on me with all the travel and stuff and um yeah I got very faint on stage after whatever I was doing and I thought I was gonna like pass out on stay on stage kind of a thing but I realized that I had to revisit the drawing board after that show and go right you know this is where the discipline kicks in you have to go we need to make some choices yeah because you're not a robot like you know you you count as well and your health counts and I thought oh I'm young I'm fine like I can travel I can do this is but it actually it does take a toll and you don't realize what the travel does so I've had to change the whole way I do things was is there ever a side of phrase was correct was there is there ever a Kevin that you didn't like growing up before the fame in the DJ life which we're gonna get into now. I think that's the angle uh it was during that part of my career which also prompted me out of it and I've had to be careful how I say it as well because I love that world and I respect that world and these people that you know the best that that do it in that world are the ones that treat it like professionally and like a sport. So but yeah that that there was a version of me in that space. Just letting everything else get you around you and then you getting a bit bit a bit of a head. How important before we get into that world how important is the people you're hanging around with for your mental health you are the company you keep right you are the company and I used to go oh you know but I'm I'm strong and like you've got different friends and and influencers or mentors for different reasons um and that's so important um I've always had to look for that kind of mentorship in different areas but oh my goodness it's so important yeah you have to because you you know you want to surround yourself with people that help level you up help you grow um and stay humble and I've definitely got those people around me yeah mentors Kevin Frazier has mentors tell us a little bit about that because a lot of people like I think especially in South Africa I don't think people realize how important a mentor is if it's one or two or three but to have a mentor just to guide you and keep you on the straight and narrow and to choose a mentor is hard. Yeah like how do you know that that's the correct mentor well I mean in all honesty and and on that personal front it's like as a man the one mentor you should have and that you should look up to should be your father I didn't have that uh yes he was there but wasn't wasn't the greatest and um that really impacted me that also helped me to see the lighter side of life and and you know get into humor. But I thought to myself I think once I started studying overseas I thought like you know I can either sit here and play victim or I'm gonna seek someone out that can can fill this gap that gap this gap and I I promise you I read I read that book by Robert Kiyosaki that Rished out poor dad and whether people agree with all the stuff in that book or not the one thing I took away was that this guy literally had you know different kinds of mentors in his life that he took different advice from and I thought that's a great strategy. So I sought out people that were good in business people that had you know knew how to crunch numbers uh to be able to have those conversations even though nowhere really affiliated with the entertainment industry but that's that's the avenue I took because I said I'm running my own business here I need I need this kind of advice and then you through that you you meet other people that are in similar fields or that can help coach you in different directions. So yeah I've got a handful of those special people in my life and you call on them when Kevin's not sure and or just like in typical me style just like a random phone call and then just lay into it and then they're always there because they got similar minds you know especially entrepreneurs always going always thinking of how to problem solve that's the the the the main hook in all of this is problem solving problem solving and um getting confident with decision making um and knowing to to make the right decision or even just to make the decision and know that like hey cool that I this might not be the right thing but I'll be able to get through this you know take the risk.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

So you walked away from a successful DJ DJ career. Do you ever fear you were making a mistake and the reason I'm asking this I know it's a while ago but people are stuck in their lives. Yeah and they're scared to leave the job they hate because the boss is an arsehole. Yeah I must use another word there and they're scared to you to to leave their life because of what can happen the risk of what could happen. Did you ever fear that?

SPEAKER_04 27:43

Yeah because um I had uh an idea in my head that I wouldn't make it in theatre like there was no money in theatre uh doing live performance where I had gone on to do it I was like no it was always TV and film the industry's changed so much that you can totally make money in theatre and live performance um so not knowing that at the time I kind of I was so unhappy with what I was doing because I'd I'd left that world I'd gone overseas to study and then no one cares about who you are there that you all everything that you built here like that's not there. No one cares disappears. I try to throw that name I try to give my CVs and uh this is what I've done I'd approach clubs I'd be in events I'd be like I want to curate this and they're like that's amazing like you know but you've done nothing here. I'm oh I'm trying to you know and and I used to go home thinking geez this is this is challenging um I'm gonna have to come in at a different at a totally different angle here with what to do uh and and I just worked out that I how many hours could I do for someone else that I could free up X amount of hours for myself to just at least work on a plan to either start my own brand start my own shows start my own something you know because uh what I was doing wasn't working and I was also just done with the hours and the the whole scene around the scene that I was exposed to in the DJ and the music world and I thought but I can still bring all that into this this format. If I did my own show I can still bring everything I've learned from those years into this and make it a different kind of show and that's what I've done and that's what people who come to my shows actually I think appreciate one of the biggest things they appreciate is that fusion of of that world with my shows.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

And if you haven't seen a show with Kevin's and when he's back in SA I'm not sure if there's dates for that oh yeah December always December guys get those tickets Empress Palace again we'll probably be there yeah there'll be a couple in Johannesburg this year guys get those tickets I promise you it's one of the best shows it's not a traditional comedy show but it's awesome so what's harder controlling a huge crowd as a DJ or standing alone with a mic in silence this is interesting because this year's my 10th year that this decadence is my tour I'm touring this year.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

It's my 10th year in comedy and content so I'm celebrating that um even though I still feel like it's just a benign for me um but it does remind me when I reflect on like this 10 year journey like when I've when I did my first show my very first show ever I had planned everything I was like I know what it's the same emotional journey between getting up on stage selecting a song for the crowd trying to read the crowd and you're like trying to do this now you're gonna mix it and everything's happening. But people are dancing and they're rocking and that can be quite intense is it there's a very intense energy with that so like for the a DJ or musician's job like that is it's a big it's a big task and I don't take away from that but the feeling I had walking on stage think with that kind of a DJ mindset where it's like cool we're gonna go rock bam bam bam we're on stage everyone screams then they go quiet and they're all sitting in their seats looking at you and then I'm I had this little moment like shit um so knock knock who there you know you had your whole plan but it was just such a different feeling such a different feeling to now have to make people laugh and and if you're not comfortable with yourself and there's all eyes on you there's no music there's no strobe lights nothing to like take away you know haze smoke this that the next thing um if you're not comfortable with yourself the audience picked that up pretty quickly and then they feel awkward and then so like if I look back on that show I think people that were there that are still come to my shows today would have thought oh no but we enjoyed that and uh yeah but for me it was hard I can't watch that DVD you know oh really yeah I it's just so there's a DVD luckily there's no more DVD players around it's it's on the cloud just sitting hibernating that side no um yeah I just I can't watch it because I feel like there was so much that I didn't do according to plan you know you judge yourself it's very hard to get used to watching yourself back now I'm used to it now I'm just quick I'm quick at doing things but yeah it was a totally different totally totally different world. Starting over was it lonely yeah definitely I think that's what prompted a lot of the content I was actually doing I was alone a lot of the time um people um were texting me and those who'd followed me in my days of spin doctor as a DJ would also message me and be like why why am I not seeing your name anywhere anymore why are you not playing and blah blah and that really like it hurt me hurt my ego I I was like you know I wasn't able to be that person um I even had people comment to me and and and say oh you know now that you've you've stopped that you've like lost it and and I took all of that quite personally and so it was a bit of a like a rebrand I l I was living in the absolute ass end of the earth in Tasmania studying which is that island off the coast of Australia if people don't know and I'm all alone in the cold in my little shed and I'm like what am I doing? But there's that saying that says when you separate yourself from everything that you know you find out who you truly are and I just sit with my thoughts and and figure out well who who the fuck are you like you know um you need to figure that out and I did and um the friends that I made down there are still very good friends with today um they're all full blown Australians that we're like no but you know they just like me for for who I am and I realized oh you don't always have to put on the things you do um but I do anyway because that's who I am you know I'm a character based uh comedian as well and um yeah it's it's the hardest thing it's the hardest thing and that took like two years to get comfortable in that space. In those two years did depression give a kick in there was obviously a lot of anxiety yeah yeah the feeling of uh it's the constant feeling of of preparing and then being nervous around doing your gigs um and then because I mean like if if I'm in a I I love being a socialite in being in a social setting but if I'm in a normal social setting sometimes I can get a bit of um crowd anxiety or or just you know there's this feeling of of anticipation or something's gonna happen but when I'm on stage I'm controlling it it's a different you know it's a different feeling give me 20 000 people I'll do better but it's sometimes when you in a small in your own setting it's it's weird how you have to toy with that feeling but never never depression no I've never dealt with um with depression I'll say never dealt with I've never had depression but I'm sure I would have maybe I've just dealt with with those feelings through through whatever you know how to deal with comedy but talk people don't talk enough you know talk to people I think one of the the biggest things that that that means a lot to me in my travels is um the the random moments where I've just decided to put myself out there and I I was doing a regional tour along the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. These were towns that had you know uh a lot of people but um they were still small towns and I did a lot of touristy things in these towns and I remember being on a boat trip once and I sat next to this elderly lady she was very old and she just seemed like she wanted to talk but there was no conversation so I took on my headphones and I just like opened up conversation this woman she was like in her 80s doing like a solo trip and from that day onwards I made sure that I spoke to older people a lot more because they're the ones that have wisdom and can tell you about you know their life and how the players change the game stays the same and blah blah blah and her husband had just died and here she was she was like fuck it I'm living my life amazing is that either that or the state was strong I don't know but you know she taught me some stuff that day that made me reflect for a long time yeah opening up something people should do yeah and and we assume a lot of things but if you if you give someone a time of day I mean I I'll give another example I've got a friend in Melbourne and whenever I'm there we we we link up and very confident persons like businesswomen blah blah blah and whenever I've been out to a lunch or a breakfast or coffee inning with her I've always noticed her make uh an effort to compliment some random person and I was just like why do you do that? She's like yeah because you can see she's wearing it something's going on you know everyone's thinking about something something's on her mind she doesn't she I can tell she doesn't seem confident but in every person she said something like that too you can just see how that that changed their day. So I try to do the same now just be kind for just be kind world is too there's a lot of anger out there. I'll tell you a story what happened to me I'll make a long story short I went to a shopping center and my son was next to me and I was talking to and I parked in the parking bay and I was looking at him but when I parked there was no car next to me and I was looking to him we were chatting about something probably his exam marks or something and we got out the car and as I got out I swung my door open thinking there's no car next to me but I hit this car um next to me but quite hard and I looked and the guy was still sitting in the car you're gonna get dormed yeah okay and I'm like sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry and this guy just looked at me and he got out and I got out I'm like sir I'm so so sorry like I'll pay for whatever damage and I haven't even looked if there is damage I'll pay for whatever and he looked at me he's like come here and I was like okay here we go and he just went and he's like let me give you a hug yes and I was like hey he's like come let me buy you a coffee I'm like sir can we just look at your door please like he's like relax it's a materialistic thing this does not matter to me it's like just try I don't want to look at my door let me buy you a coffee Megan Beans here in the shopping center come and he went and he bought me a coffee and we my son was like wow what's going on yeah he's 16 years old I was taken back I'm like dude like I want to be like you I want to be you like how did you control that anger from someone hitting your door like yeah that's so cool and this was like this was two weeks ago and I still can't get it past my mind how this guy just let me be I'll probably open the door and be like why are you parked so close to me do you not like do you not know how the adults exactly so but yes be kind 100% you don't know what someone's going through and someone swears you in traffic they're dealing with something themselves absolutely I think that's something I've learned as well like um in all the stuff I've done overseas and then when I come back into SA it's like we are such a friendly nation yes we are we are zero to a hundred in like three seconds basically up there in Chautengling we are ready to fight like what what but uh but we also the friendliest like we are so friendly and people actually care the more you stop and no matter who we have service people on every point here right getting we have people putting petrol in our cars this is an unheard of overseas I've spoken about this in my shows I find it hilarious when you go up somewhere first first first first ride and you sort of like hello someone gonna no these guys will jump out they're doing your windows are doing this yes we have tip culture people a bit of a tip here and there but if you just put your stuff out the way first and ask them how they are you know have a little bit of compassion everything changes are you like air hostesses or air hosts are the are the best example like if you see if you actually see how rude people can be because they stressed about traveling or they don't like these people are doing this all day if you just like actually be kind and genuinely like be interested in your air hostess you're hey bottomless for the whole flight you are sauteed let's go let's go so on that note actually yes it's your career but you are serving people you are making people happy that's what you do how important is service to other humans to other people it's it's so it's so important um I remember during the pandemic when um we're all stressed now right what are we gonna do how are we gonna pivot how we're gonna make money especially entertainers I'm like guys I've got a tender for N95 masks so anybody now all of a sudden I'm um I'm rocking up at hospitals like listen this is a cool mask you know um and you're panicking thinking about yourself you go into that like mindset um and then someone contacted me uh to to do this charity drive in Mitchell's plane and I was like I've never been there is it safe you hear things but I I went and I did it and we were basically gathering everything we could from from brands to help these kids who now uh couldn't have access to food and I mean you know everyone was struggling can you imagine how some of these people were struggling and I remember being there that day and we were giving out like like these kids were jumping around for toilet paper. I was just yeah it was an emotional day peanut butter packages soup so we're just doing we just rinse and repeat rinse and repeat there were hundreds of kids and I mean there were most of them were under 10 obviously coming on on their own or in groups with their families but I remember leaving all of that as sad as it was and having to see all of that and and but but knowing what we were doing was amazing. I I felt so incredible afterwards and I I realized how important this is to actually give back and to to find ways that you can just be of service to others you know that's obviously in a charity sense there's so many ways you can do it but that was definitely a point where I was like no this is so important and you realize just pay it forward words time food money whatever you can just buy the coffee for the person behind you at this just like open your car door onto others and wait for them to offer you hands don't do that don't do that so what are we 45 minutes in 50 minutes into this chat we're almost at the end but I haven't picked up and I've been trying to find it a negative Kevin yeah like everything's positive positive positive a negative kiv is there a negative kiv or is it all just what do we call it is there a negative cave you guys called you Kevin's I'm gonna say what I've gone for the direction is in studio with us too let's talk about the max of my shall we should we get another chair um yeah is this my time my my my chance to put myself on the chopping block okay cool uh we're all human here um no at the moment um I I I think because of my ambition and because I have so much that I I hold myself accountable for, you know, and wanting to achieve in this life that if certain things don't go my way, um yeah, uh I can get very down about it, irritated, angry, you know, I'm in my head about it for a while. Um and I realized this when about four or five years into this and doing everything myself, you know, you running your social media, you dealing with venues, people, clients, brands, making these decisions, leaning on my little network to offer advice, but never actually officially had a team. And I eventually had to make that happen. I couldn't, you know, I was burning out. And when I first got involved with my team, I realized how many issues I had that needed to be addressed because I wasn't treating people with patience in my team. I wasn't uh I I wasn't accepting their best when I wanted things my way. I'm like, no, but this is how it must be done. But some people are just not gonna be able to do it like that. And you have to accept their best, and there's a way to deal with people and coach them, and and now all of this stuff is coming out. I'm like, but but why? And now I'm just making people irritated and you know not so enthusiastic to want to work with me, which is like that's not good. So um I've had to deal with that and become more patient, and that's been the hardest thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Success. What cost of success don't people see? Um what's the cost of success that people don't see?

SPEAKER_04 45:55

Well uh I think in my space it's been to some degree your f your f your family not being able to see them as much as you would. And that can cruise on into relationships, it can put pressure. Um you have to find a way to navigate that. I think that you also start to find friends that you you didn't think you would have, or lose friends that you thought you had, and that dynamic starts to change. And it's quite hard sometimes because you would get a lot of public praise from uh your extended networks or the general fan base that you have. And sometimes you want it from the people closest to you, and you don't always get that, and you go, Wow, is it do I need to stop measuring things a certain way? Uh am I thinking too much about this? But it it changes people, you know. Not everyone wants to see you climb and praise that. Some people are waiting for you to fall and they'll be there for that.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

Do people still tell the truth around you, Kev?

SPEAKER_04 47:20

I hope so. For sure. I think um I think uh I've I've made more effort uh over the last couple years to to ensure that I'm approachable because some people feel like they can't say certain things or you know address certain things uh with you. And I think a way to deal with that has just been to to also to br to bring it up, be be open about it and you know, speak to your partner, your family, or your close friends and say, like, is everything fine, you know, and and address those aspects of your relationships because um I've also been in situations where I feel like I can't approach certain people or or even your family on certain things because of the way that dynamic might be, and it's not it's not it's not nice. You should be able to talk about anything in your relationships.

SPEAKER_06 48:20

What is Kevin still chasing?

SPEAKER_04 48:23

Um well, I mean you you you achieve the next rung on the ladder and then there's more rungs, you know? Um I yeah, I mean globally recognize, you know, in what I do. The stage is is the most important thing to me. I will venture into other areas, uh like TV and film, that's like 100% inevitable. Um but there's no there's no better feeling for me than than going on stage in front of people and and bringing them together, making them laugh. It's it's like you feel amazing.

SPEAKER_00 49:10

Do you think uh humans are actually chasing happiness or are we just chasing meaning?

SPEAKER_04 49:18

Happiness, I think, to a certain degree. Uh I feel is you know it comes from within. Happiness is not a place, not a destination. It's a choice. Up to you to make that that happen. But I think that we live in a society that um by design is it's causing us to be extremely competitive and comparing against one another. Um I remember I was asked to do a uh like a pick-me-up speech or whatever for a school. Like a keynote. Yeah, like a thing. I'm like, okay, put my Oprah hat on, let's go. And it was down in Durban. Uh, it was my old drama teacher actually from school. She had now moved to another uh school, and it's like, please come back and do a thing, you know. Just it started out before being for the just the drama students, but then moved on to be for uh the entire school. So I was like, oh goodness, like I've never done this. What angle am I gonna take? I actually phoned my mother. I was like, I need some advice. You know, she's been a teacher for so long. I was like, can you give me something to work with? And she did, and I was like, cool, this is my little package. But I remember after getting into conversations around social media that they now have come to be my fans through, so they've seen it work for me, but I'm addressing it from a totally different angle. There was just like utter silence in the room, and and I realized how much they were listening. And I'd I'd said I challenge these kids, only obviously like a handful came back to me through DMs and stuff, but I challenged them to for the first 60 minutes of their day, when they get up, put your feet on the floor, out of bed, like breathe and do all those things, and just do not touch your phone, just do not touch it. And the reason for that was so that you didn't respond to everybody else that's demanding your attention for the first 60 minutes of your day. Because very quickly you can open your feeds and someone's uh got married, someone's had a kid, someone's just bought a house, someone's got their new car, and you're like, I feel so shit, and I haven't even boiled the kettle. Why? It's just because that's what it's all it's it's there's a huge feed issue like that, and hence why it's called what it's called. And um, the amount of kids that came back to me that that said they did it for a week and they just felt a bit better about themselves, felt more confident, and uh I realize how important this um the this kind of conversation is gonna be going forward because we don't understand the full effects of that world, you know. Adults don't understand the full effects. I'm to blame too. Now we've got our kids, or you have you said you have a 16-year-old son, like growing up in that space. I've got so many nephews, like also in that space, Snapchatting everything they do. I tease them, and then I'm uh I go, Well, she's you know, I'm a millennial, I grew up uh with this stuff changing fast, but still there was discipline and patience, and parents like putting a stop on things you have to ask your mom if you could you could phone someone, look in the phone book and check their number, okay, cool yeah, Josie's having to check the phone. Yeah, remember doing that? Or that windy thing from your crane, like yo, I give up after 03, you know, because the eight is that side. So it's like it's a lot to deal with, but now they just got it all. It's like, what is it actually teaching them, you know?

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Yeah, and I don't even think it's just kids, like I said. I mean, I'm to blame. I wake up and I grab my phone and he goes, Yeah, likes my real has got.

SPEAKER_06 52:48

100%. Yeah, to try to separate yourself. Trying to teach myself, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:53

To separate yourself from that is is is difficult. I've I'm guilty as as Charles. I've I've I've I've done epic pieces of content. I'm like, this is gonna absolutely fly, and the next day it's only your mom who's watched it like four times, and you take it personally, and you think, oh, like, should I not do that kind of a thing anymore? Should I not do a piece of content in that style? And then no, just let it go, separate yourself from it, and just realize that these are all just you know pieces of your work that you're putting out there, some will fly, some won't, some live there.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

What would the younger you think of your life right now? What would I think of her? Younger. The younger you, the Kevin from Durban. Yeah. What would the Kevin the young Kevin from Durban think of your life right now?

SPEAKER_04 53:44

We're like, oh well, at least you got a better haircut.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

And you do have amazing hair. I'm gonna give you that. I looked at your hair while you're problems.

SPEAKER_04 53:57

I mean, if we have to see your hair when you're I'm doing it later this year when I call back the past. Some videos that look like I'm sponsored by Eskom, and I I don't know what I did, but hey, they were trends. They were trends. Just like them spinning belt buckles, they were trends. Um, yeah, so but but um it's it's so um it's interesting because when I first started my channels, I screenshot them on day one and I added them to my favorites on my my camera, and I kept it there until this day. And sometimes when I go right back to those, there's a few photos I looked at is like visual evidence of um where it started. Um and I feel I feel like that's so important in creating your future and also being grateful for the for how far you come because you're so busy chasing the next thing as an entrepreneur and doing things, doing things, doing things, building. But it's like stop and actually reflect. But because it's been a long night and it's slow growth, um, you don't have that that feeling. Like imagine I was from when I started just to what I'm doing now overnight, then you would feel that you would feel that like wow, this is this is done extremely well. So I've I've tried to be try to be a lot more grateful and to look back at that version of me and go, ah, you know, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

What moment in your career that nobody knows about means the most to you?

SPEAKER_04 55:31

Um there are a couple, there are a couple, but um one that really it's just you know, uh in realizing every year that I've toured, you're not just gonna have banger after banger after banger, you're gonna have an ebb and flow in years, you know, there's so many circumstances that can affect your tour schedule, but because my tour schedule has been so important to me, you take the tour seriously. But um, I came up with a concept uh for a tour when my my goggle Anna passed away, and she was instrumental in my life growing up, she was like another mother in a way, and I've often said my mom is fine, but like she was also that person in my world. But when she passed away, I was like devastated obviously by this, and she was the one person always made me feel growing up in Durban and learning Zulu and blah blah blah, that Africa is not just a place, it's a feeling. There's only a few of us who've been touched by her, and I took that and I made it into a tour concept called Africa is a feeling, and I took I I had the the first tours for that in 2023, December, through to 2024. I usually tour for about a year with the concept. Um, but it was like the weirdest thing. It was like Durban and Durbanizers will laugh at this because like we can be notorious for not supporting events, you know, yeah, it's fun, it's uh oh, was it yesterday? Wake up, and also complain because you're not receiving events, see the information, brother. Um they don't even have a mountain to be deterred by. So um uh, but like my my show sold out that year um at the Globe in in Durban, which was two and a half thousand people, and it was like it was the biggest show I'd ever done, and um, but the energy in that room for that specific tour and and speaking about my Anna and all of these things, it was a magical um that was a magical day for me. So, and yeah, I still live live by that show. It's on YouTube, but yeah, it's there, you can see it all. That's uh definitely a moment, uh but then um last year I received an award in Sydney for for my contribution to like the arts and culture industry, and um, yeah, that felt really good to be recognized. I don't think you need trophies in your life to you know, but it feels good when you get a medal when you finish comrades, you know, like it's the same thing. Um yeah, and you know, when I have a leg and I'm able to do my ministerial speech, it's very nice.

SPEAKER_00 58:29

So what does Kevin want his legacy to be?

SPEAKER_04 58:35

Um sheepers, yeah. Um yeah, to to see for me it would be to to inspire everybody to uh not waste another day in their life and and do what they want to do and and find what that is and and damn well do it because people often say you only you only live once, I say you only die once. So just get busy living. It's probably the same saying, yeah, really, if I think about it. But 100% you time is the only thing that we can't control. It's going to be true. So that is powerful. Do what you want to do with your life, and if you can't figure it out, you know. I mean, there's so many living examples of huge success stories on this planet of people that discovered and created stuff in their 50s, 60s, whatever it was. So don't be deterred by your age, just go for it.

SPEAKER_00 59:40

If all the success and this is your last deep question. If all your success, the applauses, the followers, and the noise disappear tomorrow, would you still know who is Kevin Fraser?

SPEAKER_06 1:00:00

100% the boy from Durban. The boy from Durban is trying to change attire.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:11

It's hard, it's hard. I I I I mean, I I like that question because you can get very consumed in this space by what you're doing, what you're doing next thing, and it's important to have those quiet moments and know you are. Now I thank the early years for that, because that ripped me apart, you know, in finding that. And again, like I said, when you separate yourself from everything you know, you find out who you truly are. Um, isn't there another saying that's like, don't be afraid to show the world who you truly are because you never know who might like the person you hired?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:51

Say that again.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:53

Never be afraid to show the world who you truly are because you never know who might love the person that you hired.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

That is powerful. Because you know what I've realized? No one actually cares.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:07

No one cares.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

So why must you care what anyone else thinks in any way?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:11

That's what I did. I lay in bed and I was like, I had this attitude, like, fuck it. Like, I'm just gonna rant about my train ride today. And I woke up and it was gone viral like nuts. Everyone's like, this guy needs to like do more of this. This is bringing such joy to my life. I thought, flip, I could have started that five years ago if my friends did I was funny.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:32

Thank you for bringing joy to our lives and many other people out there. Thank you for coming back to South Africa, not staying in Australia. Thank you. Always, always, always we want you back. Thank you, Jock.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:47

Awesome, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

Thank you so much. We're not.