We’ve all taken a sound whacking from our parents at supermarkets, haven’t we? I mean as children, not now.
Well, anybody who’s with me on the wrong side of 40 will know what I’m talking about. Anybody younger would have been carted off to Child Welfare before the box of Weetbix even began its downward arc in bum-seeking offensive mode.
Cape Town comedian Mark Palmer, who will be giving Stanford a bellyful of laughs this weekend, is fascinated by how parental discipline has changed over the years. And, as always, he sees the funny side.
Mark Palmer: expert on ‘supermarket hidings’
“Supermarket hidings were so common [when he was little] that some of these shops even announced the ‘hiding’ over the intercoms: ‘there’s a light hiding in aisle 5, a light hiding in aisle 5′. Parents with kids would walk their kids past aisle 5 as a warning against misbehaving!”
You can expect this (the joke, not a light hiding) and a whole lot more if you behave yourselves and buy your tickets quicksticks for one of two shows Mark’s putting on at Oom Steyn’s pub in Stanford this weekend. Tip: Friday’s just about booked out so best you plan on getting in for the laughfest on Saturday.
The people to approach for your tickets are Stanford events organisers Vanessa Marawa (yes, we’re inundated with celebs here in The Special Village) and Antoinette Younghusband. Do that by e-mailing a…@tlcsa.co.za or phoning 082 555 1154. Now listen up. The June 24 and 25 shows start at 7pm and Vanessa and Antoinette are asking you to be a good girl or boy and pitch up at 6.30. Or expect to be taken around to the local Spar for a light hiding. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Fred Hatman (AKA Howard Donaldson) knew he wanted to be newspaper journalist at age 13. He has worked as a reporter and sub-editor for the Daily News and Cape Times, both based in South Africa and Wimbledon News, Today, London Daily News, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, all based in London .
