As one of the comedians performing at the Comedy Central International Comedy Festival, Hannibal Buress promises to give South Africans a lot of laughs at the Silverstar Casino next Saturday. The nine-hour time difference between Johannesburg and Los Angeles gave me a while to practise my American accent. The few moments I waited for him to talk to me got me feeling anxious -he is, after all, one of the best comedians in the world"Hello, Rea from South Africa is that you?" He clearly has a good public relations agent looking after his image.As a child the Emmy and WGA award- nominated comedian didn't know he'd make his living from laughs He only discovered his comedic calling at 19, when he started writing comic strips in college.But he believes there are different stages and ages that people break into comedy. His break happened in his 30s.Now his CV is impressive. He's written for TV shows Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock , and this year Hannibal wrote and became the executive producer and star of his own weekly comedy TV series, Why? With Hannibal Buress , which premiered on Comedy Central last yearNow that he's a famous comedian spending more time on stage than behind the scenes, he says people interrupt him and ask to take pictures while he's trying to have a normal day. He considers himself a nice guy, but sometimes has to tell people where to get off.Notorious for joking about Bill Cosby's sexual assault accusations, Buress earned his stripes with GQ magazine declaring: "He makes us ugly laugh. Hard."In a video from his Philadelphia show that went viral, he said that he was paranoid that Cosby had hired assassins.In an interview with The New York Times earlier this year, Buress said he made the comment because he wanted to make it weird for people to watch reruns of The Cosby Show.About his comedic style Buress says: ''As I get older my perspective on life changes and I become more honest. My goal is to make people laugh and that comes from the ideas and stories I'm interested in."Even though he admitted to not knowing much about the history of South African comedy, he does rate Loyiso Gola and said he's one funny man that he sees as inspirational for South African comedy."South Africa's own comedy talent is on TheDaily Show, which means your comedy is world standard. Trevor Noah is a very good comedian and is doing a great job with the show. He looks comfortable," he said.As it will be his first time in Africa, Buress says he'll spend a few days exploring Johannesburg before his show."People appreciate it when you talk about what they know and incorporate that into your act."Africa's biggest comedy festival now encompasses 19 shows over six days with more than 60 comedians across multiple venues at Silverstar Casino.Other comedians include Aries Spears, Kurt Schoonraad, Carl Joshua, Celeste Ntuli and others.Tickets at Computicket, R120 to R650...