Deaf Con a comedy hit

Nelson Mandela's memorial service was emotional for all, but bogus sign language "interpreter" Thamsanqa Jantjie's antics stole the headlines, and even turned into comedic gold for Saturday Night Live.

The US late-night live sketch comedy show took inspiration from Madiba's star-studded memorial for this past weekend's episode, and showed we all took it too seriously - from Potus's (Barack Obama's) memorable selfie with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt to his handshake with Cuban leader Raul Castro (the global reaction suggested they had ended world poverty), and, of course, Jantjie's batty hand signals.

Somehow they turned something already funny into something even funnier - a refreshing view, given that many had speculated darkly about the possible assassination of the US president.

Jay Pharoah, who portrays Obama on the show, started off addressing the public by saying: "First, I got roped into taking a selfie with the blonde female Danish prime minister. Some people say Michelle was angry at me for that, but I talked to her afterwards, and I can assure you, she was furious."

That handshake only happened because "Castro" told "Obama" that he was Mexican-American actor Edward James Olmos.

Then Jantjie (Kenan Thompson) takes over the rest of "Obama's" address.

Potus would say "Now, I have been listening", and "Jantjie" would cup his ears like a loony, "to what Americans are saying", and "Jantjie" would make yapping hand gestures. When he said: "And some very valid concerns are being raised, but this is not a battle that will be won overnight", Jantjie would rest his head on his clasped hands as if lying on a pillow.

It's all very different to Jantjie's actual signing last Tuesday, when he remained stoical and only occasionally looked like a traffic controller or a cabin crew member.