Obituary: Cy Saks - 'They love me,' he said, and he was right

CY Saks, who has died in Pretoria at the age of 78, was king of the one-liner.

1935-2014

Short, fat and rubber-faced he was one of the funniest comedians in South Africa and part of the funniest comedy team seen on local TV.

The TV show Biltong & Potroast is still regarded by those lucky enough to have seen it in 1977 as the finest stand-up comedy show to be produced in this country.

It had more viewers than the BBC's World at War series, which was being screened by the SABC at the same time.

Saks and his fellow comedians, including Mel Miller, Cyril Green, Len Davis and Noel Glover, got paid R35 a show - before tax.

They made it look spontaneous, but nothing could have been further from the truth. They had to present their jokes to Auckland Park a week before each programme. If they were deemed acceptable, Saks & Co could use them.

When it was over, the SABC destroyed all the recordings of the show.

Saks played the piano and drums and performed jazz and ballads before becoming a full-time stand-up comedian. His mother saw the talent in him from an early age and encouraged him.

He had his own half-hour show on SABC TV called the Cy Saks Show, which ran for 13 weeks. There were no advertising breaks in those days and he was on solo for the full half-hour. He battled to come up with fresh material for each show.

He wrote all his own material, which he rehearsed meticulously. He would practise his set over and over again, pacing up and down at home - or wherever he happened to be - and getting increasingly psyched up. Family and friends knew that this was a good time to keep out of his way.

His comedy was old-school - one-liners and quick gags accompanied by bug-eyed grimaces and bizarre sound effects. Some song and dance would be thrown in when necessary.

In terms of one-liners, he was in a class of his own. His fellow comedians said he always had a better hit rate, which measured how many times he could make an audience laugh in a minute, than anyone else.

There were times on stage when no one laughed. Sacks would turn to other comedians in the wings and mouth the words "They love me", which would have them in stitches.

Born in Johannesburg on December 10 1935, he began his career as a comedian in Durban, where he owned Cy's Place, a restaurant in which he would perform in the evenings. He moved back to Johannesburg in the 1970s.

He was the first South African comedian to be hosted on Canadian TV.

In South Africa, he performed all over the country, living out of a suitcase a lot of the time. It took a toll on his first marriage, to Andreé, which ended in divorce in 1979.

He was a brilliant mimic and, along with his one-liners, was famous for his impression of Liberace. He would tinkle away on the piano, twinkling Liberace-like: "I bought a new car. It's a pervertable. The hood doesn't go down ... but the chauffeur does." Then he would jump up to introduce the next act with pinpoint precision.

He was not particularly funny off stage. He was a very private person who spent as much time at home as he could. Although he was seldom without work, he never stopped worrying that the gigs, and the material, would dry up.

He was at pains to discourage his son from following in his path.

Saks developed Parkinson's disease 10 years ago which forced him to stop work. Four years ago, he had a femoral bypass and was confined to a frailcare home in Pretoria. He had a stroke a month before dying of complications from pneumonia.

He is survived by his second wife, Norma, and son David.