STYLE PROFILE: LAZOLA

Images: Anele Khoza

Born and raised in Cape Town and now living in Joburg, Lazola Gola is the writer, comedian, actor – and recently, director – who is never afraid to start from the beginning on his path to winning. Comedy, it seems, is the thread that weaves together his vision, quickly moving him further and further along in his cohesive career. That, along with a commitment to keep trying. To bring you up to speed, Lazola became a writer by working with his brother, Loyiso Gola, on the satirical series called Late Night News, then grew as a copywriter through standup comedy, sans CV, having been the opening act for some of South Africa’s top comedians (think Trevor Noah, Kagiso Lediga and Eugene Khoza). Now he’s diving right into directing to control how his visions come to life. “For me, if you write for a channel, you write the script and hand it over and whoever is directing does the thing,” he says. “Sometimes it’s better than what I thought, but it’s never what I thought. I’ve been in commercials, I’ve written commercials, I think I’m a funny person and this could help me in directing. I could be in the chair and have a lot more of my visions coming to life.” Ambition, much? Watch more on his journey to making it here, but first, dress the part, then buckle up.