Simmi Areff is a new face on the comedy scene but making huge impressions on crowds. People have described Simmi as a younger version of Freddy Mercury…except with straighter teeth. Simmi recently was a regular at the Catalina Festival for the Comedy Revolution and has shared the stage with Marc Lottering at the Wow Comedy Jamz at the Durban playhouse. Comedian Simmi Areff started his career while he was still a student —doing stand-up at venues such as Cool Runnings in Melville and eventually taking over as one of the hosts of the regular Tuesday-night new-material gig at Kitchener’s (his predecessor was Loyiso Gola) while he completed his honours degree in journalism. He has also opened for John Vlismas, Cokey Falkow and Riaad Moosa for their solo shows and has shared the stage with many other great comedians. He is a regular performer at Cool Runnings the underground. He’s an effervescent New Age Muslim act with great charisma and can be heard across KZN on east coast radio’s Big Breakfast show. So after working the Geriatric Circuit for a couple of summers his destiny was settled. Since then, that little funny boy with the faith of a PLANET has made a name for himself as one of the leading comedians and On-Air Personalities in the Country by headlining across North America (including Canada), New Zealand, The U.K. and Africa. In 1999 he received Georgia’s Sportcaster of the Year Award and in 2004 “Street Skillz”, a program he provided the color commentary for was nominated for an EMMY.