Queen of comedy in the Mother City

Growing up in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Celeste Ntuli was oblivious to her own comedic genius. Much like the iconic Wayans Family, she was raised in a household full of “roasters”. As a plus-size girl, Ntuli quickly learnt to sharpen her wit as a survival tool.

“There’s too many of us in my family and my brothers were roasters. I realised in hindsight that they taught me how to roast because, my God, they were on my case,” Ntuli says. “I was the only big person in my house.

Everyone else was skinny. So, when you are this size, you’re getting it [roasted] from a young age. It’s either you learn to talk back, fight back, whatever or you learn to be squeamish and just now be a shadow of yourself.

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“I guess, from home to school to everywhere else, they tried shame to bully me but unfortunately for them, God was on my side.” The queen of comedy says her relationship with God and her spirituality helped her align with her dreams. “My dreams were bigger than me. I am not packaged in a way society wanted me to be.

I knew there was a lot of work to be done. In my journey, I have learnt that being spiritual helps you align.” It wasn’t until she moved to Durban as a teenager that Ntuli discovered comedy existed beyond her living room. That first exposure was all she needed to realise she could turn her gift for comedic storytelling into a full-time career.

“I started partying very young with friends. Then, after the night, everyone else would be calling me the next morning, saying: ‘My God, tell me about that joke again. You said this … We laughed.

We are still laughing about what you said yesterday.’ “And I’m like: ‘Okay, I know I make people laugh.’ Obviously it was such a regular setup, which is why when I saw comedy for the first time, I was like: ‘Oh, my God, this is what I do.’ These people are telling stories. It’s just that I tell them when I am chilling with friends. I was like: ‘Okay, this is how you package it nicely and put it to the audience for sale.” Many years after experiencing a comedy show, the comedian is fresh off selling out a 4 000-seater in Joburg for her stand-up showCeleste & Da Big Dudes, which she has done twice in the city.

Ntuli is taking the show to Cape Town on Saturday, 21 February 2026. “Joburg has given me nothing but the best reception. First time taking it to Cape Town since I started it. It’s been three years of me trying to get it to Cape Town.”

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