I have been enjoying the Bru & Boegie comic strip rss feed for a long time now and thought I it was time to let the Eish!! readers know about this little gem coming out of the Garden Route.









I made the mistake of trying to do an email interview with the creator, Mike. The idea was to glean from his answers enough information to bring you an article in Eish!! Not a chance, the reply I got from Mike was so entertaining that I have no choice but to give you the unabridged version. Enjoy.

Hi Mike,
Hi Eishman. Haibo. Sikona? Gonjane?

1. Tell us just a little bit about your background, how you found out you had this talent for telling stories through cartoons (and making us laugh in the process) I grew up in Soweto with my nanny. She cared for me and fed me everyday. At night, she used to tell me stories about these 2 half-naked guys called Bru & Boegie. They scared me a lot. Then, one day I decided to exorcize these demons by drawing them on paper and putting them up on the Internet. At first I did it so my psychiatrist would be able to see the inside of my brain, but then other people started visiting my comics site, and I might possibly be reliving my nightmares for the rest of my life.
2. Where did the inspiration for Bru & Boegie come from? My nanny used to tell me that the Bru & Boegie stories were passed down from generation to generation. I also hear that if you fail to put your bed up on bricks, the tokoloshis come and eat your soul, and leave Bru & Boegie the fingernails. I didn’t bother asking why. Anyway, I’m just carrying on the tradition of passing on these stories to haunt the lives of as many people as I can.
   
3. The main characters are Bru & Boegie (of course), who are they, and for that matter, what are they? As far as I know, Bru & Boegie are 2 ancient Gods whose names mean something like ‘Golden Underpants Exalted on High’ and ‘Extreme Baldness at a Young Age and Legs without Feet’ but my memory’s a bit hazy. My nanny always used to warn me that if I failed to continue the Bru & Boegie tradition, she’d call Bru & Boegie to come and ‘klap my ass’ and I don’t want to find out what that means. I’ve tried speaking to other kids who grew up with me in the township, but they seem to know nothing of what I speak. I somehow think I may be alone in my knowledge of these demi-gods.
   
4. How does a cartoonist such as yourself start out? It seems as if it requires a whole load of luck? Ha ha. A cartoonist, eh? Well, you need a piece of paper and a pen. Then, you need 2 half-naked guys to pose for you. Both should be bald, have pointy legs and bald as baby’s butts. Then, if you’re lucky enough to find such subjects, trail them for a while and watch their ridiculous antics. Normally they’ll do something stupid every day. On occasions they might do multiple stupid things, so you gotta write down those ideas for future use. You should never let your subjects know they’re being watched.
   
5. Where can we find your work? I’ve sent most of my work to my nanny who likes to make sure I’m getting the stories accurate. She lives in Pofadder now, under police protection from nosy onlookers who want to know the true origin of Bru & Boegie. I think it’s a load of hogwash, and she should just tell everyone where the hell Bru & Boegie come from. I like to believe she’s actually schizophrenic and has these 2 guys constantly talking to her inside her head. (Don’t tell her I told you that, or she’ll…whatever) What was the question? Ah, my work. You can’t find my work anywhere. I’m actually a doctor by trade. But I haven’t got any work yet. If you know of anyone who might be looking to have their nose adjusted or something sutured, please direct them to me.
   

Thanks Mike, for the laughs.

Labels: bru and boegie, cartoon, eish

Posted by eishman on Friday, June 22, 2007 at 8:25 AM | Permalink