Green Point’s café society is brimming with life, just a stone’s throw away from Marc Lottering’s posh, pet-friendly pied-à-terre.
The photo shoot is in full swing and Marc is revisiting his childhood – sitting on the stairs of his duplex while blowing bubbles for the photographer. Having turned 40 on the 4th of December last year, Marc laments that his friends call 40 the ‘new 30’. ‘That’s absolute rubbish,’ he says, ‘40 is 40. I looked great when I was 17 – I want to be 17 again. I think at the rate that I’m going more than half my life is over! And there’s still so much I want to do. But turning 40 certainly is a factor in my life, because you start asking yourself questions like, “Does that T-shirt really belong on the body of a 40-year-old man or not?” and it changes the way you see things. Getting older could be great, but I think youth is also great. The world is changing though, in terms of perceptions. I think when you’re sitting in the company of people and you say, “I’m 40”, it’s not as major an issue as it used to be. It kept me awake for a couple of nights, though!’

Marc grew up in Retreat, where he lived for about 18 years of his life. Then his family moved to Fairways, which he describes as ‘really lovely’. ‘Mostly English-speaking coloureds live there in freestanding houses. Very few of them talk about their marital problems,’ he quips.
After matriculating from Heathfield High School, Marc tried to study law at the University of Cape Town, and gleefully admits that he failed very successfully every year. ‘I was a constant failure. I never attended lectures and I wasn’t passionate about studying law at all. My first two years were great, but other than that I was an underachiever of note. You know when they do that “least likely to succeed”? I would have been that picture.’

While ushering at the Baxter, Marc met Bryan Slingers, who headed up an advertising agency. Bryan invited Marc to come and work for him, and Marc spent the next five years as a project manager. ‘I think life takes you on a journey. I don’t regret my years wasted at UCT. In fact, a lot of my material when I started writing comedy came from UCT and from people I met, about people I met and about how we change. It’s funny how people’s accents change when they come from, let’s say, Athlone and suddenly they get to UCT in Rondebosch. “Don’t talk kak” becomes “are you, like, serious?”, so everything changes. I don’t think it was a complete waste of time – it was good for character building.’
Marc had always been interested in theatre and he initially thought he wanted to do musical theatre (his dream in life was to be a back-up vocalist for Whitney Houston). Can he sing? ‘I believe that I could at that stage, but I think most people believe that they can sing.’

Marc found his way at 30. One day, a friend suggested that he invite people over to hear the stories he told her. ‘I always used to tell her funny stories and she said people would pay to hear them. I did that. Then, after my birthday party at the Coffee Lounge, the owner said to me, “Will you please come back and have your birthday for two more weeks, because people will pay to hear this.” That was the beginning of my comedy career.’ Marc resigned from his job at the advertising agency and continued writing. ‘The world of advertising also impacted upon my sense of writing and my sense of the world, because the world became a bigger space and a bigger place for me through advertising. It was a very important experience, despite it being 10 years ago.’

Sitting comfortably on his chocolate-coloured sofa with Tina, the dachshund, who is fast asleep while her brother Billy keeps an eye on the proceedings, Marc comments on the tattoo on his left arm. ‘I had the Mom/Dad tattoos done while they were still alive, because I realised they were going to pass on. I had it done in Durban at the Gateway Centre, where they say the best tattoo artist lives. Until the day they died, I told my mother it was a stick-on and she really said I should bath and rub harder. I think my dad knew it was a tattoo. It’s the best thing that I’ve done. The thing about tattoos is you get addicted to them. They are great reminders. On the other side of this one I want to put “Home Loans Department”, because I still have to pay my bond this month. That will be effective for about the next 30 years.’

Last year, Marc took the bold step and bought what he calls his ‘humble little home’. He says: ‘When I was facing 40, everybody said to me, “You’ve got to buy property because it’s part of growing up and it’s a great investment.” I owned a charming little house in Rondebosch East before, which I bought for my parents, so when they passed on I sold it immediately. When you don’t sell property and it just stands empty, your family members tend to come for a visit and end up staying. Everybody tells you to invest – nobody tells you about that debit order week of the month, where you don’t answer your cellphone when it says “private number” because you know a call centre number when you see one.’

Marc and his partner of 10 years, Anwar McKay, saw this Green Point gem, decided to take the plunge and bought it. They knocked the whole thing down and came up with a design scheme to fit their lifestyle. Marc says: ‘We wanted something contemporary and homey where people could feel at home. We decided we needed a garden for the dogs, a water feature, and, of course, added another bathroom and toilet upstairs. I feel really chuffed about it.

‘We put all these mirrors in to create the feeling of a bigger space. The mirrors are wonderful because people arrive here and they get gesuip and they walk right into the mirror. We had a party on Saturday night and some woman walks up the stairs, looks in the mirror and she says, “That chick’s wearing my dress!” A house is great fun. You forget how cool it is until you get visitors and they go, “Wow Marc, it’s really cool and nice!”’

Marc’s favourite room is the bedroom upstairs, where he watches Judge Judy back to back, as well as reruns of old Afrikaans television series. A television addict, he says: ‘You’ll find TVs practically everywhere. If I could get one in the toilet I would as well. My friends get very annoyed because they don’t understand my brain. I love curling up under the blankets with Flings or Ghost Pops and watching a whole lot of TV. I also try and catch the news.’

Why Green Point? He says: ‘It’s a very sexy area. Vida is here, Melissa’s is here, Giovanni’s is here – everybody’s posing, having dinner parties and throwing up. Green Point is where it’s at!’