Along the N2 from Cape Town, it's a relaxed 90 minute drive to Hermanus. Plenty time to admire the green fields as you coast over Sir Lowry's Pass before taking the R43 to Kleinmond. Pass the fishing village of Hawston and the holiday haven of Onrust and you enter the gateway to the whales. For ten days in September, the whales compete with an avalanche of music, sport and culture for the audience attention. After the pomp and ceremony of the official opening, with the Simonstown Naval Band in attendance, the theatre takes centre stage.
Banks anxiously asks the stage manager before the show.
He needn't have worried. It's five minutes to show time and there's a full house. Over 150 expectant faces crowd in and extra chairs are squeezed in the front. And at a Mark Banks show, that's a dangerous place to be. Two grey-haired old ladies and an English tourist take their seats and I wonder if they know what they're in for.