John Vlismas

John Vlismas (born 3 May 1973) is a South African stand-up comedian, academic and DEI strategist.

Comedy career Vlismas won the 2007 South African Comedy Award for best stand-up comedian of the year and was a finalist in the 2008 Yuk Yuk's Great Canadian Laugh Off.

In 2010, Vlismas appeared in the comedy film Outrageous alongside fellow South African comedians Barry Hilton, Joey Rasdien, Loyiso Gola, Mark Banks, Riaad Moosa and Krijay Govender.

In April 2014, Vlismas was part of the panel for Comedy Central Africa's Roast of Kenny Kunene and Steve Hofmeyr.

He has also appeared in several Comedy Central productions, including solo specials and additional Comedy Central Roast programmes.

During his MBA studies, he received distinctions in Strategic Marketing and Relationship Marketing.

He works in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), leadership, culture and community building through his business, OGO Creative, where he serves as co-founder and Head of Strategy.

Vlismas has collaborated with Henley Business School in the co-design and facilitation of course material and contributed to the transition of marketing and learning activities to virtual delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, he co-authored a white paper with Henley Business School on workplace diversity.

In 2024, he presented a work titled Player Zero at LeaderEx and at academic and industry conferences.