Born in Cape Town in 1973, Bernice Kalvari is the youngest of two. Her parents Harry and Lorraine insisted that she be schooled at the local Jewish school. Bernice matriculated in 1991, full of angst and kind of a rough chick.

With no career direction she enrolled at the University of Cape Town and changed her career direction repeatedly. Eventually she qualified with a real MA and started working in the field of education and training.

Bernice’s frustrating and endless search for Mr. Right took her down many strange roads and false starts, until she met Damon in 2007. She was captured with his naiveté and honesty, and fell in the love with him the moment she realised she could boss him around.

Since being married to Damon, Bernice has experienced the revelation that she can shed her angst easily by swallowing meds. Two decades of psychotherapy could not achieve what 25mg of Cipralex could. She is now an outspoken proponent of the happy pill, and encourages all angry people to swallow.

Damon and Gareth Cliff recognised Bernice’s talent for radio and asked her to join the show Keeping Up With The Kalvaris. It was there she followed her acting dream which had been conceived in a Standard 3 production of the Toad of Toad Hall … where she played a toad. Drawing on her abilities to be self-deprecating, disrespectful of people’s privacy and tell a funny story, Bernice and Damon gel together as a boundary-less radio duo.

She looks forward to her weekly shows with Damon and says, “He loves radio, and loves being the centre of attention. And I am so happy when he is happy and not moping around tripping over his bottom lip.”

Bernice can be contacted at bernice@damonkalvari.co.za