Full Description
African cultural productions of humour have increased even in the face of myriad economic foibles and social upheavals. For instance, from the 1990s, stand-up comedy emerged across the continent and has maintained a pervasive presence since then. Its specificities are related to contemporary economic and political contexts and are also drawn from its pre-colonial history, that of joking forms and relationships, and orality. Izuu Nwankwá's fascinating collected volume offers a transnational appraisal of this unique art form spanning different nations of the continent and its diasporas. The book engages variously with jokesters, their materials, the mediums of dissemination, and the cultural value(s) and relevance of their stage work, encompassing the form and content of the practice. Its ruling theoretical perspective comes from theatre and performance, cultural studies, linguistics, and literary studies.
Contents
Foreword by Ebenezer Obadare; Introduction; Old Wine in a New Bottle: Stand-up Comedy and its Dispersal across Africa; Confronting Racism and Colonialism in Cécile Djungas and Trevor Noahs Stand-up Comedy; South African Vernacular Stand-Up Comedy as Performative Resistance; The Peoples Joker: The Popularity of Mr Jokes Stand-up Comedy in Malawi; Resisting Shame and the Male Gaze: Humour Evocations in the Acts of Noha Kato and Real Warri Pikin; Discourse and Humour Strategies in Two-Person Stand-up Art in Nigeria; In the Shadow of the 1994 Genocide: Arthur Nkusi and Stand-up Comedy in Rwanda; The Afterlife of Ugandan Stand-up Comedy: Examining the Multiple Roles and Jocular Devices of Teacher Mpamire; Scripted and Non-Scripted Humour in Stand-up Comedy: Techniques of Egypts Comedian Ali Quandil; Reinventing Taboo in Kenyan Stand-up Comedy; Africa on the British Stage: Laughter-Making Mechanics of Andi Osho and Daliso Chaponda; Theres No Such Thing as Too Soon Here: Taking Stock of South Africas Comedy Boom; The Many-Sides of Kenyan Stand-up Comedy: A Stylistic Interrogation of the Acts of Jemutai, Professor Hamo and Oga Obinna; Nigerias The Mock News with Pararan: The Poetics of its Punchline; About the Contributors; Endorsements.
