http://questionmarkmag.com/2010/09/nigeria-entertainment-and-the-growth-of-stand-up-comedy/

The comedy industry in Nigeria is fast-becoming a productive end to meeting other ends. This has become evident albeit popular on television or film, and in today’s sold-out stand-up comedy shows. The manner of wave-making by youthful geniuses at the art and act of jocular remarks is in itself, inspiring.

The truth however is that one has to be richly endowed either physically to elicit hilarity, or naturally gifted with plethora of yarn to inspire crowd to laughter.

The word comedy lends from a greek word, Komoidia, which is a general discourse intended to amuse. In the Athenian democracy, public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by political satire performed by comic poets at the theaters. Originally of a theatrical genre, it was simply described as a dramatic performance which pits two societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye – a Canadian literary critic and theorist, famously depicted these two opposing sides as “Society of Youth” and “Society of the Old”.

Today, comedies are mostly non-theatrical in the sense of the academe, i.e. without dramatic performances on stage reflecting characters in societies with a blend of elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations, but have grown largely into a monologue of smart jibes, before an audience.

The gratification for the comedian here is not in the audience’ critical perception of message, after all, there happens to be no true substance modeled into the audience participant, rather the single purpose of eliciting laughter or smiles over jokes, or vulgar gibe. The old trend of theatrical performances, solicits audiences participation by indirectly appealing to the intellect, emotional, and physical via theatrical dialogue and not monologue.

These messages which are typical of stereotypes, and based on evidences of the real world, are highly venerable. They do impact teachings in morals in the end, and discipline too. It should be noted however that although the term comedy is broadly in use for stand-up comedy in Nigeria, both are unique.

However, times have changed and so have needs too especially in the age of today’s media technology where cultural influences have strongly redefined how we view societies, needs or tastes; comedy (now inspired by ‘stand-up comedy’) has become debasing in style and rhetoric. Here, there are no morals but loosely woven jokes that retard the true sense of ‘amusing agon or conflict’.

Nonetheless it is accepted by all; in any case http://questionmarkmag.com/2010/09/nigeria-entertainment-and-the-growth-of-stand-up-comedy/