Stand-up Comedy in Africa Humour in Popular Languages and Media

"By way of nuanced analyses of comic performances drawn from diverse national and cultural backgrounds this volume reveals in rich and fascinating detail the immense popularity of stand-up comedy in Africa. A must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about how jokes are staged, how mimicry is fused with mockery, and about what and why audiences laugh (not only) in Africa."—Professor Matthias Krings, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz
"This book is a significant contribution to the rich, though understudied, area of research on comedy in general, and stand-up comedy in particular, in the African continent. Keen on probing and describing the specific techniques adopted by African stand-up comedians, the book presents engaged and intimate readings of different traditions of performance, which are informed by a depth of theoretical and conceptual approaches to this artistic and cultural practice. The investigation highlights the ample diversity of African stand-up comedy practice, not only in terms of geographical locations (which are as wide apart areas as South Africa and Egypt), but also through the inclusion of diverse media of representation such as live performances, satellite channels, and YouTube, and the investigation of various modes of performance ranging between one-person and multi-person performances, and scripted and non-scripted shows. This combination of vastness and depth produces valuable insights into people’s attempts to grapple with their realities, make sense of the world they live in, and carve out spaces for expression, representation and visibility."—Randa Aboubakr, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cairo University, Egypt