Kenyan Television Stand-up Comedy as a Reflection of Societal Mentality

Authors

  • Beneah Shapaya Kenyatta University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33886/kujat.v1i1.130

Keywords:

Kenyan Television, Stand-up Comedy, Kenya

Abstract

The held mantra for comedy is laughing at ourselves, meaning that the jokes and situations highlighted by a stand-up comedian are a reflection of societal values and norms that may in turn be idiotic in nature but still held dear by the society. The norms maybe like a ritual that though at times  ineffectual and at times detrimental is still held as a part of the societal code and cannot be discarded easily. Indeed the traditional venue of a typical stand-up comedian has been the pub, performing to an audience that is inebriated, but with the increased popularity of stand-up comedy in Kenyan television the audience has increased tenfold but the substance of the jokes is yet to be analysed in detail. This paper tries to look at the performances of different stand-up comedians in the Kenyan television while analysing the nature of their jokes in relations to the idiosyncrasies in society.

Author Biography

Beneah Shapaya, Kenyatta University

Department of Film and Theatre Arts

Downloads

Published

2020-02-14

How to Cite

Shapaya, B. (2020). Kenyan Television Stand-up Comedy as a Reflection of Societal Mentality. Journal of African Theatre, Film and Media Discourse, 1(1), 120–128. https://doi.org/10.33886/kujat.v1i1.130