Stand-up comedy is an art that has been there for the longest time. It has gradually phased out from what it was popularly known to be. Stand-up comedy has the origins of stand-up comedy occurred as early as the 1830’s with the art form taking its modern shape by the early twentieth century. Stand-up comedy did not reach its modern popularity until the 1970s, it was a standard feature in society.
In Nigeria, stand-up comedy has been present since the 1990s and gained widespread popularity in the early 2000s. The comedy scene in Nigerian society seemed to be thriving as the art of stand-up comedy seemed to be successful on sold-out shows and CDs. Comedy shows sold out more than music concerts the likes of Nights of a Thousand Laughs by Opa Williams and Stand-up Nigeria were what was popularly enjoyed.
The comedians included greats like Ali Baba usually referred to as the Grandfather of Stand-up comedy in Nigeria and Julius Agwu were in business. On the bandwagon were AY, Bovi, Basket Mouth, Klint da Drunk, Gordons, I Go Die, I Go Save, Helen Paul, Seyi Law, and Princess who contributed immensely to the growth of stand-up comedy in Nigeria.
The Beginning of the Fall of Stand-up Comedy
In recent times, stand-up comedy is different we barely know stand-up comedians as opposed to skit makers of these days. This is because stand-up comedy is dying. Basket mouth in an interview with Arise TV said that the stand-up culture is dying. He made it known that the industry lacked structure and platform, unlike the music and movie industry. In his words “The culture of stand-up comedy is bleeding terribly”. It can be seen and is evident in the comedy of today.
The gradual decline started with social media being a new platform to show the game the comedy gradually phased into skit-making as the new way. Skit-making and stand-up comedy are very different although both are geared towards causing laughter and their primary message, entertainment through laughter is conveyed. Skit making is the creation of short funny videos, usually less than a minute.
We have a lot of skit makers today and the history of skit making in Nigeria can be traced back to when Instagram started gaining popularity in Nigeria. Crazeclown started skit-making by posting 15 secs videos on Instagram because Instagram didn’t allow one to post videos longer than that.
As time went on, Instagram evolved, and to let the platform be used properly increased the length of videos that can be posted. The likes of Brain jotter, Mark Angel, Taooma, Broda Shaggi, Mr. Macaroni, Sabinus, and many more make use of Instagram to promote their content and now even promote brands as a result of making money from it.
What is a Stand-up Comedy?
Stand-up comedy means a comedian standing before an audience to deliver their jokes and make people laugh. It is a craft that involves more acting, stage management, live performances, and the ability to own a stage and manage the crowd. Unlike skit making where the actor has the opportunity to edit their videos to make them as appealing to the viewers as possible. And even has the option of bringing actors or other skit makers to make a video.
Nothing much changed in stand-up comedy. It just took a different turn as social media is now a platform to display comedy and everyone is trying to gain online visibility.
Recently, there seems to be a shift in the talents produced in the comedy industry and these are some of the reasons:
- Use of Social Media: The introduction of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms has brought about a change in stand-up comedy. Some people find it difficult to “make it” as an actual stand-up comedian and therefore use skit-making as an alternative. Even if your jokes are not funny you could add up by creating content to increase followers and audience, now the aim is to build an online fan base.
- Modern-Day Vibe: Most people in Nigeria vibe more with musicians than comedians these days. There are more musical shows and concerts than comedy shows. Preference is even given to watching comedy videos on phones rather than actually attending comedy shows. Comedy shows are now aired on TV, although they are few in number.
- Increase in the number of Comedians: There is quite a number of comedians in the industry than there used to be. Back in the day comedy was reserved for those who had the talent to make people laugh. But these days everyone who wants to gain visibility starts making videos and with the right resources they are now tagged as comedians.
- Lack of Originality and Creativity: Most of the guys even attempting stand-up comedy copy the jokes of other comedians which shows a lack of creativity. To stand out and make good jokes, there is a need to be creative. Instead of doing this, Nigerians believe that Nigerians are naturally funny and they go on Twitter to read funny tweets and laugh. I mean that’s the goal, after all, to make us laugh. Also, the art of imitation and mockery seems to be the order of the day in the comedy industry, the comedians of the past era made fun of people a great deal but that was not the bane of their jokes. They had other ways of communicating with their audience as well as entertaining them and each of them had their own mannerisms.
Some of the modern skit makers try to do stand-up comedy and some are good the likes of Josh2Funny, Kenny Blaq, Romeo, Bethram etc. do a good job in their performances and do shows often. Comedy in general has improved to some extent as well. The comedy line has changed. Stand-up comedy was popular among the Warri people and most of them were basically told in pidgin even by those who were not from there. In recent times, comedy is now told in normal English and they still get to pass their message.
Women also are now more involved in comedy, before recent times they were few and they did not make grand appearances and were just featured in shows. Although in the actual comedy scene women are now active and encouraged to do so.
Generations coming after ours may not have the opportunity to laugh at the jokes of these guys, because social media (skit making) has gradually taken over stand-up comedy and new faces will come up again. People now go online to watch comedy rather than watch live performances of comedians. We have quite a number of new stand-up comedians such as Destalker, Akproko, Kenny Blaq Laff Doctor, Romeo etc.
There is a need for a community where comedians or those aspiring can meet up share ideas and even learn from others trying to forge their path. It could be a place where the past meets the present and future rather than the squabble for who has the most fame or money or a contest on who has worked with the most brands.
All things considered, it is not to say that stand-up comedy is dead or totally finished. It is wilting and with the right pressure or a wakeup call it can be restored but it’s gradually losing its standard compared to what it used to be.
