Humour, satire and the emergent stand-up comedy:
Humour, satire and the emergent stand-up comedy:

A diachronic appraisal of the contributions of the masking tradition

Summary/Abstract: Masking is a phenomenon that is traced to almost all human ages, from its prehistoric andprimitive narratives in Africa, its dramatic beginnings in ancient Greece and Rome, to its useas forms of character delineation in the commedia dell’Arte of the 16th and 18th centuryEurope, as well as its age long association with carnivals due largely to its analogous relationto humour and entertainment. Masking, as comic as it may seem, has been critical ofhumanity’s social dispositions from time past. As humans, the façade of the mask is a leewayto speak truth to power and also an opportunity for the performance of self in ways that are atvariant with the real self. As topical as the activities of the masquerade are to the society, noacademic quest has been directed to investigate how humour and satire have always beenassociated with the masquerade. Following the social criticism, humour and entertainmentwhich have become evidently inherent in the emergent stand-up comedy, scholars havedirected their critical attention towards this new live theatre without considering thehumorous functions of the masquerade for an academic enquiry. It is against this backdropthat this paper has decided to investigate and re-establish historically the humorouscontributions of the masking art in almost all facets of human conditions. The resources forthe paper are a combination of library and historical research. The paper establishes thatsatire and humour, as enjoyed in all venues of stand-up comedy acts in Nigeria, are just acontemporary addition to what masks had done in the past but for dearth of properdocumentation of these contributions. The masking tradition has been a source of humour andsarcasm to issues bordering on human relations all over the world.

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