NIGERIAN PIDGIN USE AND STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY STAND-UP COMEDIANS TO ACHIEVE INTERACTION IN COMEDY

Nneoma Chiebuka Ngige

Abstract


This study is aimed at looking at the use of Nigerian Pidgin and strategies employed by stand-up comedians to achieve interaction in comedy. Stand-up comedy, an oral dramatic performance commonly enacted by a solo-performance before a live audience, are known to use Nigerian Pidgin creatively to create comedy and entertain their audience. Their patterns and choices of language can sometimes have hidden meanings that show Nigerian ways of life and their tone of utterance can sometimes be inappropriate. This study therefore examines the strategies deployed by stand-up comedians with the view to determine the role of Nigerian Pidgin as a veritable source in comedy production and consumption. Hence, the purpose of this study is to analyze the strategies employed by Nigerian stand-up comedians to achieve interaction in comedy, their patterns and choices of language as they are used to create comedy to entertain their audience. This work reveals how Nigerian Pidgin reflects social relationship between the comedian and his audience. It also reveals that pidgin is an informal language, and so its informality creates an equal social relationship in an informal setting which aids laughter.

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