Stand-up in Nigeria, according to comic Bright Okpocha, aka Basketmouth, “is dying.”
When compared to the music and film sectors, he said that Nigeria’s comedy scene lacked “structure and platform.”
In a recent interview with Arise TV, he made these comments.
Basketmouth said: “My colleagues will agree with me that stand-up comedy in Nigeria is absolutely dying. There is a massive loss of talent in the stand-up comedy community.
“You know, in the music industry, they’ve got all these streaming services; they have this infrastructure set up to back up what they’re doing all over the world. The same holds true for movies, as they also have the option of using a streaming service. And Afrobeats did that, making place for motion pictures. We don’t have any venues for comedy, which is a shame. We don’t have comedy clubs; we don’t have any organization.
“In the United States, if a comic wants to go on tour, they will first try out their material at comedy clubs all across the country. However, there is no place to go to a comedy show in Nigeria. You can’t practice your lessons anywhere. Since this is a kind of artistic expression, you can’t just make something and then perform it for an audience without any idea of how they would react. Before releasing their music to the public, musicians often contact A&R to get feedback on their creations. But out here, there is no shortage of comics. To put it simply, it’s a dangerous bet. They are the ones seeking for sponsors and advertising the shows. Comedy is not designed into the system. Many up-and-coming artists lack the established fan base that we did.
