Paper short abstract:

Live performances exist in “time” and in a “place” which are known to both performers and audience. Within stand-up renditions, the comedian is given license to abuse and insult while the audience laughs. What do “time” and “place” possess inherently that make this possible?

Paper long abstract:

Stand-up comedy has become one of the most popular live performances in Nigeria since the 1990s. Its patronage has risen phenomenally even in the face of the dwindling fortunes of conventional theatre. This notwithsatnding, stand-up comedy has been largely ignored by recent studies in African theatre/performance. Hence, there exists a huge gap between its practice and reception, on the one hand, and its learned interrogation, on the other. This study examines the plenitudinous manifestations of "time" and "place/space" in stand-up performances from the perspective of the audience. Using Victor Turner's liminality, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown's "joking relationships" and Max Gluckmann's "ritual of rebellion" as basic frameworks, it identifies the unwritten pact between the performer and the audience which permits the former to insult the latter at will without repercussions. It the posits that the idea of time and place is a social construct whose establishment is by mutual consent; and that they are separated from other live performances because in stand-up comedy the performer is equally absolved from slander no matter what s/he says. Due to popularity and use of multiple performance mechanics akin to mimesis, Bright Okpocha (Basket Mouth) is selected for study. Data are acquired from commercially-available Video Compact Discs (VCDs) as well as the monitoring and recording of live events and these are appraised using performance analysis.