Basketmouth in an interview said many comedians would have gotten international fame and recognition if they were entertaining in English.
He stressed the need for Nigerian comedians to step up their game in order to be globally competitive and fully accepted.
“One of the problems we have right now in the industry and which makes
it difficult to break out of our cultural background and society is the
language barrier.”
Ninety per cent of our Nigerian comedians entertain
their
audience in Pidgin English and which limits their reach.
“You can only break even in Liberia, Ghana and Sierra- Leone, all
English speaking West African countries, but can’t go beyond that in
Francophone countries.
“So, if you continue being lazy as a comedian and not striving to be
universal with your materials, you are going nowhere.Joke is a joke, as
long as you don’t make it too cultural because nobody in America, with
the right audience, knows about the Warri people or the Yoruba people or Hausa.
“So create your jokes and even more universal which is the major
problem we have right now.” This is the reason why South Africans can
break into the
Western world because of the fact that they deliver their jokes in English and their structure is better than ours.
“In Nigeria, the entertainment is massive, but with no structure, he said.
_Vanguard
*I agree with him BUT Some Jokes are funnier in pidgin English