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.
``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
Agreed!
ReplyDeleteI hate this dude so much. proud, arrogant idiot.
Deleteis dat y he's speakg dat nonsence english,abeg naija comedy na pidgin abeg dats y oyibo comedy no dey make me laff
DeleteHe looks like an ugly version of Ice cube the rapper... Pure water
DeleteDo yiu care for a glass of honey?
DeleteYou*
DeleteBasket mouth please!if we can't export goods can. We expoort our pigin.charlie Chaplin didn't speak in his jokes yet people laughed.
DeleteRolex Chick, isn't it sooooooo frustrating having that much hatred for someone that doesn't even know you exist? O life is such a b!tch.
DeleteRolex chick the hater!!! He doesn't even know u exist. Go and drink one jar of honey biko
DeleteHATE for someone created by God.
DeleteRolex Chick, you have so much bitterness in you. Abeg Change.
Truth be told,he is very proud. I don't hate him but he is seriously proud.and am not Rolex whatever by the way .I know basketmouth personally
DeleteCorrect English is d reason y just. Agwu is back ward in d industry.
ReplyDeleteSo people still pay big money to watch commedy. Them try ooo.
ReplyDeleteSDK blog we have so many comedians here. No need to pay 1 million for 8 seats. Mba
Hahaahhha
DeleteComedy in broken english is sweet. I love the way they whine mouth like tolotolo to talk the jokes
ReplyDeleteHe should shut up. Every country have their reputation. Will you tell a French comedian to speak English inorder to be accepted globally?? When the get to understand how fun it is to speak and understand our local 'pidgin' English, then they'll be forced to accept us globally.
ReplyDeleteMost of the jokes are only funny cos it's in pidgin
ReplyDeleteGbam.
DeleteHe is saying international not local. Pidgin is good in naija but outside nigeria use English dats the message he is trying to pass
DeleteYeah like the ihn gist of Saturday and Sunday. But why no result yet on those jokes?
ReplyDeleteI raise yansh for you.
ReplyDeleteI disagree I prefer our jokes in pidgin. Once it's gotten to English it wouldn't be sweet any more.
ReplyDeleteWhat percentage of the world are you?
DeleteI,I,I, that's why Nigeria is still backward. Everything is about yourself. Someone is talking global and you are here dragging for "I".
Have you seen little miss Jocelyn comedies? It is in Queens English.
The most globally recognised comedians do English Jokes. What part of the world have you even seen. Yet,you think you can argue based on your local standards.
I agree with the fact that we arent wired to think globally as typical Nigerians. And this could be our problem
DeleteHis 2cents
ReplyDeleteTrue,but when they are with local audience they should speak pidgin and with international audience speak queens English period.
ReplyDeleteWho English epp
aiit
ReplyDelete#GODWIN™
This one should close his mouth jare! We are nigerians,not your 'white men'.I prefer jokes in pidgin-Its called originality.
ReplyDeleteHe is right Jare.
ReplyDeleteJokes are better when cracked in pidgin english, but i get his point.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that if you rack your brains very well, you will find the English words to use to express a joke and it will be funny as hell. After all, American comedians deliver their jokes in English and most of us find them funny. There's also this British guy (his name eludes me right now ).
If they work hard, they will make it happen.
Are you insinuating that Gordon's is funnier that Chris rock, Kevin hart or Dave chappelle? Jokes in pidgin isn't funnier and its restricting these naija comedians to Nigeria and west Africa.
DeleteI watched his performance in South Africa and was surprised at how dry he was.. I dont agree with you totally.. Pidgin adds the spice to the whole thing... In a way.
ReplyDeleteVery dry!
DeleteIt was dry to you because you prefer the pigin version
DeleteTrue Stellz. Some jokes are only funny when told in pidgin. Most comedians speak English; at least they try to infuse it into their shows now. I go dye is one of those people. He has really come a long way. Basketmouth, you the speaker, how far?
ReplyDeleteWhat basketmouth says is true! I watched Trevin Owen (South African) perform in English for an English audience in the UK and it was good. Pidgin limits us and makes us not able to easily express ourselves in English.
ReplyDelete1. Trevin Owen
DeleteGuess who's made it to Saturday laughs. Biko let me check my own sentence o, before the laffee becomes the Laffer. .. lol.Trevor Noah, Pele...
DeleteGoogle it he is also called Trevor Owen
DeleteBasket mouth's only funny English word is "Serzly" before he switches to pidgin.
ReplyDeleteLol. So true
DeleteVERY CORRECT I MEAN LOOK AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN TREVOR NOAH. THE GUY IS SO FUNNY AND HIS JOKES ARE UNIVERSAL. HE HAS GLIBAL APPEAL, NAIJA IS JUST STUCK IN PIDGIN ENGLISH MODE BOTH IN MUSIC AND COMEDY HENCE MOST OF THEM SOUND VERY UNINTELLIGENT WHEN THEY GRANT INTERVIEWS. THEYBJUST CAN'T ARTICULATE WELL.
ReplyDeleteGlibal appeal ko global appeal ni. Theybjust ko they just ni... first time commenting... *cheeky grin*
DeleteNot totally false for those top (1st class) comedians. But sir, Lack of materials, good packaging and media/coporate connection kills one's career in comedy and all entertainment career faster than Ebola.
ReplyDeleteBut for upcoming ones, bros pidgin, code-mixing, code-switching and local dialet is the way forward. For example, If u do music or comedy in Ibadan and u don't do it songs or jokes in Yoruba Language, bros, u no go blow like balloon talk less of knockout or almighty bomb in ur locality.
Very dry!
ReplyDeleteYup. As dry as your pleasure pot.
DeleteChai Amaka! I shame on your behalf for this dullard comment.
DeleteSmh
ReplyDeletePeople love African and Caribbean comdieans because it is different. If I want English speaker comedy I tune into comedy central. He shd see what People are doing. Because of the hunger for it alot of comedies are popping up all over the place. Search instagram/FB and what not.
So, I respectfully disagree with him. It is all abt when you make it. You only need God to position you to tap into the main stream.
All my friends follow African comedians esp Naija on youtube and such because they love it. And are buying up tickets to go see them.
Sorry, but you are an idiot.
DeleteFirstly, you cannot compare Naija pidgin to Caribbean patois. People in the western world are very familiar with Caribbean patois because they have been hearing it heavily in music, and in movies and cartoons for decades.......in fact no need for too much explanation, just accept that you are foolish. Ciao!
Dear coward, internet wanna be gangster, know yourself before cursing your entire generation. Respectfully disagreeing with someone's opinion does not make one an idiot or foolish.
DeleteThis is all the time I am going to allocate to you on this while I go about counting my shmoney. Mkay... Bless your heart child.
Most Jokes are funny cos they are said in pidgin. You baasket mouth came to fame cos of this pidgin English jokes.
ReplyDeleteThe Americans and the french won't crack a joke in pidgin but in English and French becos that's their language. Let's not in trying to evolve or relate with these people change who we are.
Pidgin English jokes Naim funny abeg.
Na they pidgin English de make am sweet. How can you be cracking jokes in Naija and be speaking Queen's English. Abeg.
ReplyDeleteDo it local and get it right joor. Who grammar epp?
ReplyDeleteEnd time oversabi
ReplyDeleteBasket is right and only the intellectually sound will understand this
ReplyDeleteSo in that ur empty head, intelligence is measured by English language abi? What basket meant is that comedians should learn to communicate in English so as to reach a relatively wider audience. To me, let every comedian express himself in anyway or medium or language they can and comfortable with. I am proud of the Nigerian pidgin! As the bible records "... to one he gave 5 talents, to another he gave 2 talents and yet another he gave 1..."
DeleteThe profit or loss lies in our hands!
Not true abeg. What's funny for a white man isn't for a black. How many times does he laugh at a white man's joke?
ReplyDeletePlease he should go and sit down. We should be proud of our pidgin and everything should not be about us changing to suit the western world, some of them appreciate the uniqueness of pidgin. Soon he will say people should speak with American accent..
ReplyDeleteI beg to disagree. Fela did most of his songs in pidgin yet he received international acclaim such that even after his death he is still being honored all over the world. Every nation that has achieved greatness communicates in languages indigenous to them as their lingua franca, France, China, Malaysia,UK etc.
ReplyDeleteIn the arts which I presume comedy falls under, creativity and originality is key and I think one of the best ways to achieve this is through your language.
I think in Nigeria, we should have a minimum of four languages viz Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and lastly English serving as the Lingua franca. Nigerians nay Africans should be proud of what we have, our cultures, languages and civilisations and project such to the rest of the world.
Well said!
DeleteFela was recognized because he was a patriot not really because of his songs. He was awesome because he challenged dictators through music...and that made him unique. If he was just a normal fella singing in pidgin, he wouldn't have been popular abroad.
DeleteAlso, trying to project pidgin english as part of nigeria's culture to the rest of the world is dumb. The truth remains that you are speaking the corrupted and ghetto form of another man's language. If you want to speak the English man's language, you might as well speak it well..or you don't speak it at all. After we all have our native languages.
Oga Basket Mouth, no vex o. English na my second language, and I am not ashamed to say it. Oyibo - proper, no eazy to speak.
ReplyDelete