'Pidgin English is the major obstacle in Nigerian comedy' Basket mouth

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