A Critical Stylistic Study of Pidgin English in Selected Nigerian Stand-Up Comedy Video Clips

This research is a study of the use of Pidgin English in selected stand-up comedy video clips and how these comedians achieve their goals with words. The study also identified the Critical Stylistic features that explain the comedies of the selected comedians. The comics’ choice of words is far from being incidental, superficial, or supplementary. Performers’ choices of words show how their ideas are embodied in language. That is to say, the effect of how a comedian uses words and humour strategies is vital for understanding the contextual meaning of jokes and how they appeal to logic and reason. Data were obtained from videos on YouTube channels of seven comedy shows. The selected comedians are Basketmouth, Bovi, I Go Dye, Ali Baba, MC Shakara, Akpororo, and AY. It further interpreted the analysed features and used three out of the ten Critical Stylistic tools which are prominent in the data. This was done with the view of investigating how Critical Stylistic tools were applied in the comedies. The data analysed were principally chosen in line with the tools identified. The data were analysed using three of the tools, namely: Naming and Describing, Hypothesizing, and Representing Time, Space, and Society. Findings showed that Naming and Describing was used by the comedians to manipulate the audience, making use of Pidgin English and also passing information which might seem true or false but aimed at creating humour. Hypothesizing is also used by the comedians to describe the degree of certainty about their comedy, making use of modal auxiliaries such as would, shall, and should to construct humorous meanings. Representing Time, Space, and Society was used by the comedians to describe or explain certain time, place, and social context using demonstrative pronouns and deictic expressions. The study has been able to identify the tools of Critical Stylistics and how they have been used to analyse the language of comedians.