Veteran comedian Alibaba has expressed concerns about the lack of professionalism among some Nigerian comedians.
In an interview on Outside The Box podcast, he said he believes that certain comedians, particularly three prominent ones, lack decorum and often cross boundaries with their jokes.
Alibaba shared an incident where a comedian he had sent to a corporate event made an embarrassing joke about a plus-size wife of the company’s chairman.
When he addressed the issue with the comedian, he was offensive joke merchant was defensive.
According to Alibaba, some comedians prioritise shock value over intelligence and respect, which can damage their reputation and the industry as a whole.
He emphasised the importance of knowing where to draw the line in comedy, avoiding jokes that insult sensibilities or offend audiences.
He said: “There are about three Nigerian comedians who I can’t stand. They have no decorum. They insult sensibilities. You try to correct them, they won’t listen to you. You send them to a cooperate event and they do dirty jokes. And when you received report of their unruly behaviour and you confront them, they would downplay it.
“Somebody called me one time to complain about one of them that he made a joke about his plus-size wife. He said, ‘If a race happens now and everyone has to carry their wives and run, you can’t carry this woman and run.’ I was like, that’s below the belt. When I confronted him, he downplayed it. He even told somebody that I was only confronting him because he was shining.”
