Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy (2019) s01e04 Episode Script

1 There is a war that predates all other wars and it's as bloody and violent with as many casualties as any war ever.
It used to be called the War between the Sexes.
And by sexes, they meant two.
Men and women.
By today's standards, it was kind of quaint.
But, like all wars, there are no longer two sides.
There are many, many sides.
It should be called the War on Gender.
We travel to countries that are so far behind on basic women's rights or gay rights that the concepts of transgenderism or gender identity are like science fiction to them.
Can't love.
I do not understand.
The idea of gender.
It is offensive to my people.
And although we are far more progressive on these issues, we aren't that progressive.
And not that long ago, we weren't progressive at all.
"You can't joke about rape.
Rape's not funny.
" I say: "Fuck you, I think it's hilarious.
How do you like that?" We laughed at a good rape joke.
We still do.
I replaced her pepper spray with Silly String.
Anyway, that night, she got raped.
She wasn't a bad girl at all.
But she was terrible in bed.
I mean she would just lie there.
Screaming: "No!" We thought gay stereotypes were hilarious.
And we still do.
And, of course, there was America's favorite comic target.
Women.
And they still are.
Calm down.
Now get back to your seat.
I'll take care of this.
Calm down.
Get a hold of yourself.
Doctor, you're wanted on the phone.
In Part four of The Dangerous World Of Comedy, we will examine the tolerance and acceptance of misogyny, rape, transphobia and homophobia and the violence they engender and the comedy it produces across cultures from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia to America.
I'm Larry Charles and this is The Dangerous World of Comedy.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invites the world to witness history.
The greatest Royal Rumble ever.
Yes, professional wrestling has come to Saudi Arabia.
A superficial symbol of its embrace of the West and its modern ways.
Sort of.
Scantily clad men? Okay.
Scantily clad women? No.
Men in the audience? Of course.
Women in the audience? Only if accompanied by a man.
On the surface, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems surprisingly familiar.
Almost like if the borough of Queens was a country.
Yes, they have a royal family, but don't we have our own versions of royalty? It's when you get under the surface that you begin to spot the differences.
Like the constant stream of public beheadings.
That's something that's never caught on in the States.
Also, women aren't allowed to drive No woman, no drive swim, attend sporting events or make decisions for themselves without male permission.
It almost seems like rape and honor killings are as common as marriage.
So when I heard there were female comedians in Saudi Arabia, I knew I had found dangerous comedy.
The women of Saudi Arabian comedy.
Yes, the women of Saudi Arabian comedy.
That was a sentence that didn't make any sense just a short time ago.
Yeah, I'm crazy.
This is U-TURN Studios, in many ways the new face of the rapidly expanding Saudi Arabian media empire.
Here they produce content for social media.
It seems very futuristic in some ways, but not all ways.
Like men and women work together, but not in the same room.
And though women seem to hold positions throughout the hierarchy, make no mistake, this place is run by men.
U-TURN, people didn't see it as just a company.
It was a movement.
It was a trend.
It was something that where people could speak their voice, people could find their place.
It's not a place where you need a certain CV to come in or you need a certain background.
All you needed was passion and the right envionrment.
But it's also a place where female comedians can express themselves freely and openly and comically about all these conflicts and issues.
Madina, Madina.
One to Madina.
Madina, Madina.
- Are you going to Madina? - Ladies only.
Move! And post their pieces on social media, bypassing the sometimes violent resistance they encounter while gaining a vast audience of people who had been clamoring for a voice like Hatoon Kadi.
A mother, wife, PhD and comedian.
I love him, Papa! You tell her he's a drunk.
I love him! - He's an addict.
- I love him! He's broke and jobless.
I love him! Marriage will change him! Alright, tell me about yourself.
Tell me about how you got started.
Well, how I got started; I got started back in 2011 when the idea came.
I was doing my PhD.
And then there was a hype in 2010-2011 in the Saudi YouTube.
Badr Saleh with Eysh Eyshelly.
Fahad Albutairi in La Yekthar.
3AL6AYER with Omar Hussein.
I was so happy with this hype.
And then I realized the female perspective is lacking.
So there is a great opportunity.
I finished my Master's degree and I started teaching part-time, so I started having some free time.
And when I started blogging, I loved doing sarcastic stuff on paper.
They were always on my mind.
The idea came about doing a comedy show and what really made me want to do the show is that I had topics.
I just did my first episode in my children's room.
We got married away from Liberalism and Secularism.
No other nonsense, and forgot about "coolness".
Wow, man.
Why all of them wrapped in white robes? Why don't they wear jeans? You're discovered by Hatoon sitting at a book fair.
- Yes.
- Having coffee.
This is the first time I've worked in my life.
She has never published before.
She only published on Facebook.
- That's amazing.
- There is a chemistry between us.
She understands me.
Sometimes she can think in a very dark way.
I give her a very light idea, she will just add this very dark insight into it.
- The perfect chemistry.
- Yeah.
As women, we are always the subject of male stand-up comedians.
I think, all through history, if women did not exist, stand-up comedy would not have existed.
Take my wife, please.
We took all the things that they always claim that we do and we just fired back.
Men say, "You're so emotional.
You're so sensitive.
You're so hard to deal with.
" I'm not the one who gets upset when I'm not flattered for buying a loaf of bread.
Or not called the "Man Of The House" for finally changing a light bulb a year after being asked.
Who's emotional now, Cutie? It was received by women, saying: "Yes! Yes, this is what we wanted! This is what we wanted.
" As a baby girl grows, her mother prepares her for her only mission in life.
Marriage.
"Hey! Hey! Don't get a tan! Nobody wants a dark-skinned girl! Hey! Hey! Be more quiet! Nobody wants to marry a loudmouth!" The poor girl asks: "Mommy, what is marriage?" "Hey! Hey! You just get married to get married!" When you are not funny, you are what in English? You are not funny.
There's no word? Because when you are not funny, we have a term that your blood is too thick.
Oh, okay.
So people were starting saying: "Your blood is too thick.
You are" So there were people who didn't think you were funny.
It's okay for me.
But what I was not anticipating, what I was really surprised to hear and to read is the criticism on my look.
So personal.
It is so personal.
If you read the comments, It's an interesting thing.
If you see the first episode and you see the comments, you wouldn't believe.
See this dude? He's a hip guy.
He has a man bun.
He thinks he's liberated, but old habits die hard.
Like this story happened to her, but he can't help jumping in, interrupting her and mansplaining her story to her.
- Yes, yes.
That was so bad.
- Yeah, yeah.
Some people say: "What is the worst criticism we've ever received?" I said it was the most offending and the most creative at the same time, which was, in one of the episodes, I was wearing beige, beige color.
And then, and then this comment said, "You should not be wearing beige.
You should be wearing gray, because this is the ideal color for an elephant.
" What is that? A doughnut.
Ever actually gotten into trouble for anything that you've said, any content? To be honest, well, I know my limits.
Not only I know my limits.
I'm happy with my limits.
For example, I did a very, very popular episode about women driving.
And it's the one that has received interest from lots of foreign media.
Tell me about that.
It was about the power of the driver.
I need to go out.
What? Where? Tahleyah.
Oh, God.
Tahleyah Road is so busy! Lots of cars.
Lots of people.
No way! Sukar, no, please.
I'll never go there again.
And there is a motto that says: "The most important man in the Saudi woman's life is neither the husband, the brother It's the driver.
He is so powerful.
"If you stay home, you can be taking care of someone.
" My God, why is he here? You said five minutes! I can't believe this, you're so late! Just wait, we're almost done.
- I'm leaving.
- No.
No! Wait! Wait! So the whole episode was just around this idea that the driver is very powerful.
I didn't say anything.
It just This is our life.
This is our struggle.
And if we want to do something about the struggle, please do.
Can you talk about the misconceptions and the humor in Islam? I'm a person who likes to think about similarities.
For example, when we talk about Christianity and Judaism and all of these things, we share the same values.
And also we love Jesus.
We love the Virgin Mary.
They were mentioned in the Quran more than Prophet Muhammad was mentioned.
- Nobody knows that.
- Nobody knows that.
In America, they think Jesus is an American.
You know? That's, that's, you know Another female Saudi comedian who has found an audience on social media only is Amy Roko.
Hi.
Amy Roko.
Truthfully, I was a little wary of Amy Roko.
My Western prejudices kicked right in.
She's a comedian? She looked more like someone who might be wearing a suicide vest.
Instead, she exploded my stereotypes about women who dress this way.
Yes, I said "explode".
It was the best word.
She's from Jeddah, but straight out of Brooklyn.
Yo.
Yo.
Let's talk about the veil a little bit.
I assume you wear the veil all the time when you're outside.
What about when you take out your garbage? - Yeah.
- You do? Yeah.
Everywhere.
Everywhere.
- Any time you're outside? - Yeah.
Explain how the veil liberates you.
I thought that was very interesting.
You know what? I like that question.
The thing is, I am very, very self-conscious.
I am very shy.
I remember speaking to, even when I used to buy clothes and whatever in the mall, They didn't hear me.
They'd be like: "What? What are you saying?" When I used to just show my face.
Right, right.
And then, as I started covering my face, I became more blunt.
"Excuse me, I need to buy this.
" You know? That's how it happened.
It gave me so much strength and power.
I don't feel like I need to prove anything, I guess.
This is me.
- Right.
- This is me in my purest form.
I have 14 niqabs, you know, 14 veils, ready for me.
Right.
I have the short one, the thick one, the light one, the one with the different tie, a veil with a zipper.
The one with the cover, the one with the line.
And there's one that's really long.
I posted a picture of me with a veil and then a picture of Batman and I was like: "I'm really jealous of Batman's veil," because the only thing he shows is his mouth - and he could eat in a comfortable way.
- Yeah.
Do you understand how the veil could be scary or alienating to Western people? Yeah, yeah, I do.
- I do.
- Talk about that a little.
I can't completely say, "Stop it, we're just human beings," but you really haven't seen us living our lives.
Have you ever seen a veiled woman shopping? Right.
Have you ever seen us listening to music? I don't know.
Have you ever seen us at a theme park? You will find women on crazy rides, covered up, because that's, we live our lives.
It's just you've never really seen it.
Yes.
You're not portrayed as three-dimensional people in the West.
- Exactly.
That's why we're doing this.
- Exactly.
We're trying to fix you.
We're trying to show you how it really is.
We like doing our nails too.
These women argue that they are liberated by their dress code.
They say the less revealing they are physically, the more revealing they can be comedically.
Is it a rationalization? I don't know.
It made me question our Western concepts of liberation.
Are we really that much more progressive? Or does it just seem that way? We might seem way ahead of the Saudis, but remember, it wasn't that long ago that women in our country weren't allowed to vote.
My search for dangerous comedy took me to Nigeria, a teeming, turbulent, massive country.
Stand-up comedy is a big business in Nigeria.
It's a respected career choice, like being a doctor or a lawyer.
Maybe more so.
Politicians and corporations seek their endorsements.
These are the superstars of Nigerian comedy.
From the streets of Lagos, Basketmouth.
If you put a tattoo and you are black, it will get missing.
You will be: "Have you seen my new tattoo? Oh, shit.
Ladies' man, Bovi.
She says: "Baby, we need to spice up our sex life.
" - I said: "Eh?" - She said: "We need to spice it up.
" I said: "Okay.
Bring curry now.
" And host of the satirical news show The Other News, Okey Bakassi.
A 70-year-old widow, underline widow, was recently paraded around her community and given a hefty fine of three goats in Ebonyi State after she was caught in bed with a 30-year-old man.
She reacted by buying a dozen more goats.
They do concerts, movies, TV, charity events, political fundraisers and commercials.
Lots of commercials.
Donald T, how are you doing now? Bovi, I'm rich, but your phone bill must be huge.
No, I can call just about anywhere.
It's fantastic.
- Maybe I should come.
- Er And jokes about rape.
We're going to rape everybody.
Rape everybody! Rape, rape! Your husband raped you? How? You don't rape her.
You don't rape.
In a patriarchal, religious and political environment where women aren't just second-class citizens, where they are barely considered people, where the exploitation and suppression and domination of women is rampant and violence against women is common, rape is more than tolerated.
It's not taken seriously.
It's a joke.
I mean literally a joke.
That's Mr.
Ebu, one of Nigeria's most beloved comedy stars.
Oh, yeah, this is a comedy.
In Nigeria, rape is mainstream.
Rape is money.
Rape is commercial.
This is Basketmouth, perhaps Nigerian comedy's biggest star.
Girls, you guys are wasting your money.
Men don't look at weaves.
Let me break it down.
From your neck up, we don't look.
From your neck down, we look.
So if you want me to see your weave, put it here, here or here.
And no stranger to rape jokes.
Now, I want to talk about rape, okay? - That's what I'm going - About what? - About rape.
- Okay.
I'll talk about it in a second, but I want to give a context to it.
It seems like a lot of comedians are misinterpreted about that.
You've had a couple of incidents like that also.
- Would you mind talking about that? - Yeah.
Funnily enough, it was Okey Bakassi that posted the joke.
I found it funny and I put it out there.
And people were laughing about it until one person said: "This is not funny.
You shouldn't make jokes about rape victims.
" And I totally understood where she was coming from and I felt sorry about it and I apologized immediately.
It definitely won't ever happen again.
I was prepared to take him at his word, but, as it turned out, the word was still "rape.
" That's how the wife now stood up, see? "Sir, please, please don't do this to us.
This is my husband's mother and sister.
They are old.
She is over 80 years old.
Please, you can't do this to them.
That woman is about 90.
Please, if you want to rape, just rape only me.
" One of the old women says: "Hey, hey! My daughter, keep quiet! Keep quiet.
My husband died 40 years ago.
Nothing has happened to me.
Today, I have hope to lubricate my vessel.
You want to spoil my shot? Armed robbers, rape everybody! Rape, rape!" First of all, I've got two daughters, you understand? I don't want anybody wishing them bad or such things.
Of course.
And I don't support it.
I frown on it 100%.
Sandra, right? No, Juliet.
- Lie down and spread your legs.
- What? I need to check your mammary glands.
Let me check your mammary glands.
- Let me just check - No, no, stop! I wasn't supporting it.
I just told that, and it wasn't really supporting rape.
It was just, you know It was brutal.
You know? But I was able to survive it.
I survived it.
Does it worry you that people search your name on Google now and one of the first things that comes up is the rape joke guy? I'm happy that joke came out though.
- That controversy.
- Why? It helped me sell my tickets! He seemed to feel bad, but not that bad.
I sure like Sure Bet.
Sports betting.
Yeah! These aren't fringe comedians working little clubs.
These guys, and they're all guys, are big stars.
They are the mainstream.
And that means their point of view is endorsed and supported and enjoyed by the people who pay to see them, but more importantly the people who pay them.
Basketmouth was cool.
- I'm the coolest! - The coolest.
He's the coolest.
He worked his way up from nothing in Nigeria.
That isn't easy and I really respect that.
And Lagos is super-cool too, but there was this persistent blind spot about this subject.
It was hard for me to be anonymous in Nigeria.
Every white person should have the experience of being the only white person somewhere.
That's what it was like in Nigeria.
There are six white businessmen and a few corrupt white ambassadors in Nigeria, ruining the country, and then us.
Nothing illustrates that shoe on the other foot feeling better than the Balogun Market.
That's where we meet another Nigerian comedy superstar, Bovi.
"Yeah, baby," as if they want pokey.
She says,: Chief, chief, you're moving too fast.
" Chief says, "Eh.
" Now he goes back again.
Growing up, I wanted to be so many things.
And I think, being an entertainer is what brings me closest to being pretty much everything I want to be, you know.
Tell me about some of the themes of the comedy.
What stuff do you deal with? I deal with pretty much everything.
But, most importantly, one thing that unites Nigerians as a whole is women.
We love women.
What if women used a battery, like a phone? "Honey, who was that girl in the car? You don't want to tell me.
Who was that girl?" Beep, beep, "One minute remaining.
" It's like a cash cow.
I milk it a lot.
But basically, women have been the butt of my jokes.
The good, the bad, the ugly.
Wow! Do that again, baby.
Great.
You know, when an area is very big, you need GPS to locate "Oh, baby, baby, where's your nipple? Take Google map.
"Please move left.
Take next turn right.
You have reached your destination.
" So now do you get, Is there controversy around your material about women? Do you ever get any negative reaction to that? I got The biggest heat I've got basically was when I tried to defend the fact that comedians can do jokes on anything, including rape.
Now the laws have been made to so protect the women that the definition of rape is "Kwi, kwi" She can say, "Stop!" You can't go: "Kwi.
" You don't rape her.
You don't rape.
Rape is a joke when you use that joke to point out the evil of rape and the consequences of rape.
And the press ran with: "Bovi says rape is a joke.
" You can make almost any subject palatable to an audience if you get the right angle.
Exactly.
- But if you don't, you're in trouble.
- Yeah.
One wrong word, one wrong sentence can blow up everything up in your face.
I'm surprised these otherwise cool guys would rely so heavily on rape jokes.
But I would have time to ponder that later.
Now came the hard part.
We had to get back to the van, get in and then get out.
This wasn't like paying the guy in the booth at a parking lot.
Give us our money.
Wait there, don't move.
Just wind it up.
Don't fucking just go.
Did you give them any money? Okay.
How quickly can it take you to get back here? They have not given us our money.
Okay, how quickly from where you are to where we are? What happened to our armed soldiers? Hold on, hold on.
No, no, don't get in.
- No, are you with him? - Yes.
Oh, sorry, sorry.
Oh, yeah, get in the back.
How much did you give? About 20,000.
When I got the message that we were going to Idumota, I'm like: "Oh, man.
We're going to the jungle and this is going to cost me money.
" It's not done.
Yes, it's not done! But it can be done though.
Makes him feel great again.
Great again.
This is Okey Bakassi, another superstar of Nigerian comedy and host of the Nigerian version of The Daily Show, The Other News, a bastion of progressive satire about government corruption, tribal conflicts, the economy and other pressing issues in Nigeria.
Nigeria has announced a $5.
8 billion deal for a record-breaking power project.
The record being broken is for the number of times the contract has been awarded.
We talked to him on the set of the show.
Let me ask you what are some of the issues in Nigerian society that you deal with on the show? Yeah, you see the thing is, I think, the world over, we live in an era when politicians are creating so much content that you practically don't have to do much, you know, to mine the humor these days.
Some senators found time to practice their true calling.
That's my guy.
I like that guy.
I've got to a point in my career here where I think, we need to use this platform to begin to change minds, to encourage young people to take their destiny in their hands, because the society you get is the society you build.
Wow, he's a very cool, progressive guy.
Things were going great until I brought up the subject of rape.
Rape, you go police.
They ask: "Madame, what brings you here?" She says: "It's rape.
" "Who, who, who raped you?" She says her husband.
Your husband raped you? How? Because this expression, they say, is not possible.
To be very honest, I don't I am When people talk about women empowerment Who took a woman's power? Seriously, who took a woman's power? Women have always been very powerful.
- Let me break it down for you.
- Yes, please.
Please.
A woman A woman is the one who carries the child for nine months.
The first six months of a child, the mother controls everything.
From what the child eats, the language the child speaks, the skill set that the child learns is all the mother in the first six months of life.
That is a lot of power.
Okay? And, in most cases, it goes beyond six months.
It goes up to your teen, Teenage.
It's your mother.
Unless you grew up with a single father.
It's your mother.
I told you no wire hangers ever! So at what point does she become powerless? That's the thing that I don't understand.
And, you know, sometimes they say, "Oh, men try to restrict women.
" These men were raised by women.
So is it possible that the women are not raising the men right? Shouldn't the women look inwards and say,: "How are we raising our boys?" Hurry up with that soda! Coming, Mama.
I believe in equality.
I don't see myself as bigger or stronger or more intelligent or more equipped than a woman.
Because I want our little girls to understand that whatever a man can be, you can be.
- You have a female producer of the show.
- Yeah.
- Which is pretty unusual - Exactly.
- in Nigerian culture.
- She's my boss.
Yeah, yeah.
She's his boss.
That had to be challenging.
I had to see where she stood on all this.
My name is Nkechi Nwabudike.
I'm the producer for The Other News.
It's a big issue in Nigeria.
Women are considered slightly less in some cases.
From slightly less to really less.
From like almost you're three quarters of a person to property, depending on what part of the country.
So, yeah, it's a big issue, but I think a lot of that is changing.
A lot of that has changed from back in my parents' generation down to today.
Have you personally experienced resistance to your comedy writing, to your being a producer from the male culture that you are surrounded by? Yes, I have.
I have.
Sometimes, it's not even so overt.
It's not something that the guys think about.
It's just Oh, it's part of, for them, it's part of, It's just normal conversation.
They don't even consider it being sexist.
If it's a sexist joke and I point out: "Oh, it's a sexist joke," sometimes it doesn't occur to them.
So it's something they have to go back and think, "Wait, I was actually being offensive.
" Everywhere, this is true, might be afraid of religion, offending a religious group, but they feel okay offending women.
- Exactly! - Who are the largest group of all.
Exactly! You cannot slap a woman.
It's wrong to slap a woman.
Never ever for the men.
I have a new device.
If a woman upsets you, don't slap her.
Shake her.
I would never hit a woman.
No! But I'll shake the shit out of one.
What the hell's wrong with you? You crazy woman! I'm also going to be looking at what's basically called rape humor.
I mean, I know there is a pretty large tolerance - Yes, it's - for rape humor here.
Can you talk about that a bit? It's, it's crazy.
It's annoying.
It's offensive, it's insulting.
It's exasperating.
Like it's There's so much tolerance, in my opinion.
There's way too much tolerance for rape culture, rape humor.
It's I don't even know where to begin.
I find it annoying, one of my pet peeves actually, because there's a lot of things that people try to pass off.
It's not just a joke.
It's not.
There's I'm not saying don't joke about stuff, but, some things are just not jokes.
Rape is not a joke.
You can't tell a joke about how, for example, a female goes on a date and the man has to pay ten times, so the 11th time he's entitled to rape.
That's not a joke.
That's, it's, It's It's crazy is what it is.
Is that a Basketmouth joke? I recognize that joke.
I'm not sure, I know it's one of the popular guys.
I'm not sure who exactly.
Funnily enough, it was Okey Bakassi that posted the joke.
- Yeah, exactly, it's punching down.
- Yeah, it's punching down.
You should be punching up.
It's lazy as heck.
People wouldn't make fun of other's suffering, but they feel okay making fun of women's suffering.
What do you I think the problem is that some people don't even consider it suffering.
I think, for me, that's the biggest part of the problem.
It's like: "Oh, she deserved it.
" There's always some stupid excuse to rationalize it.
"You went to his house.
Hey, write it down.
" "I went to his house.
He raped me.
" "Around what time?" "We first went to the club.
After the club, we ended up at his place.
" "What did you wear?" "His t-shirt.
" "You wear pants?" "No.
" "You not wear pants? For a man's house? You're wicked.
Write up.
" At the end of the day, the only thing that's going to change any of this, whether it's the rape culture or rape humor or the frighteningly high level of tolerance Nigeria as a society seems to have for rape is education and information.
It's telling people: "Look, rape is wrong.
Tolerance of rape is just as bad as rape.
" I would like to see my country change, not just in terms of corruption and policies and security and all of that now, but in terms of people's mindsets, how we treat one another.
So on this International Day of the Woman, we at The Other News would like to pay tribute to women and womanhood.
Women don't get much credit for it, but they are the ones who stand in line for hours and hours to vote.
Women are wonderful.
2Baba knows what I'm talking about.
Women are so wonderful that men want to be with them.
And Bobrisky wants to be one of them.
As a Nigerian, you should be able to live the best life you can.
For a long time in America, in order for women to do comedy, they had to sublimate themselves in some way.
I was ugly as a child, I was ugly as a teenager and I'm puke now.
That's why my sex life is so bad.
My husband won't touch me for religious reasons.
He's Jewish and I'm a pig.
I Clearly that has virtually completely changed today.
I'm fine, I can fuck.
I can fight.
Oh, I ain't no damsel in distress, motherfucker.
You can go get the car, baby, while I handle these three.
Maybe what bothers me the most is that people say that Hillary is a bitch.
Let me say something about that.
Yeah, she is.
Yeah.
And so am I.
And so is this one.
Yeah, deal with it.
You know what? Bitches get stuff done.
Guys think feminist, they think of some square-jawed broad with three chin hairs and a power suit, "Ill kick you in the dick and take your job.
" It's not what we want.
Mom is at home, chapping her nipples feeding the fucking baby and wearing a frozen diaper because her pussy needs to heal from the baby's head shredding it up.
But that change hasn't arrived in Nigeria yet, where female comedians must still toe the line and play the game.
If you don't have it naturally, buy it! Is it so hard? I told my boyfriend: "I want to remove all this fat here.
And make them put it here.
But we met some women who are trying to work within that rigid system to change that, each in their own way.
One actress who personifies this is Chigul.
Today, she is the star of one of the most successful film franchises that have come out of Nollywood.
The Banana Island Ghost movies.
In this economy, do you know how much prostitutes are making? Ten thousand Naira! So to make 18 million Naira, I have to sleep with 1,800 men.
But Chigul's story is one of struggle before triumph.
On a lark, she recorded a little novelty song for her friends.
People are hustling, you are dreaming You are a waste I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna be a waste I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna be a waste It became a sensation and launched her career.
Before she knew it, she was on the stage with the likes of Basketmouth and Bovi.
We caught up with her on the set of The Wedding Party 2.
- Tell me how you got started.
- I do voices all the time.
- And I've always done voices.
- Since you were a kid? Yeah, literally, I create, I have 12 characters in my head.
Each has a different accent.
Like there's a girl in my head right now.
Her name is Juanita Chickita, okay? Yes, and she likes to do things.
So he sent me a message on email.
He said: "Chioma, don't embarrass me.
Euston is in London.
" I was like: "Oh, my God, I didn't know.
" So it was like, I had to do a quick change, yeah? I left my American accent and I had to change it over to a nice UK one.
How's it doing? Is it alright? Yeah? It's alright, yeah.
So I did a voice note with a character I created.
Her name is Chigul.
Chigul is a character of a girl that sounds like this.
Hello.
Hello, everybody.
It's your girl again.
Chigul.
Chigul is the lead.
You understand? She's the one in the front.
But Chioma speaks all these languages.
Yeah, Chioma does other things.
Chigul is managing herself.
She's the one they pay more money.
So eventually, after all of the voice notes and things, I was invited to do a show called Lord Of The Ribs.
It's hosted by Basketmouth.
And it was the first show that I ever went on stage and people put a face to the name.
- Wow.
- And that was my first.
The response was amazing.
- Amazing.
- I felt like I was floating.
Kill all of them, kill all of them Kill all the Satan, kill all of them Kill all of them, kill all of them Mami wata, kill all of them Kill all of them, kill all of them Witches and wizards, kill all of them Kill all of them, kill all of them I'm a child of God Kill all of them So I went on stage and I did my songs.
Literally, five, ten minutes of just doing my songs and then I break into an American accent.
Because, you know, I was in America for like 12 years and they don't hear nothing, Because this girl Taquanetta, Her name is Taquanetta.
That's another one.
Taquenetta's in my head and Taquenetta's got an opinion about everything.
She's like: "What?" They were like: "Oh.
" - So you surprised everybody? - The whole crowd was: "Oh.
" I'm very curious about how you see the role of women in comedy, what your own struggle has been as a woman in comedy.
Talk about that a little bit.
It's challenging, because we're not many women.
We're like six well-known comedians in Nigeria who do this thing.
I don't think we're struggling with the men, but, I mean, it's a male-dominated Industry right now.
I've gone to productions where the PMs, ADs and continuity experts are all girls, and I'm like, "Okay, we're getting somewhere.
" Know what I mean? We can build, you can dream.
Work hard at making your dream come true however way you can, and let's just take it there, know what I mean? We can stand side by side.
We don't have to stand behind.
And I try to, as much as I can, be a part of anything that empowers women in whatever it is they want to do.
I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna be a waste Sit down, dear! I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna be a waste Chigul is just one of the amazing, inspiring women asserting their presence in the Nigerian comedy scene.
Another is Helen Paul, an actor and stand-up comedian and, just as importantly, a successful entrepreneur.
How successful? She is the wealthiest female comedian in Nigeria.
She is best known by her comic persona, Tatafo.
I did plenty of naughty things too.
If I begin to tell you A baby-like character which provides her a non-threatening, non-sexual persona through which she can discuss and even satirize contemporary issues.
"I'm disappointed.
" "Sorry, Mummy.
" "Don't you know that, as you're climbing the trees, the boys will be looking at your panties?" I said: "I forgot to tell you.
I removed the panties before climbing the tree.
" She is the rare comedian who will talk about the hypocrisies of Nigerian society and she has taken some heat as a result.
Is it my fault? Do you understand? I'm not the one that brought your problems.
Oh.
Oh! I don't know what she said, but he is literally hopping mad.
Tell me about being a woman in Nigerian comedy and also being a woman in Nigeria.
What's that experience like? Oh, great.
Being a woman in the Nigerian comedy industry I don't usually, Like I say, I don't see it as comedy.
- I see it as acting.
- Yes, okay.
Gone are the days of the Greek period or the Roman period - where women are not allowed to act.
- Right.
But now you're allowed to act.
And you're allowed to imitate whoever or whatsoever you want to imitate.
I went to church.
I said I want to join department.
"Which department?" I said: "I want to join choir.
Choir department.
" "What kind of music do you like?" I said, "I like Tupac Shakur.
" As a woman, once I step on stage, I don't see myself as a woman.
- Right.
- Neither do I see myself as a man.
I just see myself as an actor.
Right, right.
So I can't say: "As a woman, it's this.
" The only part I can say is, as Africans, for a woman, you have to be cautious of some things you say.
- Unlike the men.
- Right.
You get condemned easily here as a woman.
So it's not about feminism.
- It's about the way we have been trained.
- Right.
The mentality we have from our parents.
"As a woman, you shouldn't do this.
As a woman, you shouldn't do that.
" But I know gradually, through the help of education, things are changing.
I have started from the bottom.
I am here.
But I have not reached there.
So it's not my Brazilian hair.
So if you are bald and you know you are beautiful, just remove this.
The male comedians seem to do a lot of rape humor and I wondered how female comedians feel about that? How do you feel about them talking about stuff like that and kind of being seemingly okay with it? Or is that a misperception? Sincerely, I have not heard anyone talking about rape.
Okay.
Helen Paul chose her words carefully.
At first, I thought she was evasive, but I was wrong.
Despite her wealth and fame, Helen Paul was still a woman in Nigeria.
She understood the double standard and the precariousness of her position.
If she merely commented on these issues, these jokes, she 'd get into more trouble than the men who made the jokes in the first place.
You're one of the few public personalities who've come out against Nigeria's anti-gay laws.
Yeah.
Why do you think more people haven't joined you? Well, I don't know.
Everyone has their own perspective to life.
- That's my own perception.
- Yes.
So whatever you can do, do.
And if you can do, then do.
But that hasn't made me judge anyone, so I'm not judging anyone, but I'm just saying, from my own perspective, what I want to say.
So it's left to you to agree or not agree.
They've signed the paper.
They signed the paper last week that if they catch man and man together, you will go for three years in prison.
But if you are staying with your daddy, pack up if you are a man.
Because if you stay with your daddy and your daddy just holds your hand, they will catch the two of you, 14 years in prison.
And if you are attending your church, go and attend a woman's church, that is the pastor, because if your pastor should lay his hands on your head as a man, it's 14 years in prison.
Homosexuality is still frowned upon in much of the world.
I don't see too many faggots in Philly, you know.
Brooklyn, we don't have any gay people.
They're all dead.
GOD HATES FAGS How could you think I'm gay? So they have their poo poos out.
And then they eat their poo poo.
But in Nigeria, it's against the law.
Tell me you are a gay.
It's a complete moral aberration.
How do we identify homosexual tendencies amongst our children? And what can we do to curb it immediately? What if you displayed your sexuality? You might be killed.
What do you do if you're an actor or entertainer or comedian in Nigeria who falls outside these narrow boundaries? I have a question to ask.
Are you a comedian? Back in the day in America, you'd deny it.
And then, of course, as I got older, then, of course, I was more attracted to the younger girls.
So do you have a girlfriend? I've been in a relationship for a while, yeah.
With whom? Um Her name is Diane.
Marvellous-looking man.
I don't know how long I can get away with this act.
Maybe you tease it.
Mr.
Martin, I've come to capture you.
Capture me? Yes, I'm Farley Wainwright, interior decorator.
Oh I'm a man.
Well, nobody's perfect.
Of course, now you could also come out.
At your own risk.
Ellen, are you coming out or not? I'm Ellen and I'm gay.
Divine, are you a lesbian? Yes, I have done everything.
It's not just for gays Isn't that right, Jeff? Yes.
You want a loofah? Hey guys, it's Billy.
I'm here with a man so lovable even homophobic individuals celebrate his talent.
Sean Hayes! How are you, Sean? But not in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, coming out might be the last thing you ever do.
So how do you navigate those treacherous waters? 98% of respondents said homosexuality was unacceptable.
This video on YouTube shows two men accused of being gay about to be beaten to death.
Papa? Papa? What? I have something to tell you.
Go on.
Papa, I be homo.
Perhaps the best illustration of mainstream Nigeria's attitude towards LBGTQ culture is this comedy video called Lekki Gay.
I got your cucumber! It depicts the repeated rape of a gay man with various objects.
For laughs.
And in Nigeria, of course, it went viral.
This is Ogus Baba, the star of the video and a popular comedian.
He does a sort of Daily Show from his house.
My country people, this is your number one mock news station.
I went there to talk to him.
The neighborhood he lived in seemed typical of Lagos.
Luxurious, but never to be finished, yet guarded by armed security.
The first thing I saw of you was that video.
I had a lot of backlash.
I had a lot of attacks from the gay, LGBT community.
But I believe they did not understand where I was coming from.
Like that skit is a comedy skit first of all.
I did not do it because I'm against the gay community.
I'm not.
I shot it for my fans, for people that understand what I say.
Right.
And understand Nigerian comedy.
I know it's going to take some time for me to even convince those people that I wasn't really against them, but, to be frank, I have no apologies, because I knew what I did and I planned it.
People in America might look at that video and think that it is homophobic.
The reason might be because Nigerian government does have pretty strict anti-gay laws.
And, again, we do too in certain places in America as well.
When it comes to comedy, you think beyond what every other people think.
That's what makes you a good comedian.
Like, I've done a lot of more serious comedy, - compared to that Lekki Gay.
- Of course.
I have done things about my president that is sick.
I have done things about celebrities that are my friends, that come to my house, we have dinner together, we go out together.
And they don't get angry, because they know this is comedy.
- It's not tragedy.
- Yes.
He was defensive, defiant.
If he knew the history of comedy, he'd know there was a grand tradition of shoving things up people's asses for a laugh.
If I did some sit-ups or bent over like this, I'd probably feel 100% Moon river I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass for two years.
Those aren't pillows! This is the comedian Nedu.
Let me show you.
This is what I did today.
I posted it six hours ago.
It has 51,000 views already.
- This is a new wig, it looks like, to me.
- Yeah, yeah.
This is his character, Sister Nkechi.
He wears a dress and a wig, but he doesn't want you to get the wrong idea.
Cancel this thing! Cancel this! Shut Well, Sister Nkechi, a friend of mine, a comedian as well, was like: "Dude, you know you're very good at doing this thing.
I think you should just do it for Instagram.
" But how do I go about it? And then I saw Tyler Perry on TV.
Who's doing your hair? Lord have mercy, how are you doing? So I'm going to use it to advise people in a comic way.
Advise them to learn something and, at the same time, make them laugh.
Every time she laughs like this, four months later, pregnancy.
You have one extra children.
Are you not tired? Every time I have been wearing my wedding gown.
Even my underwear matches my hair tie.
He wants things to change, but he doesn't necessarily want to be the spokesperson for it.
Like in America, entertainers in Nigeria don't want to mess up their careers for a cause.
Of course, sometimes there is no choice.
I get comments, like people telling me: "Oh, you're so gay.
You're a faggot.
You're this, you're that.
" I mean, it affected me for a while.
Sometimes I'm like: "I'm just trying to help you guys.
I'm trying to pass information.
You guys think I'm gay, but I have my beard on, I have everything still on, so" If I'm gay, I wouldn't Alright.
It doesn't mean that gay people don't keep I've been watching you for a while.
And? Nigeria seems to have a lot of conflict about male-female relationships, about gay people.
- There are issues here in this society - Yeah.
- as there are in America.
- The thing is, I believe we should have like a liberal country where you're allowed to do whatever it is you want to do.
Everybody should be allowed to live your life.
The urge to keep a low profile must be tough with this guy as a friend.
This is Bobrisky, an unabashed, Nigerian, cross-dressing, line-blurring celebrity.
- Your skin is flawless! - Oh, thank you.
- Continue.
- Yes.
My brother, my sister, my somebody, continue! - Yes, so - Bobo! They look like they're having fun, but they could be arrested.
Somebody If a man likes another man, it's his choice, it's his preference.
Whatever he wants to do is his choice.
If you're a girl, you like girls only, it's your choice, whatever it is you want to do.
If you don't know the one you like, you don't like men, you don't like women, you like animals, that's where I have a problem.
You're really something special.
But other than that? - Other than that - Do what you want to.
Do you.
Just be you.
Nkechi signing out.
Being different can destroy you, but it could also make you stronger.
For straight, male comedians in Nigeria, it is a world of limitless opportunities.
The struggle to be true and authentic under those conditions brings us to two of Nigeria's most outsized personalities: Charly Boy and Denrele Edun.
Charly Boy comes from the upper echelons of Nigerian society.
It's a no from all of us.
Next! The Areafada, Charly Boy.
I come from a good place, okay? My father was a successful lawyer.
He later became a chief judge and Supreme Court judge.
And I've always been a little rebel, you know, always fighting the status quo.
This is a fight.
Denrele, on the other hand, literally comes from nothing.
You know, my dad lost his job and then it was like a reversal of fortunes and we had to move out of a mansion into an uncompleted building.
There was nothing to eat most times and I had to go and live with my uncle.
And then I was the maid, the butler, the errand child, the what? But I guess it shaped me into the person that I am today.
When I finished in Boston, Massachusetts, and I came home with my degree and my father told me, "Go start working.
" I said: "I don't want to work.
I want to be an entertainer.
" Midway into my secondary school I landed a major role on - Kid - Kiddie Vision.
How do you you know Kiddie Vision? I've done the research.
I know.
I know a lot about you.
Then I started to build the brand, the Charly Boy brand.
Right, right.
So I've never known poverty in my life, but for those seven years I was poor.
My pride wouldn't let me go back to my father.
Denrele, on the other hand, has been earning a living and supporting his family since he was a child.
At 11, I started with a little pay check of, like, 150 Naira.
And then, before I knew it, pow! Wow, just stop for one second.
I want to make sure that we heard that.
You earned a dollar an episode? - Yes.
- Okay.
- This was in 1995.
- Please go on.
It was like 150 Naira.
Were you the main breadwinner in your family? I've always been.
I still am these days.
And the sooner I got accustomed to it, the better for me.
I had a show called The Charly Boy Show.
- Yes, I want to ask about that.
- Way back, yeah? And all the best of the best of the comedians came from that show.
The Charly Boy Children's Club will give you a chance to be what you want to be.
It is as short as this.
Not your wee-wee.
So make it fast, because we'll be right back after this.
Because I was the only one doing skits and satires about the stupidity of government.
Without economic pressures, he's been able to speak out on a number of issues.
I want to see a better country.
He doesn't need corporate sponsorships to survive and is thus allowed to play with gender politics and remain independent.
When I created the Charly Boy brand, it was supposed to shock timid, myopic, last year He is one of Nigeria's most important entertainers.
A TV host, musician, personality, but perhaps most importantly a leader, an advocate, an activist on behalf of the underdog in Nigeria, whoever they might be.
often at great risk and harm to himself.
ONE INJURED AS POLICE TEAR GAS PROTESTERS Denrele tried many looks and personas.
Denrele! But the only one that fit was himself.
Queen bee, go and slay for me.
My siblings, my dad, they allowed me to express myself.
- He loved you.
- Are you kidding me? Woo! Thumbs up to you, Papa.
I am happy now that I can pass that positive energy, that vibe that says you can be a first-class version of yourself and not a second-class version of somebody else.
You paid your dues.
That's what, your story is of someone who has paid dues to be who you are.
- Larry, adopt me! - I'm very admiring.
I don't want my parents anymore.
Please adopt me! As you all know, I'm the colorful commentator for Lip Sync Battle Africa and I have my own show, The Boot.
He has found a niche where he can express his outrageousness, but he lives with a constant pressure that he must make all the right moves to remain in the limelight.
My performance will do the talking for me.
What more do you want to know? These guys aren't comedians, per se, because they can't be.
The idea of a comedian getting up on stage and talking about their own personal, sexual ambiguity is still unheard of in the overwhelmingly straight world of Nigerian stand-up.
So they carved out a niche as presenters, flamboyant professional personalities and TV hosts.
And now the gospel according to Charly Boy.
All those forces, all those circumstances, all that controversy, converged with a kiss.
THE KISS I was honored at first that Charly Boy thought me worthy to do a photo shoot with him.
And then he just said: "Oh, you know, kiss me.
" It was like a little, he just said it.
I was like: "He wants me to kiss him.
His mom is here.
His daughter is here.
How am I supposed to do that?" I'm not saying that I had never kissed any man before.
I went to an all-boys school.
Yeah.
- Okay.
- Stuff is bound to go down.
But I was like: "Okay," so I did.
You know, it was just playful and then we laughed about it.
And that picture went out.
My goodness.
Aha! I went to Malaysia for a show.
I went to host a show.
By the time I landed at the airport, everybody at the airport had bought that paper.
Every customs official had that publication.
- They were waiting for my skinny ass.
- Wow.
And I said to myself: "I'm gonna deal with this the best way I can.
" They said: "What?" So I was like: "Yes, it's me.
" I had people in other cars, in traffic, come down, knock on my window and be like: "Can't you see how you're disgracing yourself? What is this?" - I just fight for the underdogs.
- Yes.
And I believe the gays and the lesbians here are the underdogs, okay? - I'm a communications expert too.
- Yes.
I studied mass comm in Emerson College in Boston.
What is your relationship with Denrele right now? Denrele Edun.
You mean the kissing thing with Denrele? Did you leak that? Was that your - Your plan? - It was leaked by my people.
- On purpose? - On purpose, yeah.
Did you tell them to do it? Because Denrele claims he didn't know about it being leaked.
Let's not, let's not go there.
My point is did you think you did it, was it done with his consent? - With Denrele's consent? - Yeah.
- Leaking it.
- Yeah, yeah.
You know, sometimes you can agree to something, but, when the heat comes up, whether you can take it or not - is a different matter.
- Okay.
Charly Boy was able to amplify the controversy and downplay it at the same time.
So a lot of people labelled me a homosexual, okay? You know? Even though I'm not.
We're not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with that.
For Denrele, caught by surprise, he is still feeling the negative after-effects of what was nothing more than a stunt, a joke.
That picture was obviously very well, very well altered.
I be heterosexual.
I wasn't ready for that.
Charly Boy's an identity, he's a brand.
He's a family man.
He's got kids, he's got grandchildren.
He can deal with that sort of backlash.
No normal human being would dress the way you dress.
A normal guy.
Somebody said, the most recent of all was, "I would rather have 20 daughters than have Denrele Edun as a son.
" I was a bit concerned about the institution of marriage at first, but I think it's something that I want to embrace.
Check out the lady believed to be Denrele's fiancée.
First and foremost, Sound City did not find it funny, the music channel.
And I'm sure that's one of the reasons why they kicked my ass to the curb.
Why did you leave Sound City? It was a very controversial time.
I'll be very sincere.
I did not leave Sound City because I wanted to.
I was forced to leave.
Brands I was working with, nobody wanted to have anything to do with me anymore.
It was bad.
My best friends are gay, so what the heck? Right from America to Nigeria, I know a lot of gay people and they are nice people.
I see no point in that victimization or stereotyping somebody because of their sexual preference.
I don't believe in that.
It still haunts me.
It was such a viral picture that you probably became even bigger than you were before.
No kidding about it.
Even if more people have a problem with it, more people are probably loving it too.
Did you get some positive response? This is still Nigeria.
No.
No, I never did.
I felt the only person I could talk to was Charly Boy.
I have never said this before.
I called him and he was like: "Well, what you can do now is make the best out of this.
Try and monetize it.
" I wanted to ask him: "How?" He wasn't being offered sponsorships or commercial endorsements.
Instead, all he was offered was stuff like this.
50 seconds to explain why you acted like a pervert.
I'm sorry, sir.
I'm sorry, sir.
Get his shoes.
I like them.
What? Yeah, sometimes people don't seem to get it.
- Right.
- Okay? Because Charly Boy means different things to different people.
- Right, right.
- Okay? But through my tenacity, through my consistency, I have inspired millions of Nigerians.
Say one day the Nigerian youths will retrieve their stolen future.
- He say - I believe in the exceptional Nigerian youths.
And I believe in Nigeria.
Alright, man.
I think we're done, yeah.
You want to walk into it? Nigeria is a vast, unwieldy, chaotic country.
Larry Charles here.
Saudi Arabia is a weird little tightly-controlled kingdom.
But both are full of contradictions and comedians dedicated to exploring them.
I have met comedians in both places with shocking myopia and even insensitivity about certain subject matter or who are forced to live and practice their comedy within the restrictions that society places upon them.
They all share a common optimistic vision that they are standing on the cusp of change.
I think we're in the right direction, but the pace is not as fast as it should be.
We all put the blame on the president or the leaders, but individually what are we doing? Are we to run away from the country or can we just remain and look for a solution? If we actually want to see change, we have to be the ones to change it ourselves.
If they buy into your idea and your vision, they go to the polls and vote for you.
So that day is coming.
- It's a new world for us.
- Yes.
Just be yourself.
- If you feel comfortable, wear a veil.
- Yeah.
Live your life.
I don't just get some shallow jokes to get people to laugh.
I get jokes that make people think.
The basic motive for Sister Nkechi is; love, laugh, learn.
Dream big and just be able to come out of your box, come out of your shell.
Because that's the only way.
I see Nigeria getting great.
Like way greater than we ever imagined.
The Nigerian artist has grown with that mindset of getting everything done themselves.
My dream Nigeria is that where young, exceptional people take over power.
We have met dangerous comedians around the world fighting against the restrictions that bind them, risking their lives just to make people laugh.
We see the historic, perpetual, always relevant themes that dominate our lives and our culture and thus our comedy.
And in a society without free speech, the comedian is a criminal.
Comedians are the heroes of free speech.
Nobody even tells you when you're a kid what the words are that you're supposed to avoid.
You have to say them to find out which ones they are.
Shit.
Oh, fuck.
But no matter how oppressive, how fascistic, how authoritarian the regime, and no matter how hopeless, comedy exists.
Comedy survives.
But what is the future of dangerous comedy? Woo! Where will the trouble spots be tomorrow? What will we be laughing at? Will anything be funny in the future? Comedy is on the endangered list.
We can't let it die.
Subtitle translation byMetia Bethell