Self-censorship and Shifting Cognitions of Offence in the Stand-up Acts of Basket Mouth and Trevor Noah

Abstract

ABSTRACT With social media taking stand-up routines beyond their hitherto localised environments, there is growing irritation and backlash against comedians who supposedly tell unpleasant (or offensive) jokes. The ensuing decontextualisation creates a crisis wherein new media enables the kind of viewership that is less participatory, and thus more critical. As a result, jokes which ordinarily are framed within liminal moments of permissibility are increasingly exposed to various sensitivities and appraisals where they are evaluated by political correctness measures other than suspension of offence. This essay assesses the acts of Basket Mouth and Trevor Noah for the adaptive mechanics they deploy towards countering shifting cognitions arising from the transposition of stand-up routines from what used to be localised arenas to more global spaces. My inquiry interrogates newer ways in which the target comedians navigate the treacherous terrain of laughter evocation through anticipatory acts of self-censorship that work for both their immediate and mediatised audiences.