Jokes have always been part of African culture, but never have they been so blended with the strains and gains of the contemporary African world as today. The book considers the pervasive phenomenon of jokes and their performance across Africa.

Introduction Part I 'JOKING ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT' 1. (Re)Imagining the Postcolony in Kenya's The XYZ Show Joke-Cartoons, Remmy Shiundu Barasa 2. Nigeria's 2015 Presidential Elections and the Rise of "Comicast", Ignatius Chukwumah 3. Joking About the Government: A Close Reading of the Moroccan Comic Show: 'The School of the Naughty', Zakariae Bouhmala Part II TRADITIONAL FORMS AND (POST)MODERN CONTEXTS 4. Ehwe-Ej¿: Art and Humour in Urhobo Joke-Performance, Peter E. Omoko 5. Aesthetics of Anganga Afiki's Video Joke-Performance in Malawi, Smith Likongwe 6. Joke-Performance and the Tiv Cultural Context of Satirizing and Appraising Postmodernity, Godwin Aondofa Ikyer7. Egyptian Satire in Modern Media Age, Sebastian Gadomski Part III STREET JOKES 8. (Con)text and Performance of Mchongoano: An Urban Youth Joke Genre in Kenya, Wangari Mwai, David Kimongo and Charles Kebaya 9. Joke-Performance in Egypt: Halah and Kouta Hamra, Heba M. Sharobeem Part IV SEX AND GENDER 10. The Aesthetics of the Ugly: Perspectives on Degrading Online Sex Jokes in Kenya, Felix A. Orina and Fred W. Simiyu 11. Dorika's Metamorphosis: The Allusive Potency of a Comic Character, Cheela Himutwe K. Chilala 12. "From the 'Beautiful' to the 'Bold': A Linguistic Analysis of Some Doaa Farouk's Humorous Texts", Mona Eid Saad Part V STAND-UP COMEDY 13. Severity in Hilarity: Appraising the Satirical Value of Stand-up Comedy in Nigeria, Samuel O. Igomu 14. Ideological Undertones in Mediatised Comedy in 'Churchill Live' Show of Kenya, Khaemba Josephine Mulindi & Michael Mule Ndonye