Physical Comedy and Clowning as Cultural Performance: Tradition and Innovation in South West Nigerian Popular Theatre

This study examines physical comedy and clowning as forms of cultural performance in South West Nigerian popular theatre, tracing their traditional roots and contemporary innovations. Physical comedy traditions in Yoruba performance, including the buffoonery of the Alarinjo travelling theatre, the comic masquerade performances of Egungun, and the slapstick conventions of Yoruba popular stage comedy, constitute a rich performance heritage that has evolved significantly in the context of contemporary entertainment. The research investigates how practitioners of physical comedy in Lagos and Ibadan draw on and transform traditional comedic performance vocabularies in professional stage productions and television comedy formats. Data were gathered through observation of live performances, interviews with comedy performers and directors, and analysis of recorded performances. The study applies theories of bodily performance, carnivalesque aesthetics, and popular culture to the analysis of physical comedy. The findings reveal that South West Nigerian physical comedy operates as a site of cultural memory, social commentary, and improvisational creativity, encoding moral and political messages within entertaining bodily performance. The research fills a gap in serious scholarly engagement with popular comedy performance in Nigeria. Keywords: physical comedy, clowning, Yoruba popular theatre, cultural performance, South West Nigeria.