A one-week multilingual lab on humour as critical expression in Yaoundé, Cameroon 6-10 April 2020
Building upon long traditions of les griots and comedic oration in Cameroon, this collaborative and interactive Lab, Amusing Methodologies, centres efforts to move beyond written sources and dominant formulas to address complex nature-society challenges.
What is the Lab?

Cameroonian comedian ‘Piment Noir’
- Morning activities are structured around a contemporary environmental or social issue and will be guided by guest speakers who are advocates and educators.
- Afternoon activities focus on exploring humour as a critical form of communication and will be curated by a series of leading Cameroonian comedians, who will share practical and aesthetic insights into the craft.
- The Lab will culminate with a dinner gala and live performance on 10 April. Each participant will perform their own original 5-minute comedy sketch or humoristic creation.
Our activities will be experimental in form, combining interactive theatre, readings by artists, a film screening, assessments of graphic novels and more. We seek to consider humour in its varied forms – and how it offers fruitful insights into people’s engagement with and response to international development, climate change, social transformations and more in the pursuit of and struggle for wellbeing and justice.
The Lab is a collective project between artists, academics and comedians.
It is coordinated by:
- Flaubert Kougoum Tchoupa, a philosopher and comedian working under the stage names Holy Makmak and Piment Noir
- Rosine Njoko, a PhD Candidate in Theatre and Performance Arts at Universitè de Yaoundé I
- Dr Amber Murrey, Associate Professor of Human Geography at Oxford. Amber researches and writes on extraction, environmental justice, decolonial options and anti-racist geographies.
Who should Participate?
This workshop will appeal to people who are drawn to forms of creative oration and who are interested in thinking about fresh ways to assess and engage with contemporary environmental and social issues. Students, educators, artists, advocates and nascent comedians from across Cameroon are all welcome to apply.
How to Participate
If you would like to take part in the Lab, please send:
- A 500-word description of your interest in comedy as a form of critical expression on contemporary issues
- A potential title of an original comedy skit for your final performance
- A 150-word professional or artistic biography.
This lab is multilingual. Materials may be submitted in French, English and Pidgin.
To participate in the workshop, please submit your application online here by 7 February 2020. If you have any questions, please contact Dr Amber Murrey at amber.murrey-ndewa@ouce.ox.ac.uk or Rosine Njoko at rosinenjoko@yahoo.fr.
Funding
Participants coming from outside of Yaoundé will have their travel, meals and lodging paid for during the week of the Lab.
The Lab is sponsored by an Inspiration Award from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford.