DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i03.002

Pages: 605-611

Ethnic jokes from televised shows are supposedly major determinants of ethnic relation. This is established in the current study that examined the implications of televised ethnic comedy from ‘Churchill Live Show’ on ethnic relations in Kenya. This paper is obtained from the study and presents representation of four major ethnic groups [Kikuyu, Luo, Kalenjin and the Kamba] out of the nine groups studied. The audiences engaged in the study were for the opinion that ‘Churchill Live Show’ jokes are the most popular among the Kenyan population, and the audiences confessed that they love the show because of its comical nature. The study found that people believe in ethnic characterisations and use them to treat the outer groups as depicted. It is established that the audience believed the depictions of outer groups and described the characterisation of in-group as inaccurate. The study also found out that many people get ethnic characterisations from Churchill live show and believe in the representations of ethnic groups. It was therefore, evident that ‘Churchill Live Show’ acts as a source of ethnic stereotypes in Kenya; and Kenyans use such stereotypes to relate ethnically with members of other ethnic groups. The researcher recommends that the audience be made aware that ethnic jokes are meant for comical purposes and are not to be taken seriously. The media and other stakeholders should be active in this awareness to minimise stereotyping and ethnic relation that could contributes to negative ethnicity in Kenya.