Nairobi — Donning an ill-fitting crumpled batik dress, a greasy wig, frayed multi-coloured stockings and an old pair of high heeled shoes that is the worse for wear, the street comedian enacts a rib tickling scene portraying a scorned mistress washing her dirty linen in public.

Her mortified lover, a portly wag, tries all the diversionary tactics to protect his fast fading reputation.

Egged on by the voyeuristic crowd, the woman shakes her unbelievably distended backside as she unleashes a running commentary on the man's legion sins as the crowd punctuates every sentence with peals of laughter.

But 'her' persona is obviously spoilt by the construction worker biceps, a voice with a boom that is hard to suppress, the ungainly gait and lack of feminine decorum. It is obvious that despite this bravura performance, the comedian is a man dressed like a woman.

Although the exaggerated imitation of feminine mannerisms helps to bring out the comic element, it also begs the question: Could a female comedian not have played the part better than a man?

This is a question whose answer we might wait a while longer to get because scouring Kenya's entertainment scene, chances of coming across an out and out female comedian range from slim to none. And the worldwide scene is not inspiring either. For example, who is the female equivalent of Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) or Charlie Chaplin? Or to put it another way, do names like Ellen DeGeneres or Sandra Bernhard mean anything to you? I guess not. Yet these are the pioneer female comedians.

Although there are local actresses like Mama Kayai (Aisha Khabere) of Vitimbi and the no-nonsense Vioja Mahakamani magistrate (Lucy Wangui) these, alongside fledgling actresses, usually come across as sober characters out to mitigate the excesses of dyed-in-the-wool comics like Mwala, Mogaka, Ojwang' or Ondiek Nyuka Quota.

"When I started acting in 1978 there were very few actresses around but the numbers have now gone up. Although I do not think there is one particular reason why women have not made a mark in comedy, it could probably have something to do with the traditional view that women should be seen rather than be heard," Ms Khabere explains.

Women are indeed expected to be prim and proper and any of them who crosses the boundary of social expectation could easily be stamped with the label 'spoilt.'

Although artistes are allowed to invoke poetic licence to transcend societal inhibitions, Kenyan women still seem to find it difficult to break even with men in comedy.

And when it comes to stand-up comedy and the comic characters on FM radio stations, male domination is profound. An interesting case is that of popular comedian Mwalimu Kin'gan'gi (Daniel Ndambuki) of Classic FM who usually changes his voice and acts like a female character, Philigoneas.

So with Kenyan male comedians speaking from both sides of the mouth, as it were, are we likely to have a funny woman soon?