We take Jon Stewart, at his most positively acidic, for granted. Not every country is free enough to allow such critiques. The Australian satirical cartoonist Bruce Petty once said that "satire flourishes in a secure and knowing society." If that is so, then the success of The XYZ Show, produced in Kenya, says a lot about how far the embattled East African nation has come. Kenyan stability is still fragile, which makes the presence of boundary-pushing satire all the more remarkable a phenomenon. Variety, the BBC and African Voices have all recently spotlighted the popular latex-constructed puppet show which lampoons Kenya's often corrupt ruling class.

The XYZ Show was influenced by the British 1980s show Spitting Image and, of course, Genesis' Land of Confusion video. Gado, the popular cartoonist for Kenya's The Nation newspaper is behind the show. The episodes (which are available on YouTube) -- in equal parts acutely funny and devastatingly brutal -- are fearless, as good satire ought to be. Gado told the BBC, "I think it's everybody's duty ...You can't put that responsibility on one individual, as every Kenyan should contribute to expose what is happening and to expose corruption."

The XYZ show also has a Facebook page (4,486 members at post time, and counting!).