Entertainment News Roundup: Nigerian comics fight COVID-19 with gags and slapstick slaps; Cannes Festivaldown to earth and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Nigerian comics fight COVID-19 with gags and slapstick slaps

Nigerian comedian Maryam Apaokagi has a sure-fire way of getting people to listen to her coronavirus health advice - she delivers it with a hard slap in the face. The 21-year-old has joined a line-up of the nation's top performers working health tips into their routines to spread the word about COVID-19.

The virus brings Cannes Festival 'stepladder gang' down to earth

In a normal year, Joseph Morpelli would be getting ready to plant his stepladder opposite the Cannes Festival venue so he and his fellow diehard fans can get a glimpse of celebrities walking down the red carpet. This year, coronavirus has forced the indefinite postponement of the film festival and left Morpelli - leading member of the so-called 'stepladder gang' of ardent autograph-hunters and amateur paparazzi - to ruminate over what he's missing.

'Seinfeld' star Jerry Stiller dies aged 92, son Ben pays tribute

Jerry Stiller, who played two of American television's most cantankerous fathers on the sitcoms "Seinfeld" and "The King of Queens," has died aged 92, his son Ben Stiller said on Twitter on Monday. "I'm sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes," wrote Ben, a Hollywood comedian who appeared with his father in "Zoolander" and other movies.

All masks, no fireworks: Shanghai Disneyland in muted reopening after coronavirus closedown

Thousands of visitors streamed into Shanghai Disneyland on Monday for the first time in three months as the Chinese park became the first reopened by Walt Disney Co after the coronavirus pandemic brought the Magic Kingdom to a standstill. While Mickey Mouse joined familiar Disney characters welcoming the crowds, the Shanghai experience will not be as it was: Instead of parades and fireworks, there are mandatory masks, temperature screenings and social distancing for visitors and employees.

Delayed 'Friends' reunion holding out for live audience over remote event

Fans may have to wait until the fall for the "Friends" reunion special as HBO Max executives are holding out hopes of filming it before a live audience rather than shooting the much-anticipated get together remotely with stars under quarantine. Robert Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment, which is launching the HBO Max streaming service on May 27, said on Monday he thought it was worth waiting until the one-off unscripted show could be filmed in a traditional way.

In Japan, the world's longest-running TV cartoon show switches to re-runs as coronavirus halts production

Millions of Japanese viewers of the world's longest-running animated cartoon TV show will have to make do with re-runs from next week after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production, Fuji Television Network said on Sunday. Aired every Sunday since 1969, the "Sazae-san" show features the everyday ups and downs of suburban Japanese housewife Sazae and her extended family, is a household name for many generations. It can still attract around 10% of the viewing audience, according to some estimates, for its 30-minute slot at 6.30 p.m. on Sundays. (Japanese website http://www.sazaesan.jp)

Kurt Cobain's 'Unplugged' guitar has $1 million auction estimate

Kurt Cobain's cardigan sold for a record $334,000 last year. Now the acoustic guitar the punk rocker played for Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged" session, just five months before his death, is expected to fetch around $1 million at auction in June. Julien's Auctions said on Monday the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar that Cobain played for the 1993 live taping is going up for sale, The guitar comes with a battered case, whose storage compartment contains a small suede bag where the musician is said to have stashed the heroin he was addicted to in his final years.

(With inputs from agencies.)