Stephen K Amos offers us sweet distraction from this troubled world when he presents his new show 'Bread & Circuses' to Australian audiences.
The renowned comedian returns to our shores in February with a new show that takes its title from Roman satirist Juvenal.
“It's a well-known phrase by the humourist/satirist and I've just taken it to another level,” Stephen says. “It's mirroring the fact that in the world right now there seems to be a really inane circus, and we're all watching this circus.
“Be it from our [UK] point-of-view with the Brexit situation in the UK, be it Donald Trump in the US, be it what's happening in other parts of the world – which is just quite frightening – things like natural disasters.”
Juvenal coined the phrase 'bread and circuses' (Latin: panem et circenses) at the time the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire to describe the two key concerns of a populace that no longer cares for its right to political involvement. As long as people are fed and entertained, they are content.
And what better way to entertain the masses than watching grown men clobber one another in a bloody battle for dominance. Romans called it the circus; these days we call it politics.
“In a weird way, when I think about it, one of the earliest forms of entertainment was indeed the circus,” Stephen says.
“Back then it was all about watching the Romans killing the Christians, then it moved on to fun and silly things like bumper cars at the fun fair, the clowns at the circus and taming animals, that sort of thing. So we've kind of moved full-circle where we're now watching a real-life circus unfolding before our very eyes. It's quite daunting.”
Stephen's 'Bread & Circuses' show is his own form of distraction for people overwhelmed by how deadly serious the world is getting these days.
“What I'm trying to say is that tonight we're going to come into my world and we're going to have a circus here, and this circus is all about having a laugh,” he says. “There's positive things but it also touches on the other things that we can't all ignore.”
A regular visitor to Australia, Stephen has become adept at analysing our culture and providing astute observations on the country's politics, which often leaves him scratching his head.
“For many years I used to go to Australia and have a laugh at your politics and the things that were happening,” he says.
“The fact you had different Prime Ministers in a short space of time; the fact that you had to have a postal vote to get an idea if people wanted same-sex marriage... All that money for what wasn't a referendum and not legally binding, so it didn’t make much sense to me.
“Then the flip side is that there is stuff happening in my country right now that is equally as funny and amusing, so the show is going to be a mixture of the two. I love coming to Australia, the people have been nice to me. Obviously I've met some dickheads and some dubious points-of-view along the way, but my whole thing is to change those perceptions and make jokes about them with a view of giving people a different point of view.”
Stephen K Amos Tour Dates
2-18 March – Arts Theatre (Adelaide Fringe)22 March – Canberra Theatre (Canberra Comedy Festival)
23-25 March – Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane Comedy Festival)
28 March-22 April – The Athenaeum (Melbourne Comedy Festival)
27-29 April – Regal Theatre (Perth Comedy Festival)
4 May – Enmore Theatre (Sydney Comedy Festival)
5 May – The Concourse (Sydney Comedy Festival)
