Fresh from a stint on London’s West End, where he performed the iconic role of Alfred P. Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady', renowned comic Stephen K. Amos is headed to Australia for comedy festival season.
Of course, it would be simple enough to read a blurb on any of the comedy festival websites and explain what Stephen’s show is about that way, but then we wouldn’t have the direct delicious wit of the eloquent Londoner to really set the stage. “It’s hard to discuss [the show’s] 'general premise' because I like to let an audience take away from it what they will,” Stephen begins in a considered manner.
“It’s called 'Before And Laughter'. Firstly it’s about looking at things that happened before the world went into standstill mode, and after, can we laugh? Is there laughter still to be had? What happened in those three years? Can we make light of it, can we change for the better? And basically, I just use my own personal experiences.”
Stephen admits that at the beginning of the pandemic, he laughed heartily through it. “Anyone who is self-employed will tell you, you never take a holiday because you never know when the next job is coming. This was an enforced holiday and the first couple of weeks was blissful! I was in my garden, singing along with the birds! There was no rat race or stress.
“As this thing went on, questions started being raised – what’s the meaning of life? Ought we be prepared if any such situation should occur again? A lot of us had never experienced anything close to this in our lifetime.
“Of course, the older generation who had lived through World Wars or even the HIV pandemic, fraught with so much bigotry, didn’t bring the world to a standstill.”
Considering his realist observations with an immense degree of seriousness, Stephen says he eventually found it hard to provide friends and family with any comic relief through the ordeal. “A lot of my humour comes from things I’ve noticed, things that have happened to me or my friends. The idea is that I’m inspired by world events but in the UK, our experience of lockdown and pandemic was severe.”
Stephen is taking all of this and trying to see the funny side within 'Before And Laughter'. “That’s what I’ve always done,” he says. “Not to try and sound pious or whatever, [but] life does throw a lot of curveballs for every single one of us, and it really comes down to how we deal with stuff; my thing has always been to try deal with things positively, to find the funny.”
And on how he deals with certain aspects of entertainment, Stephen passionately spews, “There are many bands and artists that I don’t like and have never ever in my life gone out of my way to mention any of them. It serves me no purpose; it serves them no purpose. It’s just not for me. It’s that simple.”
“How do I tell Justin Bieber or Ed Sheeran that they are sh.t? How do I tell millions that some things are just not for you? Accept that mantra and move on.”
Stephen K. Amos plays various venues for Melbourne International Comedy Festival until 23 April, The Concourse 28 April and Enmore Theatre 29 April (Sydney Comedy Festival), and Regal Theatre (Perth Comedy Festival) 5-6 May.
