It’s Steven Oliver’s world, we just live in it.
Steven’s world is expanding as the beloved performer and self-proclaimed Faboriginal debuts his autobiographical show ‘Bigger And Blacker’ on the world stage at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) after a rousing national response.
“It’s been heart-warming, really lovely and humbling the way people have embraced the show,” Steven says. “And people have embraced it for different reasons because I talk about a lot of stuff in it, but I think everyone has moments that they really connect with in the show. So, it’s been a lovely response to it.”
A glorious mix of stories and songs, accompanied by the award-winning Michael Griffiths, ‘Bigger And Blacker’ is Steven’s heartfelt cabaret account of being a gay Aboriginal man in Australia that has resonated with people across the country.
“A lot of people come to the show I think because they have an idea of what they’re going to get in the show,” he says.
“But then they’re always surprised about the other stuff that’s in there as well. I have some people come up to me after the show and slap me in a cheeky way and go: ‘you were supposed to make me laugh, not cry’,” he laughs.
Steven’s MICF debut coincides nicely with his appearance at Adelaide Fringe and hosting at this year’s Mardi Gras festivities.
“That’s like three bucket list items in terms of being a performer and what I want to do in my career that have happened for me, and it’s nice to have them happen all in the same year in such quick succession. So, I’m really excited about all of it,” he says.
‘Bigger And Blacker’ has struck an emotional chord with audiences in Australia for its honesty, warmth and humour, and Steven is quietly confident it will have the same impact for international crowds. “There are three people in the world,” Steven states.
“There are people who will concentrate on how different we are, there are people who will concentrate on how similar we are, and then there are people who will concentrate on both of them – they will see the differences but then also the similarities we have within humanity.”
In ‘Bigger And Blacker’, Steven has hit upon a crucial intersectionality that traverses race, sexuality and comedy with heart and humour.
“That’s the thing about doing the show, because people are like: ‘are you targeting gay people? Are you targeting Aboriginal people?’. And because I am Aboriginal and gay, I will talk about those things and how I’m impacted and how it makes me perceive the world, but that being said, my focus is humanity.
“And people embrace that, because I talk about mental health in the show, and then I’ve had men come up to me afterwards and hug me and say ‘thank you, because I feel like you’ve given me permission to do that’, but then I also do songs about gay issues and me coming out and telling my story, and mothers coming up and saying ‘thank you for telling that because my son is gay’.
“Aboriginal people come up to me and say: ‘thank you for talking about the racism’. So, there’s also putting that trust in humanity because I’ve always been a big believer in humanity, and it gets harder as I get older; I worry sometimes I’m getting more cynical. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to have that hope.”
Check out our photo gallery of Steven on his regional Queensland tour.
‘Bigger And Blacker’ is on at Malthouse Theatre (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) from 31 March-10 April.
