Great medicine for these gloomy times

Feb 9 2011 Buckinghamshire Advertiser

Currently revelling in the comedy boom which is doing its best to blow away the recession blues, LAWRENCE POOLE catches up with comic Stephen K Amos on his biggest UK tour to date

ARE you in Torquay yet?" I enquire casually. "Yet?!" is the incredulous response from the south Londoner. "It's 11.30 in the morning - what time do you think I get up?" Comedians - like rock stars - are not, it is safe to say, morning people. Leaving his home in London for a date on the English Riviera will be undertaken at the far more civilised hour of 1pm, he confirms.

Just one of 70 dates on his biggest UK tour yet, it is no surprise the London-born comic of Nigerian parentage is stocking up on beauty sleep. Following a recent date at Wycombe Swan, Stephen will return to the region with his The Best Medicine tour on March 20 for a date at the Milton Keynes Theatre.

With a career spanning 18 years, how has he found the shift from 20-minute slots to full tours?

"It's a slightly different kind of beast, but really good fun. I've been on the road for years, so it's nice playing bigger venues on my own. The audiences have been great, especially in Newcastle, Scotland and Ireland, where the welcome is always overwhelming."

With a new tour comes new material, and eager fans who savoured his Feelgood Factor DVD over the Yuletide period while demolishing the last of the Christmas choccies can expect more of the same.

"Anybody who knows me knows my kind of humour. I've got a positive outlook and on this tour I'm taking a look back at my own life at some of the sadder moments and finding the humour.

"I can't believe I was such a stroppy kid. All that angst and anger! Once you get older other things are really sent to challenge you."

Last year was his best yet, with the BBC granting him his own show -

The Stephen K Amos Show. Despite taking a bit of a panning in the press - Jonathan Ross poked fun at it when he presented the British Comedy Awards recently - how did he feel it went?

"It was a real learning curve. We weren't told it would be going out at that time, so we'd prepared material for a different slot, but I absolutely loved doing it and I was grateful to be given the chance to have my own show - there aren't many people who can say that."

One of seven siblings, Stephen's showmanship qualities were called on very early on, as he attests.

"There were so many of us you had to do something to get noticed. If I'd known talking and making jokes as a kid was preparing for a career as a comedian I would have got into it earlier!

"It was pretty chaotic. My parents had moved over and were trying to find their feet in a foreign land, doing different jobs. We went to different schools and lived in different homes. But despite the changes you look back and have fond memories."

Stephen's twin sister does not share his showbiz genes: "She's a scientist - the complete opposite to me and quite introverted, although off stage I can be quite shy too."

In 2006, he caused a media stir when he confirmed on stage in Edinburgh he was gay. Was he surprised by the fuss made?

"I didn't actually come out in 2006, I just made a comment about a friend in a show and it was seized upon. Maybe I was very naive, but the reaction since has been very positive. I don't want it to be an issue though, I don't want to be defined by my race or my sexuality."

One of the by-products of the story was the chance to make a documentary for Channel 4 about the negative attitudes towards homosexuals in the black community.

He says: "It was probably the most important piece of work I've ever done. As a comic you have the ability to capture an audience's attention, so it was great to do something like that. The reaction has been great. I like to think I'm a man of honour, what I do I like to justify. I was extremely proud to do the show."

From the serious to the showbiz, the mirthmaster's most celeb moment to date came when he trod the boards alongside Hollywood A-lister Christian Slater in a stage adaptation of the Jack Nicholson classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in 2004. A notorious night owl, it is fair to say the odd drink or two was consumed after the show with the True Romance star.

"It was absolutely magical. I'd never had the experience of appearing on a West End stage before - I was going to turn it down at first, but my friends said I'd be mad to. Christian Slater was brilliant, an absolute team player.

"It was over Christmas and new year too, so the partying was done very well! I'd love to explore acting more, maybe play a baddie in something next time."

A panel show regular, Stephen is unsurprisingly thrilled by the comedy boom the scene is currently experiencing.

"It's absolutely thriving, there's so much competition, it's very fierce. It's great to be involved though. People have really taken the recession to

heart; they pick up the paper and read all this bad news. Then they can go along to a show for a couple of hours and escape it all and have a laugh."

With so many cities already visited across the world - his current tour will be interrupted by a jaunt Down Under for the Melbourne Comedy Festival - is there any so far uncharted territory to which he would like to flit, with guide book in hand?

"I'd love to play in America. I want them to know black British people are funny too!"

* Stephen K Amos plays Milton Keynes Theatre on Sunday, March 20. The show starts at 7.30pm. All tickets are £18.50. Call 08448 717 652 to book or for more details.