Taking Questions

26 March 2014 | 8:49 am | Staff Writer

“The whole gig for me has turned from someone just doing jokes about fun stuff to talking about social issues, talking about personal issues, and it’s just a very interesting story.”

“The whole gig for me,” Stephen K Amos admits, pondering his journey, “has turned from someone just doing jokes about fun stuff to talking about social issues, talking about personal issues, and it's just a very interesting story.”
This year's show, What Does The K Stand For?, carries the same name as his recent BBC TV show based around his early childhood growing up in a large Nigerian family with a twin sister. “It's kind of loosely themed around people asking me questions, sometimes personal questions or sometimes questions they just want to know the answers to. I just thought to myself, we all get asked questions on a regular basis, sometimes questions we are uncomfortable with. Questions like if I'm married, what my political persuasion is, how much money I earn, what religious faith do I follow, how old am I, what does the K stand for, etc.”

For a guy who's seen success around the world and performed to sell-out venues, success on the small screen has taken its time. And it's the lack of diversity in British and Australia television Amos is competing with. “We don't have many black comedy shows; we don't have many black comics on TV. We don't even have a black talk show host. In England, we are still so far behind. You'll see a few dotted around but I know a few British actors and comedians who have just found no place and so they have moved away. If you go further down the ladder there in Australia you are further behind, not only do you have a lack of diversity on the screens but you have a lack of real diversity. It's really weird for me because people say to me all the time, surely things have changed and things are cool now. But if you come from a family or a culture that you know your grandfather suffered and was discriminated against and had no opportunities, then that stuff sticks with you and doesn't just disappear over night, and we can't level the playing field as quickly as we should or want to.”