Brit comic to hit GC - but Tiktok comes first
BRITISH comedy royalty Stephen K Amos returns to the Gold Coast for the first time in six years - and he’s packing some serious standup satire.
After his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in 1997, Amos skyrocketed, securing regular gigs at the world’s biggest comedy festivals.
What followed was a month of back-to-back standup where Amos met the producer he’s still with today – 26 years on.
“It was such a glorious learning curve that every comic should have the chance to have a run of – you learn so much of your craft,” Amos said.
Now, considered a master of his craft, Amos is delving into the new age of comedy, social media and life after lockdowns.
“In terms of staying relevant I used to refuse to jump on Tiktok,” Amos said.
“Everyone was pushing it and I was like ‘Oh my god Tiktok? I’m not doing that’.
“To be honest I’ve got a body of work other people have put online, so in the end me and my team thought let’s see what happens – opened a Tiktok account last week, put a couple of videos up and I’m amazed by the reaction.”
Within a week one post amassed a million views.
“I don’t want to be that person who gets obsessed with views and likes,” Amos said.
“I can see the addictiveness of it – imagine someone who is creating their own content in their living room who has had no experience of performing before.
“They start getting all this attention and that could be like an unhealthy drug because you’re chasing that next high.”
Amos admits he doesn’t engage across social media in a conscious effort to avoid negativity.
“I don’t want to be that person who is obsessed with getting into arguments,” he said.
“Life is too short.” “I’ve got friends of mine who are in the industry – and I didn’t know this was a thing where you can Google search your own name.
“To me that sounds horrific, I would never do that – why would I do that? I know what I’ve done and what I’ve put out.
“To Google myself I may come across somebody who doesn’t like what I do – you know those people who find time in their day to write something negative about something they don’t like.
“I think: ‘Really? Is that helping you in any way shape or form?’”
Amos admits the positive elements of social media – generations using it to launch careers – and the communication and marketing aspects, are great.
“People aren’t buying DVDS anymore, they’re not watching re-runs of Live at the Apollo or any other shows that I’ve been on – so why don’t I just put it out there and give it to them – if they like it great, and if it means they buy tickets to a future show – that’s good – it will be interesting to see if that does translate into actual sales.
“I’m not interested in having arguments with anybody, I’m not interested in justifying my comedy to anybody –
I’m not interested in your opinion.”
Amos revealed to the Bulletin the struggles of last three years, which in the end, reinforced how grateful he is for his career.
“Being self-employed you never turn down work, because you never know when the next job is coming,” he said.
“When the first lockdown happened I didn’t know how long it was going to last so I kind of enjoyed it for the first month.
“It was a forced holiday so I could take my foot off the gas and relax for a bit.
“Then I realised I can’t be creative because I can’t leave my house and I live alone. Where’s my release? Where do I find the joy? How do I find the funny in this situation?
“A lot of my material comes from what’s happened, real life issues, dramas, funny stories but if you’re bombarded with the news 24/7 about wearing masks, death rates climbing – it’s difficult to find the funny and the positivity in all of that.
“We were all affected by lockdowns, the world ground to a halt and people are now living their lives in different ways,” he said
“We’re still not out of the woods – the knock on effect from that, people working from home, we’re having strikes all over the place, things are still happening worldwide and there’s still sadness.
“As to how you come out of that, my thing is I genuinely have a positive disposition and I knew that everyone was in this pressure cooker and it had to release – it had to.
“If I can make light of what I went through during lockdown and it resonates with somebody else, but I make my situation funny – that’s something.”
Stephen K Amos will be at HOTA with his show Before and Laughter for GC Laughs Festival on March 23.
IN TERMS OF STAYING RELEVANT I USED TO REFUSE TO JUMP ON TIKTOK. EVERYONE WAS PUSHING IT AND I WAS LIKE ‘OH MY GOD TIKTOK? I’M NOT DOING THAT’ STEPHEN K AMOS
STEPHEN K AMOS