April 7, 2026 • 12 mins
Nick is joined on the show today by British comedian and actor Stephen K Amos.
Amos arrives in Wellington for his tour 'Now We’re Talking,' and will play Friday May 8th at Hannah Playhouse
Nick and Amos talk his last experience in Wellington - including an earthquake and some classic turbulence.
Also what to expect from his latest show and how comedy is adapting to the state of the world right now.
Amos was last in New Zealand in 2016 and is a regular guest on UK TV shows; Live at The Apollo, QI and Have I got News for You. He is also an accomplished BAFTA Award-winning actor.
His stand up comedy show 'Now We’re Talking' is on Friday May 8 at Hannah Playhouse get tickets here.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk sed B. Joining me now is Stephen
k Amos, one of UK's most recognizable stand up comedians,
known for us feel good, high energy style and sharp
audience interreaction. You'll know him from shows like Apollo and Qi.
(00:28):
He's coming back to New Zealand for the Comedy Festival
with his latest show. Now we're talking, and we are
talking to the man himself. Good morning and welcome to Wellington.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Good morning, Nick, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Whereabouts are you right now?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
For our audience, I'm currently speaking to you from an
apartment in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia called Travancore.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Wow. Are you touring? Are you performing there? Are you
there for some other reason?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I am indeed touring here. I've been in Australia now
for about two and a half weeks. I managed to
get across from London and already I've been to a
couple of gates and I'm here till at least May,
and then I proper over to end.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Z Fantastic and we're looking forward to Heaven. You haven't
been here since twenty sixteen. It's ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Do you know that? Do you know what? I was
trying to figure out how long ago it was, and
even I can't believe it's been a decade. And I
tell you, Nick, I miss it. I love coming to Wellington.
I used to love coming to Auckland. I've got good
friends who live in the South Island. A very good
friend of mine lives in a place called picton As
I'm hoping to visit.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, that's like a little fairy trip away from Worlington,
so I'm sure that he'll be coming over to see you.
Talk about the show. Now we're talking, give us the
background of why hell and Because?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, basically, I've been thinking about what to call this
show and how I can let people know that it's
going to be a comedy show. And the hook that
I've used is that we all know in the world
we live in, there's a lot of noise coming out
from us all directions with There's a lot of misinformation,
lots of ai fake news. We live in a post
(02:09):
truth world. Lots of campaigns encouraging people to listen, but
we're not talking, We're not getting There are lots of
campaigns encouraging people to talk but not enough campaigns encouraging
people to listen to each other more.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And how do you get that through in your show?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, basically, I just thread it in with jokes. I
tell the audience that I want them to feel like
this evening is a conversation between old friends where I
get to talk for over an hour and you simply listen.
You'll listen, and I guarantee you will laugh. And that's
the two way street.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Do you think people are looking for stuff to have
fun with them? Laugh and have fun. It's been a
horrible few years in the world, hasn't it. And let's
be really honest. So going out and having someone making
you laugh, I mean, I can't even remember the last
time I had a great laugh, you know, her laugh
where your belly hurts, you know, you think, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
This is exactly what I'm striving for. And I guarantee
that will leave the show with aching stomachs and aching jaws,
because laughter is the one thing that does elevate all
of us over the animal kingdom. We're the only creature
that has the ability to make another creature laugh on purpose,
so we should celebrate that. And you're right, the last
(03:23):
ten years has been pretty horrendous, from the world global
pandemic to what we're seeing now with the escalation and
the spoils of war in the Middle East, to the
financial crisis that everyone's suffering from right now. In Melbourne, Australia,
where I'm at, the government have just announced it for
(03:43):
a whole month, people are going to give me given
free travel on trains, buses and trams just to combat
the fuel crisis, which for me helps me out because
I don't want people to think I can't afford a
book catch in my car so I can't come to
the shows. So basically people need to laugh and laugh
as they say, it's so infectious it bonds everybody, and
I guarantee for that hour, whatever it is in your evening,
(04:06):
you'll get everything around the world and just laugh.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Is there anything specific in your show towards Australia and
New Zealand or is your same show you'd be doing
in standing up in London.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, the only thing I will do I take a
moment to kind of see what's something in the local news,
so I can be prepared for any local events culturally
or otherwise that might be important. For example, when I
was here in Australia. At the same time, the King
and Queen of Denmark were here, and also the Prime
Minister of Canada was here, so I wove some jokes
(04:39):
about that into the set. The same thing when I
go to Wellington. The last one was there. I remember
flying into Wellington and they had the worst turbulence I've
ever experienced as we came to land, and as we
were landing, the entire passengers on the plane broke out
into a round applause, which really scared the hell out
(04:59):
of me. Well, I thought about one of the lucky ones.
So whatever happens, I'll be reading the news me culturally
and socially aware.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Can I tell you that that hasn't changed. Unfortunately, you
will still have a bumpy arrival into Wellington. I don't
think this very little chance is more chance of your
not getting a laugh than there is not having a
bumpy flight into Wellington. I don't want to scare you
before you come, but that's that's just normal.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Okay. Well, well, I thought it just me and me
being unlucky. But yes, I guess it's in that flight
path as they come in. Now I know I'm prepared.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Okay, Yeah, You're definitely prepared, and just remember I told
you so as it bumps around. What's changed in comedy
see for me, for me and I'm a little bit
older than you. Comedy has changed completely to being more
what I call woke. We've sort of got to be
acceptable where comedy is not just stand up and have
(05:56):
a go.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Well, I will say Nick that I would respectfully disagree
with that, because I absolutely believe that in the right hand,
any comedians should be able to tackle any subject. A
great comedian should be able to tackle any subject. And
at the end of the day, we're not going on
stage to try and upset anybody or offend anybody. However,
(06:20):
having said that, whatever I choose to joke about is
my own choice. I'm my own self censor, censor, myself editor.
Now I will I will push the boundaries. I'm a
firm believer and freedom of speech. But with freedom of
speech also comes freedom of expression. So the audience can
either laugh or not laugh, but the audience have to
(06:41):
know that. Like, for example, I do shows in the UK,
I get to some venues and they ask me what's
in the show that might trigger the audience and the effight,
so they could warn the audience, and I don't tell
them that. I said the audience would come here with
an open mind. You know, I don't know anything about
anybody in the audience. I'm not there to upset anybody.
It could I if I'm going through something in my life,
(07:03):
maybe i'd talk about death or grief in a joke context.
That doesn't mean I'm talking about somebody in the audience.
So I'm not sure about this, this alleged wokeness in comedy.
As far as I'm concerned, the kind of stuff I do,
I don't see it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
You talk about finding the funny. Is there anything that
is actually orf limits? Do you see anything you know
that religion, color, anything, Nothing.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Is off limits to me at all. If if I
find it funny, I'll write a joke about it. I
remember I did write a joke when someone very dear
to me passed away, and I wrote a joke about death. Now,
some people will hear the word death or die and
switch off from the joke, therefore missing the context and
thinking that one is being offensive or making jokes about dying.
(07:50):
But context and nuance is a very important As far
as I'm concerned, nothing is off limits.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
What's the hardest thing you've ever done, hardest gig you've
ever had, what's the hardest like job you sak, God,
I didn't, I didn't sign up to this.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Oh well. In terms of comedy, well, I think basically
what we're trying to say is that when I started
comedy all those years ago, there was no social media.
There was nobody who wasn't there at the show, who
could critique the show, or who could tell me that
they hated me, for example. What I've seen with comedy now,
of course, is that there are many more voices in comedy.
(08:26):
There are many more people out there doing it that
worn't doing it when I started, and we're seeing so
many very important voices. And also with social media, people
are now producing their own content and putting that out
Because you know, when I was growing up, I mean,
you're not that much older than me. But in London
in the six seventies and eighties, the comedy on television
(08:46):
was very much a particular style for the era. You know,
mother in law jokes, the odd sexist and racist, homophobic jokes,
you know, I mean, we can tackle racism, homophobia, we
can tackle anything in the modern age that we're living
in but with good jokes. So for me, it's the
fact that people now have social media and they might
(09:09):
see a clip of mine online and that might be
taken out of context, and that's difficult. People have to
be there and watch it to know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Is it a bitter world now than it was in
those seventies and eighties.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think it's a better world in terms of people
are being more aware of other people and as I
say that whole notion of different voices in comedy being represented.
Whether it's a better world due to social media and
the intolerances and the hatred that goes online is another story.
Because I grew up in an era where I wasn't
(09:45):
bombarded with noise from all directions. You know, I wasn't
in an era where somebody I didn't know would be
prepared to go online and send me some awful message
because they can. So, I mean, I don't get involved
in online debate with anybody. It's just not my style.
There's a delete button, there's a high button for a reason,
(10:07):
and I'm quite happy with that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You don't want to be a talkback host, then, do you?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I mean, I've got my opinion. So I've got my
point of view. But my job is to make people laugh.
So if I can make you laugh for a now
and forget your troubles that day, bring it on. Yeah.
I did train as a criminal barrister, so I can
have a good old argument like the best of them.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Oh gosh, I hope you're not seeing something in the
soom that makes you concern. Let's let's finish off with
what do you remember? What do you remember most about
New Zealand and what are you looking forward to most.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I'm looking for forward to the scenery. That's the one
thing people keep telling me. Oh, New Zealand is beautiful,
and that's why I remember most. I remember going to
Auckland and seeing they've got the one high street, I
mean it's Queen Street, and then going to Wellington and
then traveling around and then just just capturing lots of
little moments and people and the accent, and as catching
(11:06):
up with friends that I've made over the years. I've
also had a memory of doing a show I come
with a venue in Wellington where I was on stage
and the lighting rig above me started to shape violently.
I had no idea what was going on. But the
audience didn't seem to mind. I said to them, what's happening,
and somebody said, Oh, it's just one of our earthquake
(11:27):
and I was just like wow, wow, I hope you
relaxed when there's an earthquake.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Thank you so much for talking to us this morning.
We really appreciate it. We hope that your show is
amazing and the crowd supports you and gives you the
love that Wellington likes to do with our international exit
come to town.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Thank you very much, Nick, and I hope to have
a great time there as well.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Now you will have no doubt you'll have a great day, day,
or week, or however long you are in Wellington. Stephen Kamos,
thank you very much. For more from Wellington Mornings with
Nick Mills.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Listen live to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine
am weekdays.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk sed B. Joining me now is Stephen
k Amos, one of UK's most recognizable stand up comedians,
known for us feel good, high energy style and sharp
audience interreaction. You'll know him from shows like Apollo and Qi.
(00:28):
He's coming back to New Zealand for the Comedy Festival
with his latest show. Now we're talking, and we are
talking to the man himself. Good morning and welcome to Wellington.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Good morning, Nick, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Whereabouts are you right now?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
For our audience, I'm currently speaking to you from an
apartment in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia called Travancore.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Wow. Are you touring? Are you performing there? Are you
there for some other reason?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I am indeed touring here. I've been in Australia now
for about two and a half weeks. I managed to
get across from London and already I've been to a
couple of gates and I'm here till at least May,
and then I proper over to end.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Z Fantastic and we're looking forward to Heaven. You haven't
been here since twenty sixteen. It's ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Do you know that? Do you know what? I was
trying to figure out how long ago it was, and
even I can't believe it's been a decade. And I
tell you, Nick, I miss it. I love coming to Wellington.
I used to love coming to Auckland. I've got good
friends who live in the South Island. A very good
friend of mine lives in a place called picton As
I'm hoping to visit.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, that's like a little fairy trip away from Worlington,
so I'm sure that he'll be coming over to see you.
Talk about the show. Now we're talking, give us the
background of why hell and Because?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, basically, I've been thinking about what to call this
show and how I can let people know that it's
going to be a comedy show. And the hook that
I've used is that we all know in the world
we live in, there's a lot of noise coming out
from us all directions with There's a lot of misinformation,
lots of ai fake news. We live in a post
(02:09):
truth world. Lots of campaigns encouraging people to listen, but
we're not talking, We're not getting There are lots of
campaigns encouraging people to talk but not enough campaigns encouraging
people to listen to each other more.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And how do you get that through in your show?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, basically, I just thread it in with jokes. I
tell the audience that I want them to feel like
this evening is a conversation between old friends where I
get to talk for over an hour and you simply listen.
You'll listen, and I guarantee you will laugh. And that's
the two way street.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Do you think people are looking for stuff to have
fun with them? Laugh and have fun. It's been a
horrible few years in the world, hasn't it. And let's
be really honest. So going out and having someone making
you laugh, I mean, I can't even remember the last
time I had a great laugh, you know, her laugh
where your belly hurts, you know, you think, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
This is exactly what I'm striving for. And I guarantee
that will leave the show with aching stomachs and aching jaws,
because laughter is the one thing that does elevate all
of us over the animal kingdom. We're the only creature
that has the ability to make another creature laugh on purpose,
so we should celebrate that. And you're right, the last
(03:23):
ten years has been pretty horrendous, from the world global
pandemic to what we're seeing now with the escalation and
the spoils of war in the Middle East, to the
financial crisis that everyone's suffering from right now. In Melbourne, Australia,
where I'm at, the government have just announced it for
(03:43):
a whole month, people are going to give me given
free travel on trains, buses and trams just to combat
the fuel crisis, which for me helps me out because
I don't want people to think I can't afford a
book catch in my car so I can't come to
the shows. So basically people need to laugh and laugh
as they say, it's so infectious it bonds everybody, and
I guarantee for that hour, whatever it is in your evening,
(04:06):
you'll get everything around the world and just laugh.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Is there anything specific in your show towards Australia and
New Zealand or is your same show you'd be doing
in standing up in London.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, the only thing I will do I take a
moment to kind of see what's something in the local news,
so I can be prepared for any local events culturally
or otherwise that might be important. For example, when I
was here in Australia. At the same time, the King
and Queen of Denmark were here, and also the Prime
Minister of Canada was here, so I wove some jokes
(04:39):
about that into the set. The same thing when I
go to Wellington. The last one was there. I remember
flying into Wellington and they had the worst turbulence I've
ever experienced as we came to land, and as we
were landing, the entire passengers on the plane broke out
into a round applause, which really scared the hell out
(04:59):
of me. Well, I thought about one of the lucky ones.
So whatever happens, I'll be reading the news me culturally
and socially aware.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Can I tell you that that hasn't changed. Unfortunately, you
will still have a bumpy arrival into Wellington. I don't
think this very little chance is more chance of your
not getting a laugh than there is not having a
bumpy flight into Wellington. I don't want to scare you
before you come, but that's that's just normal.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Okay. Well, well, I thought it just me and me
being unlucky. But yes, I guess it's in that flight
path as they come in. Now I know I'm prepared.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Okay, Yeah, You're definitely prepared, and just remember I told
you so as it bumps around. What's changed in comedy
see for me, for me and I'm a little bit
older than you. Comedy has changed completely to being more
what I call woke. We've sort of got to be
acceptable where comedy is not just stand up and have
(05:56):
a go.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Well, I will say Nick that I would respectfully disagree
with that, because I absolutely believe that in the right hand,
any comedians should be able to tackle any subject. A
great comedian should be able to tackle any subject. And
at the end of the day, we're not going on
stage to try and upset anybody or offend anybody. However,
(06:20):
having said that, whatever I choose to joke about is
my own choice. I'm my own self censor, censor, myself editor.
Now I will I will push the boundaries. I'm a
firm believer and freedom of speech. But with freedom of
speech also comes freedom of expression. So the audience can
either laugh or not laugh, but the audience have to
(06:41):
know that. Like, for example, I do shows in the UK,
I get to some venues and they ask me what's
in the show that might trigger the audience and the effight,
so they could warn the audience, and I don't tell
them that. I said the audience would come here with
an open mind. You know, I don't know anything about
anybody in the audience. I'm not there to upset anybody.
It could I if I'm going through something in my life,
(07:03):
maybe i'd talk about death or grief in a joke context.
That doesn't mean I'm talking about somebody in the audience.
So I'm not sure about this, this alleged wokeness in comedy.
As far as I'm concerned, the kind of stuff I do,
I don't see it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
You talk about finding the funny. Is there anything that
is actually orf limits? Do you see anything you know
that religion, color, anything, Nothing.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Is off limits to me at all. If if I
find it funny, I'll write a joke about it. I
remember I did write a joke when someone very dear
to me passed away, and I wrote a joke about death. Now,
some people will hear the word death or die and
switch off from the joke, therefore missing the context and
thinking that one is being offensive or making jokes about dying.
(07:50):
But context and nuance is a very important As far
as I'm concerned, nothing is off limits.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
What's the hardest thing you've ever done, hardest gig you've
ever had, what's the hardest like job you sak, God,
I didn't, I didn't sign up to this.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Oh well. In terms of comedy, well, I think basically
what we're trying to say is that when I started
comedy all those years ago, there was no social media.
There was nobody who wasn't there at the show, who
could critique the show, or who could tell me that
they hated me, for example. What I've seen with comedy now,
of course, is that there are many more voices in comedy.
(08:26):
There are many more people out there doing it that
worn't doing it when I started, and we're seeing so
many very important voices. And also with social media, people
are now producing their own content and putting that out
Because you know, when I was growing up, I mean,
you're not that much older than me. But in London
in the six seventies and eighties, the comedy on television
(08:46):
was very much a particular style for the era. You know,
mother in law jokes, the odd sexist and racist, homophobic jokes,
you know, I mean, we can tackle racism, homophobia, we
can tackle anything in the modern age that we're living
in but with good jokes. So for me, it's the
fact that people now have social media and they might
(09:09):
see a clip of mine online and that might be
taken out of context, and that's difficult. People have to
be there and watch it to know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Is it a bitter world now than it was in
those seventies and eighties.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think it's a better world in terms of people
are being more aware of other people and as I
say that whole notion of different voices in comedy being represented.
Whether it's a better world due to social media and
the intolerances and the hatred that goes online is another story.
Because I grew up in an era where I wasn't
(09:45):
bombarded with noise from all directions. You know, I wasn't
in an era where somebody I didn't know would be
prepared to go online and send me some awful message
because they can. So, I mean, I don't get involved
in online debate with anybody. It's just not my style.
There's a delete button, there's a high button for a reason,
(10:07):
and I'm quite happy with that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You don't want to be a talkback host, then, do you?
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I mean, I've got my opinion. So I've got my
point of view. But my job is to make people laugh.
So if I can make you laugh for a now
and forget your troubles that day, bring it on. Yeah.
I did train as a criminal barrister, so I can
have a good old argument like the best of them.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Oh gosh, I hope you're not seeing something in the
soom that makes you concern. Let's let's finish off with
what do you remember? What do you remember most about
New Zealand and what are you looking forward to most.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I'm looking for forward to the scenery. That's the one
thing people keep telling me. Oh, New Zealand is beautiful,
and that's why I remember most. I remember going to
Auckland and seeing they've got the one high street, I
mean it's Queen Street, and then going to Wellington and
then traveling around and then just just capturing lots of
little moments and people and the accent, and as catching
(11:06):
up with friends that I've made over the years. I've
also had a memory of doing a show I come
with a venue in Wellington where I was on stage
and the lighting rig above me started to shape violently.
I had no idea what was going on. But the
audience didn't seem to mind. I said to them, what's happening,
and somebody said, Oh, it's just one of our earthquake
(11:27):
and I was just like wow, wow, I hope you
relaxed when there's an earthquake.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Thank you so much for talking to us this morning.
We really appreciate it. We hope that your show is
amazing and the crowd supports you and gives you the
love that Wellington likes to do with our international exit
come to town.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Thank you very much, Nick, and I hope to have
a great time there as well.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Now you will have no doubt you'll have a great day, day,
or week, or however long you are in Wellington. Stephen Kamos,
thank you very much. For more from Wellington Mornings with
Nick Mills.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Listen live to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine
am weekdays.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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