I Used to Say My Mother Was Shirley Bassey

by Stephen K. Amos

Growing up in a large Nigerian family in South London, Stephen K. Amos learnt early on to find the humour in every situation. He tells the story of his chaotic upbringing in the carnival atmosphere of the late seventies and early eighties.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Comedy, Humor, Biography

233 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read this book on a whim. I like reading books written by comedians because I have seen a lot of live stand up, but I have never seen Amos in the flesh and knew little to nothing about him. I came across this book by accident and thought why not?
The childhood section was interesting though kind of appalling that he and his siblings were uprooted by their parents the way they were, to go live in Nigeria. The teenaged years were amusing. The professional comedy part was the part I was most interested in reading about but it was such a small part of the book. Would have liked much more on that.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this memoir is very interesting - growing up black in London, moving “back” to Nigeria and his parents’ view on child raising. But when he veers into his time in comedy clubs - famous people, who drank the most, clubbing - the memoir loses originality and a narrative line. There’s been lots of people write about that experience in an identical manner. Happily, Amos’ parents return at the end.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into possession of this book 6 years ago at a comedy club in my hometown. It was Stephen, the man himself who handed it to me. It may have took me 6 years to start reading this book, but I'm glad I finally did.

Stephen describes an interesting mix of Nigerian and British culture, having been unexpectedly uprooted by his parents.

Stephen takes you through his life, with experiences ranging from funny, to difficult and emotional.

It easy to grow a sense of dislike towards Stephen's parents for their seemingly bias mindset, based on their actions and attitudes towards life described in the book. But you can empathise with them, not necessarily agree.

I do like how Stephen takes negative situations to 'find the funny'. This put a smile on my face. Life is short. So smile, and be happy.

[Jo Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book in unusual circumstances; it was part of the booby-prize at a pub quiz. Not expecting much, but also not wanting to judge a book by its cover (pun very much intended!), I gave it a go. I'm aware of Stephen K Amos and have seen some of his stand-up on tv in the past, but he seems to have dropped out of the public eye recently so I wouldn't have naturally picked up a copy of his autobiography. However, I found this not only an entertaining and enjoyable read, but I also found Amos to be a likeable character with an interesting story to tell of growing up in a strict Nigerian household, being dragged from London to Nigeria as a boy and having to adjust to a completely new culture, growing up in London in a time when black people weren't seen as equal, exploring his sexuality, and falling into comedy through a chance meeting during a bargain holiday. I apologise if I've said too much, but this book is packed with so much to make you laugh, smile and cringe, there's no excuse to not flick through a copy that happens to come your way. The only real downer was that the publishing house (Constable if you're interested) didn't do a five star job of editing the book and there were a fair few grammar spelling mistakes, but this aside the actual composition of the book was well thought out, following Amos's life from young boy to adult and each chapter addressing a different hump in his life-line. Cheeky, cheery and damn good fun!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen K Amos: comedian, witty charmer and challenger of stereotypes (and more inside this book).

Stephen A. charmed me from the day I first saw him on T.V. His humour is darkly superb in its delivery. I found the book a little bit wanting from time to time for the punch he packs in his comedic routines usually, one, two and you're laughing from the belly, real laughs.

This book gives comedic storytelling of his family and there movement from UK to Nigeria and back again. Not the meatiest of storylines but most times enough to suffice the hunger for knowledge about Stephen and his family's going ons which the comedy description thrown in.

Some events or parties are a bit long for my liking but overall a good book to read and enjoy. If you are a SKA fan then you can take a small look into the stuff inside making him the quick witted, clever impersonator and overall witty chap.

Stephen appears on YouTube for those who haven't seen this man's comedy routine before and are curious to find out more about him. He does a great impersonation of the Australian accent which very few can accomplish, including the sadly missed Robin Williams, who I think was the man of a million faces and voices.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this and have loved Stephen's work for many years

[Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven K Amos might have the best voice of any standup comedian so listening to him narrate this was a real pleasure. I really enjoyed his stories of school, of moving to Nigeria for a year, and of stumbling into standup.

There’s a bit of an awkward extra chapter after the epilogue about Australia, I wonder if different countries have different add-ons?

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A joy to listen to if you're a fan. But, if you are a fan there are quite a few stories in here you'd have heard if you've been to one of his shows, a few of his jokes too. Still an enjoyable audiobook.

[Si Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read, especially the contrasting school life between London and Nigeria. Definitely left me wanting more.

[Emma Leeworthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook, read by Stephen himself. Nailed it on one sitting and had quite a few ‘laugh out loud’ moments.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book I had no idea who Amos was, but the title intrigued me, and as the youngest of a large family (though not Nigerian) I can relate.

I enjoyed it, even laughed out loud once or twice at Amos' description of larger than family life. His parents sound just as arbitrary as my own were, though we were never "taken on holiday" like that. Sort of made me glad no one offered to take them for a ride in the country! His experiences with school bullies may have been glossed over a bit--did he really solve all his problems at a new school in the middle of term by becoming the champion of Ten-ten? I was also amused at the numerous exclamations of "hey, this was Britain in the eighties!" as if he meant the 1880s. I know British fashion and music were not at their most felicitous 30 years ago, but if you really want to talk about "classic" rock and roll, you need to go back another couple of decades, bro.

I was also interested in his descriptions of starting out working in the comedy world. There's not much explanation of how he got from trying to make any girl within striking distance to "oh yeah, I'm gay, though I'm not sure my parents know that"--but given current celebrity trends, it could feasibly have been merely a career move.

There's not much information about how he broke into the "big time" either--bar "deciding" to attend the Edinburgh Festival. I rather think there's more to it than that, but you'll never find out from Amos' book. I did find myself skimming the last 30 pages or so, but it was a quick, light read with no blame-gaming and no excessive namedropping. The only real weak point was when Amos incorporates "gags" into the text--some of which fall rather flat. This is common when standup comics try to be funny in writing. Without the delivery, the "funny" lines stand out as something he patched in. The text doesn't need that, and it detracts somewhat from the story. But then I've never seen him work, as I say.

[ahunterofadventures · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest. I'm not generally a fan of autobiographies. Even when i do like them, i never consider them page turners. This, however, i did, and i can, and indeed have, read again and again. Full of Stephens wonderful sense of humor and stories about his more often than not strange and entainteing life, it's a fantastically funny book and a great read.

That being said, at the same time it also deals with serious issues that he's dealt with, such as racism, xenophobia, class issues, and coming to terms with your sexuality, to name a few, while still remaining a light read.

It stretches over most of his life, with antics from his childhood, painfully awkward teenage years, and stories from adulthood.

If you're a fan of his stand up, it's a must read, if you're not? I definitely still recommend it, and by the end you just might be!

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish it! I adore Stephen's work in comedy and was excited to read it - but couldn't finish it by the time I reached the middle. It was extremely long-winded for me - great for reading about family life and life between Nigera/London, but it remained stuck on school-days for a long time, to the point that I wondering what age/period I was up to.

I wanted to read more about how he got into comedy and struggled to find anything simulating through skim-reading. I wanted to read more about what inspired him to do standup-comedy and why it has influenced his life. It was an extremely 'meh' book.

[Claire]

I never like abandoning books. I always try to finish my books even if the book is frustrating me cause there is still enough in the book to keep me going. Unfortunately, this is not the case here. I just could not get interested in this book. I am a fan of Stephen K. Amos, so it pains me to say this... But not every famous person needs to write a book. I'm sure he has his reasons for writing his memoir. I'm sorry Stephen, I just didn't like your book. However! I did enjoy the Anansi story that he was told when he visited the King of Nigeria.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, couldn't put it down and also some really good laugh out loud moments.

[Liz Coppock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellyachingly funny, heartwarmingly endearing, and intimate enough to make you feel like family.

All I want to do now is find his Auntie Yomi and give her a thousand hugs.