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COMIC LEGEND: Lenny Henry

THERE IS no denying that Lenny Henry is the pioneer of black British comedy, from his first television appearance in the 1975 talent show New Faces to becoming the face of Comic Relief, Henry is an institution within this field.

Yet, despite leading the way for black British comedians the Chef star has not gone without his fair share of criticism. Over the years, he has been accused by many people of either not being black enough or not representing the black community, a suggestion that he does not deny or agree with, he simply explained that all he can do is be himself.

“My comedy represents me,” said the 54-year-old. “I can only be me; I can’t represent everybody in the world. There are a lot of black people from so many different places, if I tried to represent them all I’d rip myself apart.”

He further explained: “I can represent myself, who grew up in Dudley I was from a very Jamaican family and I had white friends. When I do comedy I do it with the intention of communicating with everybody.”

Although the funnyman says that he has only ever tried to represent himself, he did admit during the interview that in the past he has been so scared by other people’s expectations, he wasn’t the man he wanted to be.

“You can be trapped in people’s idea of what you are rather than what you want to be. For a long time I was one person in the past, but since I’ve stopped thinking that way it has changed my life,” Henry shared.

Unfortunately, Henry’s turning point came after he lost his mother and he realised that he had to stand up and be a grown man.

“I turned 40, my mum died and everything changed. When my mum passed away I grew up very quickly and I told myself that I had to stop being scared of things. I was troubled for a while but I came out the other end and I realised life was good and short. I had things to achieve and I needed to get going. I would advise everybody not wait until their parents have died to do what they have to do.”

Free from the shackles of private and public pressures, Henry moved into serious acting and took on a series of dramatic roles, including the lead of Shakespeare’s Othello on stage at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Now he is back on the comedy circuit with his new one-man show Pop Life which combines his love of comedy and music in one show. The Hope and Glory actor said he is thrilled at being funny again.

“Acting was a career choice; I’ve been doing stand up comedy and characters as a career for 30 years, so it was natural to look around and want to achieve other things. When you are doing serious stuff you miss stand up. Comedy is like your girlfriend and everything else is like an ex-girlfriend, you always end up going back to the old one.”

Continuing the theme of his two loves, Henry is also starring in a situation comedy on BBC Radio, Rudy’s Rare Records, set in a Handsworth record shop. Well aware of the lack of diversity in the industry and sitcoms in general, the Big and Small star hopes to create a programme that will represent multi-cultural Britain and one that will last.

“There is the potential for us to do so much in the industry and we are only at the beginning. We just have to be more self starting because no one is going to give it to us. So we have to do things ourselves,” he said.

“I want to do a situation comedy; there isn’t one that represents the multi ethnicity in Britain, the things I laugh at and my family laugh at. Comedy is usually quite a complex thing to get your head around and a comedy that features black Britons has a huge amount of stuff to take in before people can get into it.”

Acutely aware of the pressure that a multi-ethnic sitcom would face, Henry had a word of warning for anyone who hopes to produce a successful show.

“If someone was to bring out a multi-ethnic comedy it would have to be deep, well thought of and well thought about, otherwise it’s not going to work and it would be competing against every single comedy ever made. So, if you’re gonna come you have to come correct and be aware of the history that has gone into the situation comedy, they can’t just fling down any old thing and think it’s going to work.”

Lenny Henry in on a UK wide Pop Life tour around the UK, for more information visit www.lennyhenrylive.com